For tertiary students interested in getting some real research experience and working with senior Māori health researchers over the coming 2022-2023 summer, our Summer Studentship is intended to provide experience and support for Māori students wanting to learn new skills and gain experience in game-changing research.
The Summer Student will work under the direction and guidance of one of our Māori researchers to create a literature review for an upcoming research project on the implications of preventative HIV care access for Māori. The literature review will provide an opportunity for a student who is interested in Māori health to apply existing skills and knowledge in analytic thinking and writing, while being supported in new learnings within the environment of research excellence at Whakauae.
The Summer Studentship offers a $7,500 scholarship. The student will be able to work remotely between the dates of 12th December 2022 – 13th March 2023 (these dates are flexible and allow for a 2-week break at Christmas).
Whakauae has an ongoing commitment to produce research that brings about positive change for Māori communities. Whakauae Māori health research values Māori worldviews and builds Māori research capacity and leadership. This PrEP Access project has been designed to look at what is needed to ensure Māori equity in preventative HIV care.
Recent research has identified the issues around the data gathering of Indigenous peoples affected by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), leading to under-reporting of trends amongst minority ethnicities such as Māori. Furthermore, HIV prevalence rates in Indigenous communities are often attributable to systemic barriers, which culminated in higher risk of HIV. Recent data in Aotearoa New Zealand has shown that although national rates of new HIV transmission are decreasing, the numbers of new HIV diagnoses are actually rising among Māori.
The New Zealand Government has only just recently taken an important step towards reducing HIV transmission by changing the PrEP - an HIV pre-exposure medication - access eligibility criteria, making it much easier for those eligible to access PrEP and easier for clinicians to prescribe this life-saving medication. Whakauae's research project aims to understand and address the reasons for current epidemiological inequities amongst Māori in comparison to Pākehā, including reduced access to PrEP.
The literature review will assist this aim by identifying existing knowledge, issues, and ideas around HIV prevention for Māori.
Applications for the 2022-2023 Whakauae Summer Studentship will be open from 15th November 2022 and close 9th December 2022.To apply for the Summer Studentship please send your CV and a covering letter to: sonja@whakauae.co.nz
For further details on the project or for any questions about the Summer Studentship please contact: tanya@whakauae.co.nz
