Clinical Research - Equity and Access in Early Psychosis Care

Applications:
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until 5/1/24. Interested candidates please submit a document containing the following: 1) a one-page cover letter, 2) a resume, and 3) two references (including their email addresses). Your letter should clearly state your relevant experiences for this position. 
 

Send Applications to Julia Pfluger - jpfluger@bidmc.harvard.edu 

Interviews for this position will take place on a rolling basis as applications are reviewed

Job Description Summary

Building Bridges toward Equity in Psychosis Intervention and Careers (2B-EPIC) is a new initiative within the Response to Risk Research Program of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Department of Psychiatry (www.responsetorisk.org ). This is a 6-month, full time internship program (full time summer or 15-20 hours per week fall are also possible) for motivated Black and Latinx college students interested in contributing to and learning about specialized research, treatment, outreach, and prevention strategies for youth who are experiencing signs of clinical high risk for developing psychosis. This co-op is a great opportunity for students who are committed to increasing equity and access to culturally responsive, prevention-focused specialty mental health services across Massachusetts and who are considering a research or clinical career in psychology, social work, counseling, nursing or psychiatry.

Our department has a 20+ year history of training the next generation of mental health clinicians and researchers in best practices for early identification, assessment, prevention, and intervention of psychotic disorders via its leadership and partnership with the MA Department of Mental Health (DMH) to develop MAPNET – Massachusetts Psychosis Network for Early Treatment (www.mapnet.org) and M3P - Massachusetts Psychosis Prevention Program (M3P), a new SAMHSA-funded initiative aimed at early identification, assessment and prevention for youth who are showing signs of clinical high risk for psychosis. These programs aim to expand access to high quality, evidence-based care for early psychosis across the Commonwealth. 2B-EPIC aims to build a more racially, linguistically and culturally diverse early psychosis workforce by providing paid mentorship and training opportunities for Black and Latinx students to learn more about research and clinical careers specializing in working with youth experiencing early psychosis or signs of clinical high risk for developing psychosis. 

This is a paid co-op internship program that involves a combination of in-person and remote work. 

2B-EPIC Co-op Interns will take part in several activities within the department, including:
11. Research coordination for NIMH-funded national studies focused on early identification and intervention for youth at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P)
a. Data entry/ management
b. Organizing and filing study materials
c. Maintaining and updating databases
d. Helping to maintain compliance with BIDMC’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), including submissions and organization of regulatory materials.
e. Scoring assessment data for participants
f. Taking notes at study meetings and sharing updates and agendas
12. Opportunities for direct patient and participant interaction
a. Work one-on-one with clients through the ASPIRE clinic and InVEST coaching study
b. Develop coaching skills by helping clients with their executive functioning through various organizational and productivity skills
c. Attend weekly meetings for patient supervision
13. Massachusetts Psychosis Prevention Partnership and Massachusetts Psychosis Network for Early Treatment
a. Attending weekly meetings and engaging in planning discussions for program activities and events
b. Assisting with data management 
c. Helping to develop community training materials and website
14. Community Outreach and Engagement
a. Assisting with planning and organization of outreach events to schools, clinicians, youth agencies, religious organizations, hospitals, and primary care offices
b. Taking part in planning meetings to share ideas for increasing community awareness and engagement with our research and training activities
c. Building and organizing email lists to share events and outreach
d. Designing advertisements, fliers, and community education materials
e. Updating website and building social media presence
15. Strategic planning for enhancing access to racially, linguistically and culturally diverse early psychosis care across MA
a. Connecting with members from DEI initiatives within the BIDMC department of psychiatry, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Early Psychosis Working Group Culturally Responsive Care Sub-group and others to gather information on national best practices and approaches for innovative, culturally targeted, ecological systems theory-informed interventions to meaningfully address the lack of diversity in early psychosis careers.
b. Working together with individuals with lived experience of psychosis who are part of the consumer advisory board for BIDMC psychiatry department.
c. Presenting strategic plan at upcoming meetings, conferences and department meetings and engaging in a plan for implementation of new practices.
16. Assistance and mentoring of high school interns to conduct outreach and other projects
a. Weekly or more frequently meetings with 2B-EPIC high school interns to provide mentorship on college applications and career planning
b. Working with the 2B-EPIC high school interns to build a community awareness campaign for recognizing and responding to risk for psychosis and reducing stigma related to psychosis and other mental health conditions. Mentoring high school interns
17. Conference planning
a. Assisting with planning and advertising continuing education events for the department. 
b. Communicating with conference faculty
c. Providing technical assistance at events
d. Ensuring adherence to policies for providing continuing education credit 
18. Clinical meetings and care
a. Attend clinic meetings and rounds for clinical programs treating youth experiencing early psychosis or signs of risk.
b. Sit in on research clinical evaluations and assessments.
19. Mentored scholarly project presentation (options for poster and paper publications for some highly motivated students)
a. Meet weekly with research mentor and peers.
b. Research and propose a scholarly project – literature review, data analysis and presentation of findings at a department meeting. 
c. Motivated students who can commit more than 6 months may be able to work towards presenting their scholarly project at a poster session or to submit as a manuscript for publication. 
20. Contributing to positive lab culture
a. Taking part in program events and interacting with staff across the program to learn more about different career options in the field
b. Sharing ideas for team-building
c. Helping to recruit and select coop students for the next cycle

Requirements:
1. Self-identified as Black or Latinx 
2. Demonstrated of previous work experience – able to provide at least 1 reference from former or current employer
3. Considering career in psychology, psychiatry, nursing, social work, or counseling
4. Excellent writing, communication, interpersonal, organizational, and leadership skills
5. Demonstrated experience and interest working with culturally diverse youth and a commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
6. Interest in working with youth with mental health conditions and ability to use supervision and training to learn to interact safely and professionally with individuals whose reality testing, mood regulation, behavior, and/or hygiene may be impaired
7. Proficiency with database management (e.g., excel, redcap) and website development (e.g., using Squarespace or Weebly) is a plus
8. Being a permanent resident of MA is a plus.
9. Fluency in another language (especially Spanish) is a plus.