Cancer Education and Health Equity Internship

Thank you for your interest in our Cancer Education and Health Equity Internship. Below you will find a full description of the role and an application. You will also need to send a copy of your CV to [email protected] - please include your name and contact information in your email.

About OncoLink

OncoLink is a cancer education provider based at the University of Pennsylvania. We run a website, healthcare provider training programs, and provide standardized patient education through electronic medical record (EMR) vendors and white label syndication. Our content spans the cancer experience, from risk assessment, through diagnosis and treatment, and into survivorship.

We are also deeply committed to improving access to patient education by creating content that is patient-friendly and written in plain language. We are an interprofessional team of physicians, nurses, social workers, and radiation therapists dedicated to improving patient outcomes through education, empowerment, and engagement. As frontline healthcare providers, we have seen the impacts of social determinants of health and racial disparities on usage and access to healthcare. Our goal is to provide high-quality, patient and family-centered cancer information for all, irrespective of a user’s background or culture.

We are committed to partnering with others in the community to tackle barriers to achieving equitable cancer screening, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, palliative, and end-of-life care. In line with these goals, we seek to improve our understanding of the current information about health, social, and racial disparities in cancer care and its impact on content development and education curated by the OncoLink team.

Description of the Internship

The Cancer Education and Health Equity Internship will provide an opportunity for advanced degree students in health disciplines to work with an interdisciplinary team of cancer educators to research and develop content pertinent to cancer education targeted towards LGBTQI+, racial, or ethnic minority groups. This mentored experience is multi-step and will be tailored to the student's timeline and program needs. Overall, it will involve an initial systematic review of the literature focused on cancer-related healthcare disparities and inequities that will subsequently inform the development of new targeted content as well as the initiation of research projects related to the work and mission of Oncolink.

The internship will include two phases. Based on a student's timing they may partake in one or both phases.

Phase One

Gather and review literature related to cancer health disparities, inequity, and inclusion.

• Include content on LBGTQI+, racial, ethnic, and/or spiritual groups.
• What does the literature say about improving the cancer experience for these patients?
• Gaps in literature? Are there significant pieces missing that could be future research or content development areas for our team in risk, survivorship, patient education?
• Genetics and racial disparities.
• Access to care.
• Screening.
• Develop a Health Equity in Oncology Annotated Bibliography.

Present findings and recommendations to the OncoLink team for content development and potential research in patient education targeted towards LGBTQI+, racial, or ethnic minority groups.

Phase Two

Content development

• Patient and provider education materials, webinars, and social media content.

Research involving one or more of the following:

• Investigations of the patterns of use of OncoLink tools.
• Studies of the utilization of OncoLink’s current tools/information by racial/ethnic/minority groups.
• Evaluation of the impact of new tools targeting racial/ethnic/minority groups.

Interns may submit meeting abstracts and write papers based on the research and projects conducted.

Skills and Abilities

• An interest in cancer disparities, patient education, and cancer research.
• Passion for helping people impacted by cancer in communities of color and other diverse communities.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (oral and written, with strong editing abilities).
• Ability to work independently and take a leading role on assigned projects.
• Highly motivated and directed, with attention to detail and the ability to multi-task effectively.
• General administrative skills, comfortable working with Outlook, Microsoft Office (including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams, Smartsheets, Zotero).
• Strong research and computer skills. Experience with statistical analysis is a plus.
• Outstanding organization, time management, and problem-solving skills.
• Diverse and bilingual candidates are encouraged to apply.

Eligibility: Advanced degree students in health disciplines such as public health, social work, and medicine. Third-year medical students who have completed their required clerkships and will be doing a year out are welcome to apply.

Mentors: Christine Hill-Kayser, MD; James Metz, MD; Carolyn Vachani, MSN, RN; Christina Bach, MSW, MBE, LCSW, OSW-C, FAOSW

How to apply: Interested candidates should complete the application below and email a current CV to [email protected]. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Applicants will be reviewed by the OncoLink team and notified in a timely manner.