Academic research at Health[e]Foundation by University students

Because Health[e]Foundation is closely affiliated to the Amsterdam University Medical Center (Amsterdam UMC) and the department for Global Health Education we are pleased to serve as a learning hub for students and welcome the dedicated time students can allocate to evaluate our projects and organisation in more detail. This week, two students started their research internships.

Evaluation study on the Moodle platform by Maria Camila Cuadrado

My name is Camila, and I will be conducting my internship at Health[e]Foundation for the next months. I moved to the Netherlands in 2019 after graduating from my bachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering in my home country, Colombia. Currently, I am a first-year student of the Master Management, Policy Analysis and Entrepreneurship in Health and Life Sciences at VU University in Amsterdam. In my free time, I do CrossFit, dance salsa, and because of the lockdown, I started to enjoy baking.

I follow courses in the community-based health technologies specialization because I am passionate about applying digital tools in the healthcare sector. Therefore, I am excited to participate in this project where I will be evaluating the new Moodle Learning Management System implemented at the Health[e]Foundation. I will interview the participants of the courses offered at the Moodle platform to identify how they perceive the new platform and the factors that can be tailored or improved. I hope that the results of this internship will contribute to the improvement of the e-learning experiences of the users of Health[e]Foundation.

Impact assessment of the maternal health project in Suriname by Chris Blom

Hi! I am Chris, a second-year student of the Master Management, Policy Analysis and Entrepreneurship in Health and Life Sciences at the VU Amsterdam, following the specialization of International Public Health, and now intern at Health[e]Foundation! Apart from my studies I love being outdoors, go on mini-adventures or big ones such as guiding hikes in Iceland. I am very interested in maternal and health care, so I am very excited to do a research on this topic at Health[e]Foundation. In the next few months I will assess the impact of the Health[e]Community training program in Suriname. This is a blended e-learning training course for community health care workers, aimed at improving maternal and neonatal health outcomes. I will interview both intervention and non-intervention community health care workers as well as community members. Ultimately I hope this research contributes to the improvement of maternal and child health in Suriname.

Our team is very pleased to welcome Camila and Chris to conduct their research at Health[e]Foundation. In previous years we learned that the outcomes of research conducted by Master students are extremely valuable and enable us to further improve our activities and strengthen our organization. We are looking forward to working with Camila and Chris in the coming months!