Internship Description
Catherine Martini, ’24DM; Rachel Utomo, ’24DM; and Ishani Guha, ’22MPH, interned with Praava Health, a Dhaka-based patient experience-driven company whose ethos is centered around bringing quality health care to Bangladesh. Catherine developed clinical protocols for the most common dental disease presentation, in an effort to improve the standard of Bangladesh's oral health care. Additionally, she executed an evaluation of the journey of a Praava patient, focusing on the patient's experience traversing through online and offline activities. Rachel worked on developing the dental suite’s management strategies and improving patient experiences at Praava Health. Ishani helped design a patient experience platform and developed data-driven tools to help guide Praava's journey's into the AI space, while also conducting market research to assist Praava as they look to partner with other organizations in the field.
"Praava Health is a private health center based in Dhaka, Bangladesh that was founded in 2018 with the mission to deliver convenient, affordable, and high quality health care to the people of Bangladesh. During my internship at Praava Health, I worked with the Department of Medical Services on a variety of projects. These projects were primarily centered upon analyzing big data to further improve patient experience at Praava Health, increase the efficacy of the health center’s workflow, and conduct exploratory research on the population they are serving. Notably, I conducted preliminary research on the impact of COVID-19 on the utilization of health services at Praava Health, specifically by people with diagnosed chronic illnesses. The results showed that the health care-seeking behaviors of this population have changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. These results may be utilized to, for example, identify which services are being disadvantageously underutilized by people with diagnosed chronic illnesses to ensure that they receive complete care.
As a dental student at the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine with firsthand experience working at a dental practice, I utilized my experience to consult on the management of Praava Health’s dentistry department. My background in clinical medicine, an integral component of our didactic education, was also tremendously valuable during data analysis as it allowed me to understand the complexity of patient diagnoses and the function of different laboratory services offered at Praava Health.
Perhaps the biggest challenge interning at Praava Health was the time difference. As the health center is based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, my workday began as early as 5 AM, and sometimes at 4 AM when no other meeting time could be found between parties. Bangladesh also operates on a Sunday to Thursday workday, which was a new experience, but one that I learned to appreciate and now even miss. The internship was also completely remote because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though I wished the internship was in person, the remote component provided me with an opportunity to strengthen my writing and communication skills, as well as highlight the importance of proactivity.
My experience at Praava Health was very fruitful. I was not only able to accomplish my goal — which was to better understand how innovative health systems are established, managed, and operated in a fast-growing economy — but also what the entrepreneurial path towards building a health care company like Praava Health entails."