Research Papers / Applying for a PhD in Child and Adolescent Health and Development [4]

Hi,

I am so happy to know of this site, I appreciate the good job you guys are doing. Please could you help look at my essay and make input? Thanks.

I have research interests with focus on health and development of children, adolescent and women. I am applying for a PhD in Child and Adolescent Health and Development so as to acquire knowledge and skills and build my capacity in meaningful research and trainings that will improve the health of these special groups. My special interest is on malaria, diarrhea, contraception, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, their determinants in children and adolescents (including the orphans and vulnerable children), and how they influence on their education, relationship formations (marital) and future with a view to mitigating against the diseases and improving their health.

In quest of acquiring the required knowledge and skills for my research interests, I have just concluded my master of public health program in Population and Reproductive Health Education, a program which was supported by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Schools of Public Health and my dissertation was selected as one of the best for presentation at the end of the program. In the course of the program, I served as an intern with Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH) where I gained knowledge on health of children, adolescents and women. Upon completion of the program, my research dissertation which focuses on contraception was selected as one of the best for poster presentations in the faculty of public health and I have also made presentations at international conferences on children and adolescents health.

In order to broaden my research skills, I worked as research assistant in the project REACH (Research Alliance to Combat HIV/AIDS in Nigeria) which gave me the privilege of using both quantitative and qualitative research methods to collect data in the fields. I also worked as consultants in other projects with focus on malaria and diarrhea infections in children, adolescents and women. These opportunities have made me develop strong interest in using research and trainings to improve health of the populace.

Presently, I work as the Community Service Specialist in the PRO-ACT (Prevention Organizational System of AIDS Care and Treatment) Project of Management Sciences for Health (MSH Nigeria). The project addresses HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and diarrhea issues among children (orphans and Vulnerable Children), adolescents and the community members. Since I joined the organization, I have learnt several other tools and research methods used in gathering both qualitative and quantitative data.

As a community health worker among a population of more than three thousand (3,000) Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), adolescents and women in limited-resource-settings who are either infected or affected with HIV/AIDS coupled with tuberculosis, malaria and diarrhea. I have seen how marginalized these groups are.

My research among them shows that most of these children and adolescents are sexually abused and violated, which predisposes then to different health and socio-economic problems and make them miss out of most of the Millennium Development Goals. They live in huts, are malnourished, do not have access to universal education and their rights are daily violated. Meanwhile, all these health related problems are due to some solvable determinants.

In my interaction with caregivers, relatives, health workers and opinion leaders in most of these settings, I have found out that the health risks and problems face by these young ones are beyond the tip of ice berg but are more rooted in the socio-cultural practices and religious beliefs of the different communities and those are really the determinants of the health needs of these children and adolescents who become mothers at an average age of 16 years especially in the northern parts of Nigeria.

Traditional programs can address some but not all the structural risk factors for HIV vulnerability among these children especially the adolescents' girls. Most of the interventions have not reach the most-at-risk children, adolescents' girls and boys as the number of HIV infected children and adolescents who are dying of preventable diseases increase daily. A more culturally, religious-based-beliefs interventions which can be achieved through original research and training activities needs to be used if the lives and future of these children, adolescents and the unborn are to be preserved from these preventable diseases.

Although my acquired research knowledge and skills have increased over time but I have not been able to gain skills into the determinants factors predisposing these groups to these health risks/problems thereby jeopardizing their future. I therefore need additional trainings and research skills to be able to research into these health determinants and provide interventions. I believe a PhD degree will afford me this opportunity.

I look forward to a positive response from the selection committee so as to provide interventions which will improve the health of children, adolescents and women when I return to the country.