Intern with the Oregon AETC 

The Oregon AIDS Education and Training Center (a regional partner of the Mountain West AETC) delivers innovative, evidenced-based education and training programs to improve both access to care and quality of life for people who are living with or are at increased risk of acquiring HIV.

The Oregon AETC is seeking up to two interns to work on various projects. Potential projects are listed below, and prospective interns are also welcomed to suggest other projects based on their interests.

Potential Projects

  • HIV post-exposure prophylaxis is a medication that can be taken after a known or potential exposure to HIV to prevent an individual from acquiring HIV. PEP must be started within 72 hours of exposure to be effective. Particularly in rural areas of Oregon, receiving a PEP prescription within this time frame can be very challenging, even with the support of PrEP Outreach Coordinators. This project aims to identify barriers to PEP, determine who is most affected by these barriers, and how well individuals from certain populations and geographic areas can access PEP. The project may include:

    Completing the nPEP lesson of the National HIV Curriculum

    Viewing recorded PEP trainings conducted by AETC faculty

    Attending the Oregon AETC’s PrEP/nPEP Statewide Workgroup

    Interviewing PrEP Outreach Coordinators

    Updating our lists of resources for patients accessing PEP through pharmacies to ensure accuracy of information

    Contacting pharmacies throughout the state to ask them to complete a survey about what PEP medications they keep in stock

    Writing a report on structural factors and social determinants of health that may affect an individual's access to PEP

    Creating a map of pharmacy locations that stock PEP that includes how far individuals in specific Oregon cities/counties would have to travel to access PEP

  • The Oregon AETC maintains provider lists so patients, outreach coordinators, and others can easily find PrEP and HIV providers in their geographic area. This project aims to ensure accuracy of both these lists and to improve them as tools for outreach coordinators. The project may include:

    Contacting healthcare sites and individual providers to verify and update information in our databases

    Creating a survey to send to providers who are already on one of the lists and those who are interested in being added. The survey will invite providers to self-identify as LGBTQ+, speak languages other than English, and/or identify as BIPOC to help outreach coordinators identify providers who will best relate to their clients

    Reviewing website analytics to determine the usefulness of the PrEP and HIV Provider lists

    Writing a report on the usefulness of the lists and ways to implement quality improvement

  • The Oregon AETC works with federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) around the state to provide quality improvement and capacity building assistance to help improve the care they provide to their patients. This project aims to collect patient feedback on the success of our work with specific clinics. The project may include:

    Seeking IRB approval to interview patients about their experience

    Conducting qualitative interviews with patients about their experiences accessing care at the clinic

    Analyzing quantitative data collected by the clinic

    Writing a report on the qualitative and quantitative findings and recommendations for future quality improvement

General Information

Applicant Requirements

This internship is designed for students seeking practice or field experience as part of the completion of their graduate degree at an accredited program. Priority given to students pursuing their degrees in the state of Oregon.

If you do not meet these criteria but are interested in applying, please send an email to Rachel at rachel@oraetc.org with a resumé and cover letter explaining your background and interest in this internship.

What’s in it for you?

  • $650 stipend

  • Connections and partnerships:

  • Community organizations throughout the state of Oregon who provide healthcare, social services, and harm reduction services

  • County and local health departments

  • Members of the Oregon Health Authority’s HIV/STD/TB Division

  • Regional Partners of the ten-state Mountain West region

  • Access to trainings on HIV prevention and treatment, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), harm reduction, sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), anti-racism, and more.

  • Experience working with healthcare professionals, including medical doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, and office staff.

Other notes:

  • This position is mostly remote, with potential for some in-person collaboration depending on COVID patterns.

  • The internship will be overseen by Rachel Greim, MPH, the Logistics Coordinator at the Oregon AETC. The intern(s) will also have opportunities to collaborate with other members of the team depending on their selected project.

  • Length of internship and hours per week are flexible and up for discussion, depending on what works best for the prospective intern and project(s) of interest.

How to apply:

Send an email to Rachel at rachel@oraetc.org with your resumé and cover letter that includes information about your educational and professional goals and your areas of interest. Please also include what you hope to achieve with this internship, including which projects you are interested in working on and any specific competencies you wish to address.