Carmen Cummings Helps to Improve Sexual Health Education in Mississippi

Carmen Cummings was pursuing a Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Behavioral Health Promotion and Education at Jackson State University when she served as a Region IV PHTC Pathways to Practice Scholar in the Fall of 2023. She chose to intern with Converge: Partners in Access, where she researched the impact of current abstinence-only and abstinence-plus sexual health education policies in Mississippi and provided recommendations for improvement. During her field placement, Carmen provided educational material around emergency contraceptives, developed an Excel sheet of family planning clinics within the state of Tennessee, and assisted the training manager with transferring online training data to a new H5P content platform.

Carmen also developed an infographic about emergency contraceptives for Mississippi State University students and developed social media promotion for a Period Packing Party. This event allowed individuals to assist Converge in partnership with a community organization called 601 for Period Equity with packing menstrual supplies for those in Mississippi.

According to Carmen, this internship influenced her professional growth and aided in her academic training.  

“Overall, this internship influenced my professional growth by learning to be flexible on tasks or projects that may be assigned and needed to be done in a short timeframe…I have been able to see and learn how a community health non-profit can operate and the unique, subtle, but needed ways an organization can influence and aid in improving the health of population…. This experience also aided in my academic training by being able to disseminate health related information to audiences and provide knowledge on population health and health resources.”