"Two Oceans in Health is a new non-governmental organization whose mission is to use health research in ways that benefit communities in the Dominican Republic. For my project, I looked at the Dominican Republic's national HIV Patient Management Information Systems database (FAPPS). With the help of mentors, such as Dr. Laura Soto and Dr. Marija Miric, I focused on the difference between the Haitian descent population and those without Haitian descent with regards to access to anti-retroviral treatment and viral suppression. I was also mentored by CDC analysts, Andres Lorenzo and Leonel Nadal. I hoped that my project would help Two Oceans in Health demonstrate a need for more PEPFAR funding for HIV services for those of Haitian descent.

For the project, I analyzed the data using SAS programming. I recently took a class from my epidemiology program that taught me these skills. I used SAS programming for most of the analysis in this project. I also had several other classes that taught me statistical techniques such as logistic regressions that were useful in analyzing the HIV database.

One particular challenge was the language barrier. Although the project was virtual, the practicum site and my supervisors were based in the Dominican Republic. I actually preferred to speak Spanish but was not very good at it. Luckily, the practicum offered free Spanish classes that helped. Another challenge was communication. Because the practicum was virtual, it was sometimes difficult to express some of my ideas clearly and well as to understand some of the directions I was given. I was previously not very adept at communicating concerns, but having this experience helped me to understand the importance of quick and timely communication

By the end of the experience, I realized how hardworking a person has to be to work in a field like health research. My supervisors were extremely busy with many tasks but were still able to balance their schedules. I now know that it is not easy to be in this field. I also realized that it was not enough to be skilled and intelligent. It’s really important to communicate well and to be able to handle the pressures and all the moving parts of research. But regardless of the difficulties of the position, it is still very important work and has the potential to help a lot of people. But that’s usually how it is: The hardest tasks are usually the most important ones."