Equity in Action Summer Internship Program (EASI)
Program Details
Since 2022, the Equity in Action Summer Internship Program (EASI) at Rutgers University has provided interprofessional experiences for health profession students at local community-based organizations in the Greater Newark and New Brunswick areas.
In 2025, 17 students from seven Rutgers Health schools participated in the RU-EASI program and provided 375 days of service to six community sites.
In 2025, the RU-EASI students:
- Developed materials for food bank partners including food pantries, elder care facilities, and afterschool programs. Subjects included understanding food expiration dates, avoiding heat exhaustion, and sun protection for kids with black and brown skin.
- Created a resource hub with materials on oral health during pregnancy and for young children, postpartum preeclampsia, and Caesarean section (c-section) recovery.
- Worked with street medicine team in Newark including providing wound care materials, food, water, clothing, and connecting individuals to health care.
- Served a long-term supportive housing community by conducting workshops on mental health and stress management, dental hygiene and dental care, and recognizing and preparing nutritious food from the local food pantry. Additionally hosted a summer fun day resource fair, and creating a sign for the community’s garden to help residents recognize the benefits of freshly grown food.
- Provided resources to connect unhoused individuals and migrant workers to stable primary care and promote health literacy by providing materials in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole.
- Conducted informational interviews and surveys with people living with epilepsy and their care partners to better understand care coordination challenges and needs for managing pediatric epilepsy, both with healthcare providers and others (for example, schools).
Project Posters:
- North Jersey Community Research Initiative
- Community Food Bank of New Jersey
- Global Grace Health Be the Change NJ
- Family Resource Network
- Mission First Housing Group
- Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey
In 2024, 15 students from six RBHS schools participated in the RU-EASI program and provided 300 days of service to six community sites.
In 2024, the RU-EASI students:
- Developed pamphlets that provide families and caregivers of children with disabilities advice on adjusting the home environment, descriptions of referrals a physician might make and personal accounts from parents of children with disabilities.
- Created an awareness campaign of the importance of dental care during pregnancy.
- Distributed food, water, hygiene kits, toys and clothes to unhoused elderly people and migrant farm workers and their families.
- Created bilingual health education resources for parents to detect hearing or visual impairments in their children.
- Served a long-term supportive housing community by creating a calendar of events on topics such as self-care, nutrition, physical activity, the appropriate use of urgent care vs the emergency room and a family fun day.
- Increased awareness of a new dental screening clinic for low-income patients.
Project Posters:
- North Jersey Community Research Initiative
- La Casa De Don Pedro
- Global Grace Health Be the Change NJ
- Family Resource Network
- Mission First Housing
- Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey
In 2023, 14 students from six RBHS schools participated in the RU-EASI program and provided 336 days of service to six community sites.
In 2023, the RU-EASI students:
- Developed pamphlets that provide health professionals with information on dismantling barriers to providing effective and equitable healthcare when working with patients with disabilities.
- Served a long term supportive housing community by providing educational and recreational activities to the residents and their children.
- Created health education resources and hosted workshops on common over the counter medications and health issues such as blood pressure.
- Increased access for parents to resources related to pediatric vision, hearing, or growth assessments at a Head Start/ Early Head Start program.
- Served the local community by joining the social service team on rounds to provide outreach on STI testing, Hepatitis C treatment and vaccinations and created outreach materials to reach vulnerable populations.
Project Posters:
- North Jersey Community Research Initiative
- La Casa De Don Pedro
- Global Grace Health Be the Change NJ
- Family Resource Network
- Mission First Housing
- Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey
In 2022, 14 students from six RBHS schools participated in the inaugural RU-EASI program and provided 343 days of service to five community sites.
In 2022, the RU-EASI students:
- Created an online navigation tool that provides individuals with disabilities and their families with the information they need to access and navigate the state’s system of services.
- Developed a vaccine hesitancy program for maternal and child health community workers and parents and families.
- Created an online navigation tool that provides individuals with disabilities and their families with the information they need to access and navigate the state’s system of services. Disability Inclusive Healthcare: A Health Professional’s Guide.
- Served the homeless community by joining the social service team on rounds in the community to provide services and food and created and compiled health education resources for vulnerable populations.
- Crafted workshops and provided individual case management to residents in permanent supportive housing.
- Increased access for parents and childcare centers/providers to resources on how to prevent and address childhood lead poisoning.
Project Posters: