Internship Opportunity: DCPCA’s
Emergency Preparedness program
DC Primary Care Association’s Quality Improvement Department provides technical assistance and
training to health centers in DC and Maryland to support improvements in patient access, operational
excellence, and health outcomes. Through our partnerships with experienced experts, we develop and
facilitate training sessions, conferences, on-site technical assistance, and learning collaboratives to
accelerate the use of evidence-based best practices. Through the QI department, DCPCA offers an
Emergency Preparedness (EP) program for our member health centers in the District.
DCPCA member health centers have been at the front lines of the pandemic for over 17 months. They
have administered more than 72,000 vaccines and 71,000 COVID-19 tests while maintaining
preventative and primary care services for their patients. This is an exciting opportunity for someone
who is interested in supporting health centers in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic and build
long-term capabilities for emergency planning and response for other incidents (e.g., active shooter,
mass casualty, natural disaster).
If interested in the internship opportunity described below, please contact DCPCA Director of Quality Improvement , Megan Loucks (mloucks@dcpca.org). Please note the following:
• We are seeking professionals completing Master’s Degrees in a related field.
• A stipend is available, depending on intensity and duration of time invested.
• Minimum length of time preferred is 3 months.
• This is a remote position. Applicants must have access to a computer and Wifi.
Overview of DCPCA’s Emergency Preparedness Program
DCPCA’s Emergency Preparedness Program offers health centers support focused on two primary
objectives:
• Share best practices and resources to improve health center capacity to prepare and respond to
emergencies:
• Facilitate monthly Emergency Preparedness Task Force (EPTF) Peer Group of health
center staff.
• Conduct trainings and exercises.
• Provide one-on-one technical assistance.
• Connect health center to EP resources.
• Improve coordination and connection with District-wide EP stakeholders to enhance health
center capacity for EP:
TAKING ACTION FOR A HEALTHIER COMMUNITY
1620 I STREET, NW, SUITE 300, WASHINGTON, DC 20006 www.DCPCA.org
• Build partnerships with DC Health-Health Emergency Preparedness and Response
Administration (HEPRA).
• Identify aggregate FQHC needs and communicate findings to District EP personnel.
• Represent health centers at Health and Medical Coalition (HMC) and workgroups to
ensure health center representation and integration.
Internship Opportunities
COVID-19 Support (5 hours a week)
• COVID-19 Newsletter – summarize key resources and news from past weeks regarding COVID-
19 response of highest relevance to health center audience. Track changes, updated resources
and tools, and webinars and trainings and communicate to members via Newsletter.
• COVID-19 Vaccination Brief – identify District and HRSA vaccine program updates, additional
resources, health centers in the news, and webinars and trainings related to COVID-19 vaccines
for weekly brief.
• COVID-19 Trend Report – assist DCPCA Emergency Preparedness Specialist create monthly
trend reports of aggregated COVID-19 data – vaccines administered, staff vaccinated, testing,
etc.
Emergency Preparedness Task Force Peer Group/Learning Collaborative (2
hours a week)
• Contribute to the meeting agenda and develop meeting materials (e.g., PowerPoint, resources,
graphics)
• Identify subject matter experts to join meetings and provide trainings.
• Document meeting notes.
Resource and Information-Sharing Platform (3 hours a week)
• Assist with platform set up.
• Compile emergency preparedness and response resources appropriate for the health centers.
• Engage emergency preparedness leads to use the platform through the EPTF Peer Group.