Please visit DPH Paid Internship Program for program details, timeline, and application deadline.
Note: Application closed on May 12, 2025.
Internship overview
| Intern project | Project 4: Weapon-Related Injury Surveillance System Epidemiologist internship |
|---|---|
| Intern role | Child and Youth Violence/Weapon-Related Injury Surveillance System Epidemiologist/ Weapon-Related Injury Epidemiology intern |
| Targeted majors | All Undergraduate students with a strong interest in pursuing a career in public health are welcome to apply. All current public health or relevant field Graduate students with coursework in epidemiology, biostatistics, and/or data analysis are welcome to apply. |
| Hours per week | Part-time, 15 hours weekly |
| Internship length | 2 Semesters (24 weeks) |
| Work arrangement | In-person |
| Work location | 250 Washington St, Boston, MA |
Position overview
The intern will learn about violence prevention epidemiology with a focus on weapon-related injuries (guns and sharp instruments) by supporting the work of the Weapon-Related Injury Surveillance System (WRISS) Epidemiologist and tasks to maintain the WRISS Database.
Responsibilities
The intern will support the work of the WRISS Program via literature reviews (internal documents, published literature), data entry tasks, quality assurance tasks, data cleaning, data stewardship, and analyzing WRISS data from past years. Instruction and regular support will be provided to teach the students skills that are new to them. WRISS analyses will both be to support the work of the WRISS Program and can also be conducted for additional school-related projects (i.e. thesis or capstone work). The intern will have the opportunity to attend meetings with the Child and Youth Violence Prevention Unit to learn how epidemiologic data is operationalized and inform direct action. The intern will have the opportunity to present analyses to the Child and Youth Violence Prevention Unit, at the semester Expo, and at other forums that the student identifies as appropriate venues to share public health research. The intern will also regularly have opportunities to network with individuals in the Child and Youth Violence Prevention Unit, the Injury Surveillance Program, and the Bureau of Community Health and Prevention via lunches, meetings, and introductions.
Skills and qualifications desired
- Ability to enter data (looking at a form and typing in relevant information with attention to detail)
- Experience in Excel, to be used for data cleaning and analysis processes taught by preceptor
- Experience in SAS (data cleaning and analysis — class experience accepted)
- Ability to describe analyzed data and contribute to relevant written reports
For more information, please check out Program FAQs. You can also contact us by email dphinternship@mass.gov.