Student ProgramsStudent Public Health Epidemic Response Effort
The Student Public Health Epidemic Response Effort (SPHERE) is a new organization of public health students interested in epidemic response, community preparedness, and hands-on experience. It is sponsored and supported by the Center.
Members participate in outbreak or disaster response activities with local and state health departments and participate in community health events and promotions. All Masters and Doctoral students enrolled at the Graduate School of Public Health are eligible to apply for SPHERE membership.
Medical Student Training
To date, five medical students have completed the one-month public health field practicum. Each student spends four weeks working with the Center’s staff and in the field with staff from the Allegheny County Health Department. Additionally, eight medical students completed a “Pandemic Mini-course” and 150 third year medical students participated in a pandemic drill.
Preparedness Internships
In addition to four graduate student interns who worked in the spring semester, four others completed summer internships in the following projects: Preparedness Law Program; the Duquesne Project; the Allegheny County Emergency Operations Center; and Local Health Department Preparedness.
Fellows
Fellowships are awarded through a competitive process and help qualified preparedness students defray the costs of relevant books, travel, and educational activities. This allows the Center to place interested and qualified students in real-life settings where they work on topics of immediate relevance to public health preparedness and response.
