PICS 2019 Smile Train New York New York

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PICS 2019: Smile Train New York, New York Maddie Winter ‘ 22

PICS 2019: Smile Train New York, New York Maddie Winter ‘ 22

My Summer Internship ■ ■ ■ Smile Train is a non profit organization that

My Summer Internship ■ ■ ■ Smile Train is a non profit organization that provides life-changing treatments and medical care to children with cleft lip and palate in the developing world. Smile Train has over 1, 100 partners hospitals in over 72 countries and has funded over 1, 500, 000 cleft surgeries since 1999. This summer I interned on the programs team, which is responsible for overseeing Smile Train’s medical programs — especially focusing on quality assurance.

Smile Train’s Model ■ ■ ■ Since 1999, Smile Train has been focused on

Smile Train’s Model ■ ■ ■ Since 1999, Smile Train has been focused on supporting a sustainable model of care. Smile Train empowers and trains local healthcare workers to provide cleft treatments, enabling more children to receive treatment and have access to long term and follow-up care. Smile Train also oversees several comprehensive cleft care treatment programs — speech therapy, orthodontia, dentistry, nutrition services, psychosocial support — which are essential to fully care for cleft patients and improve their quality of life.

My Major Summer Projects

My Major Summer Projects

Patient Record Matching ■ ■ ■ I was responsible for manually reviewing a spreadsheet

Patient Record Matching ■ ■ ■ I was responsible for manually reviewing a spreadsheet of nearly 40, 000 patient records from Smile Train’s programs in Brazil and matching records from the same patient (as some patients undergo multiple procedures or receive different services). Looking at demographic data and pre and post surgical photos of the patients, I linked nearly 10, 000 patient records throughout my internship. My work helped consolidate patient records, creating more accurate and comprehensive patient data — both important for Smile Train staff in assessing their programs and local healthcare providers in countries where recordkeeping may be a challenge.

Preparing Nutrition Education Materials

Preparing Nutrition Education Materials

■ ■ I helped prepare materials (Power. Points, lesson plans, activity documents) for nutrition

■ ■ I helped prepare materials (Power. Points, lesson plans, activity documents) for nutrition education workshops Smile Train is sponsoring in different global regions to teach caregivers and medical professionals how to feed children with cleft and combat malnutrition. Smile Train originally produced the documents in French and needed versions in several other languages to allow the nutrition education workshops to be held in other regions. I was given a “template” for over 20 different files and was responsible for inputting translations for the appropriate language for that region (e. g. , Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Indonesian), inserting regionally appropriate photos and recreating the educational graphics to be more suited to the region. Through finalizing versions for several different regions, I helped Smile Train support more nutrition education programs throughout the world — ultimately helping combat childhood malnutrition.

Final Research Project: “The Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Telemedicine, and Advanced Technology for Healthcare

Final Research Project: “The Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Telemedicine, and Advanced Technology for Healthcare in the Developing World” For my final internship project, I presented to the whole New York office on the role of advanced technology in healthcare delivery in the developing world and how Smile Train is implementing advanced technology in their programs.

■ ■ ■ With the support of my supervisor and other coworkers, I spent

■ ■ ■ With the support of my supervisor and other coworkers, I spent a portion of my internship researching how artificial intelligence and telemedicine have been implemented in healthcare systems in developing countries. Additionally, I had the opportunity to speak with several members of Smile Train’s staff about how Smile Train is currently using technology, such as highly detailed facial scanning and analysis to assess the outcome of cleft lip surgeries, borescope technology to better assess cleft palate surgery, and speech therapy via telemedicine in remote areas. I also made some suggestions about how Smile Train could expand their use of advanced technology to better optimize patient care and enhance the efficiency and quality of programming.

Final Project Impact ■ ■ ■ This was a particularly interesting and rewarding project

Final Project Impact ■ ■ ■ This was a particularly interesting and rewarding project for me, as I was able to explore my interests in global health and social justice and expand the organization’s awareness of the important role technology can play in alleviating global health inequities. A member of the programs team noticed one of the other telemedicine projects I referenced was in a region where Smile Train has partner hospitals and contacted Smile Train’s regional managers in Brazil about the idea of connecting the two programs. While this connection between the two programs may not actually happen, my presentation helped further the conversation of expanding Smile Train’s use of technology and innovation to improve patients’ access to care.

Key Takeaways ■ ■ During my internship, I learned about the values of commitment,

Key Takeaways ■ ■ During my internship, I learned about the values of commitment, having a strong work ethic and enthusiastic attitude, dedication, passion for serving society, social sustainability and the incredible impact non profit organizations can have. My wonderful experience at Smile Train also gave me the opportunity to learn about the delivery of cleft lip and palate care throughout the world, the complex and multifaceted field of global health and how an effective non profit functions. The programs team at Smile Train (along with other staff) were some of the most friendly, kind and dedicated people I have ever worked with, many of whom went out of their way to ensure I had a meaningful internship. Overall, my time at Smile Train was a profoundly rewarding experience — I further developed my passions for public health and reducing global health inequities, gained many new skills and ultimately was given the incredible opportunity to serve thousands of children throughout the world.

Thank You! ■ ■ I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to all

Thank You! ■ ■ I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to all those at Smile Train who supported me during my internship, especially the programs team (pictured above, L-R): Pam Sheeran, Sarah Hamilton, Priya Desai, Ewa D’Silva (my fantastic supervisor pictured in the right-hand photo), Erin Stieber, Julian Lattimore and Ewa Rumprecht. I would also like to thank PICS for this opportunity and my alumni partner Tim Tran for his guidance.