Description

The Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI) has exciting paid summer internship opportunities for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Indigenous people looking to explore public heath careers. UIHI, a Division of Seattle Indian Health Board, has a mission to decolonize data by Indigenous people, for Indigenous people. We believe data, evaluation, and research are Indigenous values that contribute to the health and well-being of tribal people living in urban areas nationwide. The Public Health Intern will explore a range of public health topics, participate in Indigenous methodologies trainings, and gain knowledge that is aligned with the UIHI approach of using western science to complement Indigenous knowledge systems. The Public Health Intern will work under the close mentorship of a UIHI staff member. Intern projects will be based off current UIHI needs related to Indigenous Evaluation, Research and Surveillance and Direct Public Health Service. Examples of health topics we focus on include chronic disease prevention, infectious disease, substance misuse, and maternal child health.

SIHB Core Competencies

Core Competencies are foundational commitments and skills that all SIHB staff are expected to develop. These competencies define common measures for performance that are applied to every role in the organization.

• Commitment to Indigenous and Organizational Values: Everything we do at SIHB is centered on Traditional Indian Medicine. It is our responsibility to maintain cultural integrity in all that we do.
• Accountability: All employees of SIHB effectively manage their own work and the work of their teams. We take ownership of our actions and decisions. We all strive to deliver the highest quality work and care, while respecting our teammates and relatives.
• Collaboration: SIHB is a team-oriented organization. As team members, we share the responsibility of working toward a common purpose. We collaborate with our colleagues across the organization to deliver the highest quality of care and results in alignment with our mission, vision, values, and Theory of Change.
• Communication: We practice effective and clear communication with staff, relatives, teams, and community. We demonstrate empathy among each other and with those we serve, and transparency in our decision making.
• Customer Service Orientation: All employees of SIHB recognize the needs of the diverse community we serve. We put the needs of our relatives first by delivering the highest quality, professional, responsive, and innovative care. Our relatives come first and deserve the best.

 Organizational Responsibilities

• Hold Indigenous values and practices with respect and integrity.
• Hold yourself accountable to the highest standard by being resourceful, innovative, creative, and solutions oriented.
• Actively participate in organizational activities with the understanding that success is achieved through teamwork.
• Recognize that communication is central to the organization’s success and actively champion your words and actions to maintain respect for others, encourage constructive feedback, be open to share laughter and acknowledge differences in skills and opinions, all while keeping others’ best intentions in mind.
• At SIHB, we refer to our customers as Relatives. Our Relatives come first and deserve the best. Serve the needs of our Relatives first by delivering the highest quality, professional, responsive, and innovative care.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Helping with the development of UIHI Public Health communication materials to share with urban Indian health and social service organizations for distribution on our website and in our nationally focused newsletter.
• Drafting letters, tables, charts, graphs, maps, data tables, presentations, and other visual aids as necessary.
• Conducting literature reviews.
• Assisting in the editing and formatting of project reports and related materials.
• Participating in proposal development tasks.
• Using professional organizational skills to document activities and store digital files.
• Performing quality checking on data for completeness and accuracy.
• Performing other tasks associated with projects, such as collaborating across teams, preparing materials, filing, copying, literature searches, bibliography entries and editing, data entry, taking notes and other duties as needed
• Engage with community partners, attend site visits, outreach events, and conferences.
• Create and present an art project that represents personal and professional experience with the Internship program.

Education & Experience:

• Must have a high school diploma or GED by position start date.
• Undergraduate students are strongly encouraged to apply.

• Familiarity (personal or professional) with and interest in health and social issues facing American Indian and Alaska Native people.
• Self-identify as American Indian, Alaska Native, and/or Indigenous.

Qualifications

Qualifications:

• Interest in Indigenous data, research, and evaluation.
• Interest in developing strong communication, writing, networking, coordination, and group facilitation skills.
• Interest in communicating cross-culturally with diverse partners and people of all ages and cultural backgrounds.
• Interest in developing Project Management skills, including development of workplans, implementation, and evaluation.
• Strong writing skills.
• Ability to assess situations and make clear decisions which are timely and in the best interests of the organization.
• Adept at working independently or in a team environment, whichever is considered appropriate for the situation.
• Demonstrate cooperative behavior with supervisors, colleagues, Relatives, and the community in all situations.
• Knowledge of computer applications necessary to fulfill job duties.
• Work well under pressure, meet multiple and often competing deadlines.
• Ability to work varied hours, including evenings and weekends as required. Some travel necessary.
• Valid U.S. driver’s license, proof of car insurance and use of a personal vehicle may be helpful for coordinating local travel.
• Candidates must complete an acceptable Background Check as part of the hiring process.

Work Environment: Public Health Interns will work five (5) eight (8) hour shifts per week on site.

How do I apply?

A current resume, cover letter, and writing sample are required in addition to completing the application form. A writing sample may be a research paper from a class, blog post, or article you have written. Check out the Resources on our website https://www.uihi.org/about/internship-program/ for help with application requirements.