GIS Internship at the Indian Health
Service: an agency of the US
Department of Health and Human Services
This is an opportunity to work on the development of a GIS
program for an agency that provides health services to American Indians/Alaska
Natives. The IHS provides health care to
American Indians/Alaska Natives in over 500 facilities in 35 states across 12
areas with a staff of 15,000 employees.
The Intern will work with planning and statistics staff in
the Office of Public Health Support and its contractors, utilizing ArcMap
software and accessing IHS geodatabases. The applicant should have a good working knowledge of ESRI software including
ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro and be interested in its application to health issues and
service delivery, disease identification and the social determinants of
health. It is anticipated that the
intern will support agency efforts in mapping facilities, services, and health
issues as well as complete an individual project of interest related to IHS
work and GIS to the intern to be designed with the IHS staff. Potential projects might include analysis of chronic disease
data by location, tribe, or area; evaluation of substance abuse and mental
health services by use and location; development of air ambulance networks,
comparison of facility size and service area over time; identification of patterns of migration by
America Indians and Alaska Natives throughout the US; validation of boundaries of reservations and
tribal lands; location of services on reservations and tribal lands; and tracing
patterns of infectious diseases.
The IHS office is located in the HHS building at 5600
Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD within walking distance of the Twinbrook Parkway
Metro stop.
The internship is unpaid and will last approximately two to three
months depending on the academic schedule and preferences of the
applicants. Applicants will undergo a
standard background check before beginning the internship. Based in part on their experience and skills, past
interns have received additional offers to work in federal and other government
offices.
For further information, please contact Lucie Vogel
301-443-1133