#1: 6/9/15
Hello! My name is Topher Hoffmann,
and I’ve moved to New York City for my summer internship! I arrived here having
just finished my second year of a joint masters degree program at Pitt. Specifically,
I’m studying for a Master of Public Administration at GSPIA and a Master of
Public Health at the Graduate School of Public Health. My interests are in LGBT
health; HIV/AIDS; and health policy, research, and advocacy.
It’s only been one week since I
arrived, and I already understand why it’s called the “city that never sleeps.”
At any given moment, there are a million things to do and see. In my first
week, I rode the rides at Coney Island, explored Prospect Park in Brooklyn,
hung out with the owners of a bar and a bakery in my neighborhood of Astoria,
went jogging around Roosevelt Island, saw the sun rise over Manhattan, watched
the Tony Awards with members of the NYC Gay Men’s Chorus, and even met a local
celebrity. (Still haven’t met Neil Patrick Harris, though – luckily, there’s
all summer for that!)
My internship, which will start
this week, is at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. I
will be working in the Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control on the New
York Knows project. New York Knows aims to increase the amount of people tested
for HIV in the city’s five boroughs (especially in communities vulnerable to
HIV), connect HIV-negative people to prevention services like pre-exposure and
post-exposure prophylaxis, and connect HIV-positive people to treatment. The
project is an expansion of two borough-specific projects, Bronx Knows and
Brooklyn Knows. As a young gay man who has learned about the impact of this
disease on my community historically, I’m excited to get started – and to share
with you all that I learn!
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