Research Assistant (Student Assistant VI)

Summary:

This role supports a hospital medicine quality improvement (QI) initiative focused on a street medicine discharge referral pathway for patients experiencing homelessness (PEH). Funded by a QI grant, the position is designed for a current medical student or other research assistant interested in health equity, care for people experiencing homelessness, and hospital-to-community care transitions. The Research Assistant will work closely with the project’s physician lead to evaluate whether referred patients successfully connect with the street medicine team after discharge, measure related healthcare utilization outcomes, gather stakeholder perspectives, and help translate findings into concrete improvements to the referral workflow.

Work Schedule:

Approximately 5–10 hours per week; flexible scheduling around medical school coursework and clinical rotations.
Chart review can largely be completed remotely and asynchronously; interviews may require some in-person time in the hospital or community settings.
Position is funded through the project’s quality improvement grant; duration aligned with the grant period (9-12 months)

Responsibilities:

Chart review: Review electronic health records for patients referred to street medicine at hospital discharge to determine whether the street medicine team successfully made contact with / saw the patient post-discharge.
Outcomes abstraction: Abstract and track healthcare utilization outcomes, including emergency department revisits and hospital readmission rates, for the referred patient cohort.
Stakeholder interviews: Plan and conduct semi-structured interviews with hospital clinicians, street medicine providers, case managers, and patients to identify what is working well, where the referral process breaks down, and opportunities for improvement.
Data synthesis: Organize and summarize chart review and interview findings for regular review with the project lead and for grant reporting.
Quality improvement recommendations: Help translate findings into concrete, actionable proposals for improving the discharge referral workflow.
Documentation and reporting: Maintain organized project records and assist with materials for grant deliverables, QI presentations, or abstract/manuscript preparation as opportunities arise.

Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree, preferably in health sciences or related field
Current graduate level student (minimum 3 credit hours per semester)

Required Licensure/Certification: None required.

Minimum Experience:

Excellent written and verbal communication. The ideal applicant should be comfortable communicating with patients, physicians, and medical staff
Comfortable conducting respectful, trauma-informed interviews with patients experiencing homelessness, as well as with case management and clinical staff
Completion of (or willingness to complete) human subjects research/IRB training (e.g., CITI training).
Comfortable navigating electronic health records for structured chart review (training provided).

Preferred:

Prior clinical, community health, or research experience.
Demonstrated interest in health equity, homelessness, street medicine, and/or hospital medicine QI.

Pay rate: $25 per hour

To Apply: Submit the following: