Health Sciences students Sara Briggs ’20 and Sydney Wolff ’19 are working together on a project to develop a nursing leadership academy focused on patient-centered care. The project is an internship with the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care in Bethesda, MD. Wolff and Briggs are exploring ways to involve nurse educators, nurse researchers and front-line nursing staff in project-based learning experiences that foster high-quality, collaborative patient care practices.
“The subject matter is right in line with the classes I'm currently enrolled in this semester. It's allowed me to apply what I'm learning in class to this internship and vice versa,” said Briggs, who plans to attend graduate school to become a nurse practitioner. “I'm very interested in public and global health. I'm excited to dig deeper into what I may want to do as a career through projects like this. I've already experienced such a sense of self-confidence that I have the knowledge to be given this idea of a leadership academy for nurse leaders and collaboratively bring it to life.”
Health Sciences students also attend career development programs and conferences to network with professionals in public health, health care and human and social service - experiences that introduce them to diverse perspectives and best practices for cross-sector, public-private health partnerships.
Applying classroom topics in real-world settings provides opportunities to think critically and solve challenging, genuine problems and offers insight into potential career paths for health sciences students, said Senior Lecturer Deborah Hinchey.
“It allows students to synthesize and culminate their learning and provides a valuable lens through which students see the world. It’s important to look at systems in place and understand the big picture,” Hinchey said.
Because the Health Sciences program draws students with broad interests in the field of public health and health care, the program provides multiple opportunities to learn valuable, transferable skills, said director Kate Moreau.
“Many students know they are interested in health-related careers and just aren’t sure yet what direction they will go in. Some focus on going to medical school or other graduate programs. Many want to pursue a job in an agency or organization with a mission to make an impact on disease prevention, research or even health policy and programming,” Moreau said.
For Petra Jackson ’20, an internship with the Vermont Health Department provides experience in informatics, laboratory science and infectious disease epidemiology. She works closely with the state Infectious Disease Epidemiology Program and public health laboratories to develop an electronic reporting protocol for reportable conditions.
Bethany Swanson ’18 said her internship opportunity helped shape her plans to pursue medical social work. As an undergraduate she interned with the Alzheimer’s Association and now works as a memory care rehabilitation assistant at the Maine Veterans’ Home as she pursues a master’s degree in social work at the University of New Hampshire.
“The interdisciplinary health internship really appealed to me. I am captivated by patient and family-centered care and working directly with those living with Alzheimer's disease and dementia,” Swanson said.