CIF Internship Program 2021

The winter internship program is now open! Master’s degree and/or Ph.D. students from around the world are invited to apply and use the possibility to develop advanced research skills, meet leading experts in the field, and/or become a co-author of a scientific paper. We offer two bold research directions – the role of the private sector in health and the prevention of addiction and mental health problems in adolescents. Each has its bold focus areas.

Research topic #1 is the role of the private sector in health, the research project aims to understand what are the risks to the quality and accessibility of patient care from excessive concentration and/or fragmentation in private healthcare markets, and what health system policies are available to address these? In the frame of the international internship program, this topic will have two focus areas:

  1. The policy instruments and tools used to regulate the healthcare markets. The above mentioned will be revealed through a comprehensive systematic literature review and as a result, the literature synthesis product will be developed which will inform the policy dialogue (planned by Curatio International Foundation with the government(s)) and the possible scientific paper. The evidence will be sourced from both high- and low-middle income country settings, more emphasis will be placed on the availability of the evidence for a low and upper-middle-income country setting.

Interns are expected to conduct a desk-based systematic literature review about the abovementioned topic. Interns are expected to have basic literature search and review skills/experience following the research framework, suggested by CIF.  Ability to undertake a comprehensive, systematic literature search, ability to critically evaluate publications, good analytical and summative skills, ability to develop a clear and coherent structure of the review with accurate citations.

The literature review will be based on the review articles, but where the review articles are not available, the researchers would look at the individual papers for the needed evidence available from grey literature sources. The period covered by the review will be defined at a later stage should include all articles published during the selected period in English (and other languages if possible depending on the language skills of the applicant) and available online. Candidates should demonstrate the capacity and previous experience in performing similar/comparable assignments and developing the evidence synthesis products (please provide any proof of evidence if you’re applying on this topic)

  1. To evaluate identified harms and benefits for patients, and for the health system, arising from the fragmented and concentrated (the market structure) health care market in Georgia, Curatio International Foundation plans to conduct the multivariate regression analysis. The intern is expected to participate in the data analysis and interpretation.

Interns are expected to conduct a multivariate regression analysis, under the supervision of the Principal Investigator of the study and the statistician. Candidates should demonstrate the capacity and previous experience in performing the regression analysis. (Please provide any proof of evidence if you’re applying on this topic)

Research topic #2 is the prevention of addiction and mental health problems among adolescents (PAMAd).The research project aims to improve the health and wellbeing of adolescents and young people affected by substance use and common mental health disorders through effective service provision. The pilot service is running for more than 2 years and is targeting the population from 14 – 25 years old. The main focus area under this topic will be:

To identify outcomes (including drug-related behavior) after benefiting from services offered under and what factors are associated with changes in outcome (if any).

Interns are expected to carry out multivariate regression analysis, under the supervision of the Principal Investigator of the study and the statistician. Candidates should demonstrate the capacity and previous experience in performing the regression analysis. (Please provide proof of evidence if you’re applying on this topic)

Application procedures and deadlines

If you are interested in the abovementioned research topics and would like to find out more about working with our research team, please submit your resume, motivation letter indicating the selected research topic (from the listed three above), and why you are interested in this area of work. The submission has to be accompanied:

  • by the recommendation letter from the university/professor or the employer and
  • Relevant proof of evidence in order to prove your experience and capacity in conducting similar tasks.

Interns will work closely with the CIF research team, will engage in discussions and research questions elaboration, to be answered through literature review or regression analysis.

The deadline for the application is November 19th, 2021. Notification about selection will be sent within 15 days after the deadline. Please follow our Twitter account with the hashtag #internshipatCIF to be updated about the selection process.

CIF attracts interns who are interested in having first-hand experience in the real-life setting and in contributing to the research projects implemented by the organization. The experience of our previous interns will give you a better idea about our internship program, please follow the link to hear their feedback: http://curatiofoundation.org/about-internship/

For any further queries, please contact Internship Program Coordinator Maia Uchaneishvili at [email protected]

Check the call online: —

Applicants interested in this research topic(s), but not having proficiency in the skills required, are strongly encouraged to upgrade their practical skills prior to the internship term by enrolling in respective courses in their schools or taking online ones. Applicants will be expected to adequately reflect this weakness in their application/motivation letter and describe how they intend to advance their knowledge and skills prior to undertaking an internship. Failure to may have a negative impact on application evaluation.

We are looking forward to applications and fruitful collaboration. #internshipatCIF

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