General Information

IPHI Internship Description ImmunizeVA - Spring 2025

Established in 2009, the Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI) is a regional non-profit organization that develops multi-sector partnerships and innovative solutions to improve the public’s health and well- being across the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Simply put –IPHI adds capacity to the public health system. This work strengthens health systems and policies, enhances conditions that promote health, and builds community resilience to ensure equitable health opportunities for all. IPHI is the official public health institute serving the region as recognized by the National Network of Public Health Institutes.

ImmunizeVA, a project of IPHI, is a statewide coalition of immunization stakeholders representing medical, public health, and nonprofit professionals, as well as parents and community members. Members are united in their commitment to the coalition’s vision of a future where the quality and length of life of Virginians are not impacted by a disease that could have been prevented by immunizations. We work together to improve immunization coverage across the Commonwealth.

Through IPHI’s internship program, ImmunizeVA offers internships to local students to complement their academic studies and help them to gain real-world experience in community-based public health work. This helps cultivate the region’s pipeline of public health professionals and prepares future public health leaders to contribute to health and equity in the region. ImmunizeVA and IPHI accommodates students’ academic commitments and welcomes coordinating with educational institutions to enable students to gain course credit for their internship.

ImmunizeVA Interns will have the opportunity to gain valuable professional experience through involvement with ImmunizeVA’s work in various capacities. To the extent possible, ImmunizeVA representatives will work with the intern to customize involvement in ImmunizeVA activities to reinforce and complement the intern’s academic coursework and specific professional interests. ImmunizeVA staff will guide the interns' work on specific projects for 15 to 20 hours per week for at least three

months. Internships with ImmunizeVA and IPHI are conducted without entitlement to future employment with the organization.

Additional Details

• Internships are 15-20 hours a week from February 10, 2025, through May 30, 2025, for a total of 300 internship hours. A minimum of 50% of internship hours should be performed during normal business hours so ImmunizeVA staff can provide sufficient support and involvement. These dates can be modified based on academic calendars and practicum deadlines
• Interns can fulfill their internship hours remotely with flexible hours to accommodate their academic schedule. Interns should be available to attend meetings during business hours when their academic schedule accommodates
• Preferably, interns can use their own computer with reliable internet access, though computer equipment can be provided if necessary
• Internships are not employment, and thus IPHI does not pay a wage/salary or offer benefits for this position. However, to support participation in the internship program, ImmunizeVA/IPHI offers a stipend of $6,000 for the 15-week period, which comes out to $20/hour
• ImmunizeVA staff can assist students in obtaining course credit at a college or university program, if applicable
  
  
  

The Institute for Public Health Innovation strives for equity, diversity and inclusion in all its work and encourages applications from all individuals

Position Specific

• IPHI is looking to bring on 4 Interns in total, 1 for Communications, and 3 that are project-based. There will be a position description specified to each intern below.
• Communications
• Environmental Scan of Youth-Based Vaccine Educational Programming
• Curating and Maintaining Vaccine Literacy Materials for the Toolkit
• Development of Partner Network Map
  
  
  

Communications

• The Intern will help gather and communicate updated information through the website and social media. The Intern will also provide communications support to the organization including writing newsletters, action alerts, and blog posts and sharing information via ImmunizeVA’s website and social media. Other opportunities include support for committees, event and meeting assistance, and help with some administrative tasks.
• Responsibilities
• The intern will have the opportunity to be involved in the following activity areas, among others:
• Create monthly editorial calendar for Immunize VA’s social media
• Develop professional writing experience through collaboratively drafting articles, press releases, newsletters, and action alerts to increase awareness of ImmunizeVA initiatives
• Gain knowledge of immunization partners and help increase partner engagement via social media channels
• Develop skill sets in branding and design through creating outreach materials for ImmunizeVA’s website, newsletters, and social media
• Learn about ImmunizeVA’s work groups and policy priorities and support ImmunizeVA meetings and ongoing work group projects
• Qualifications
• Current enrollment in undergraduate or graduate-level program
• Passion and enthusiasm for public health work, including science communications and health equity
• Experience working, volunteering, or interning for nonprofits
• Live in Virginia
• Self-starter with an ability to work independently
• Ability to work respectfully among individuals with diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail
  
