Each summer, students from across the U.S. and metro spend part of their break at UNMC enhancing their skills in a variety of programs. The Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) offers opportunities to gain basic science experience and enhance competitiveness for graduate programs.
Today, we meet Katelyn Sturdivant in her first summer at UNMC.
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Katelyn Sturdivant |
- Name: Katelyn Sturdivant
- Hometown: Kennesaw, Ga.
- Undergraduate year: Rising fourth-year student at Georgia Tech
What sparked your interest in science?
There is a sense of mystery to science that initially caught my interest as a child. I enjoy learning about how and why things work the way they do. One aspect of science that I find most interesting is how organized and precise cellular functioning can be.
Describe your summer project.
This summer I am working with the national organization CityMatCH, which works to improve the health of women, children and families in urban communities through collaborations with public health organizations and community leaders. For my summer project, I am focusing on disparities in infant mortality using the Perinatal Periods of Risk Approach (PPOR), which uses as much information as is available to categorize and compare feto-infant mortality rates between communities and reference groups that have low infant mortality rates. By analyzing the data collected from various urban counties across the U.S., I aim to create reference groups that communities from all regions of the country can use to identify disparities in their infant mortality rates and find the best approaches to prevent future deaths.
How will this summer program fit into your career plans?
I plan to get a master’s degree in public health either before or during medical school. I feel having a better understanding of public health will improve the quality of care I will provide to people and the communities in which they live. Working at CityMatCH has boosted my knowledge of public health and set me in the right direction to reach this goal.