  
  

Environmental Scan of Youth-Based Vaccine Educational Programming

• This project involves conducting an environmental scan to assess current youth-oriented vaccine education programs. The intern will gather and analyze data on existing programs, identify strengths and gaps, and provide recommendations for future initiatives to enhance youth vaccine literacy
• Responsibilities:
• Understand the landscape of youth-based vaccine education
• Gain skills in conducting environmental scans, including research, data collection, and analysis
• Develop strategic recommendations to inform future programming for youth vaccine education
• Write report summarizing existing youth-based vaccine education programs, including identified gaps and recommendations
• Practical recommendations for the development of new or improved educational resources for youth vaccine literacy
• Skills Gained:
• Research and analytical skills
• Project management and data organization
• Strategic planning and report writing
• Presentation and communication
• Qualifications:
• Current enrollment in undergraduate or graduate-level program
• Passion and enthusiasm for public health work, including vaccine education or youth outreach
• Experience working, volunteering, or interning for nonprofits
• Live in Virginia
• Self-starter with an ability to work independently
• Ability to work respectfully among individuals with diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Strong organizational and research skills
• Comfort with both independent work and collaboration with stakeholders
  
  
  

Curating and Maintaining Vaccine Literacy Materials for the Toolkit

• ProjectOverview:
• This project involves identifying, curating, and organizing vaccine literacy materials to create a comprehensive tool kit. The intern will also develop a maintenance plan to ensure the toolkit remains current and useful for diverse audiences
• Responsibilities:
• Develop skills in health information research, evaluation, and curation
• Gain experience in creating and organizing a resource toolkit
• Learn to apply project management strategies for ongoing resource maintenance
• Create a well-curated tool kit of vaccine literacy materials, categorized by audience and topic
• Create a documented plan for maintaining the toolkit with new and updated resources
• Skills Gained:
• Research and information literacy
• Content curation and organization
• Project planning and maintenance strategy
• Qualifications
• Current enrollment in undergraduate or graduate-level program
• Passion and enthusiasm for public health work, including vaccine education, as well as potentially library sciences
• Experience working, volunteering, or interning for nonprofits
• Live in Virginia
• Self-starter with an ability to work independently
• Ability to work respectfully among individuals with diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Strong organizational and research skills
• Comfort with both independent work and collaboration with stakeholders
  
  
  

Development of Partner Network Map

• ProjectOverview:
• This project involves creating a network map of vaccine partners and collaborators across the state. The intern will gather data, map existing relationships, identify collaboration gaps, and provide recommendations for expanding and strengthening the partner network
• Responsibilities:
• Collect partner information and document details in a shared database
• Map out partner relationships using a visualization tool and identify clusters
• Analyze the network map to identify gaps and suggest potential new partnerships
• Summarize findings, create a report with recommendations, and present to the team
• Develop skills in data gathering, relationship mapping, and network analysis
• Gain experience in visualizing organizational partnerships for public health initiatives
• Learn to identify strategic partnership opportunities to improve outreach and collaboration
• Final products: A comprehensive partner network map for ImmunizeVA, illustrating key connections. A report summarizing findings, partnership strengths, gaps, and recommendations for network growth
• Skills Gained:
• Data collection and organization
• Network mapping and visualization
• Analytical thinking and strategic planning
• Public health partnership building
• Qualifications
• Current enrollment in undergraduate or graduate-level program
• Passion and enthusiasm for public health work, including partnership building, or community engagement
• Experience working, volunteering, or interning for nonprofits
• Live in Virginia
• Self-starter with an ability to work independently
• Ability to work respectfully among individuals with diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Strong organizational and research skills
• Comfort with both independent work and collaboration with stakeholders