I have posted recently about how fast this semester has gone by but it honestly is so true! It really is crazy to see how time flies. I have been thinking about grad school lately. I would love to be able to get out of Arizona and explore a different city. It is a bit scary to think I would be off on my own. I am thinking about getting a dual masters in Public Health & Public Policy because I have a lot of interest in working in healthcare. Working at AzHHA has really made me realize that I would be very happy working in the healthcare industry. I also have a passion for policy so I am afraid to give that up. I want to maybe someday work with other policies such as education but am worried it is too broad for a stand alone Masters.
I am curious to know what others are thinking about in terms in Master's programs?
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Research Assistant
I have recently started working as a research assistant and I have enjoyed it thus far. My job is to go through scientific articles and journals regarding life as a post-doctoral graduate. I am a bit overwhelmed at the moment about how many articles I have to go through and am hoping that my supervisor will allow me to have part of winter break to complete this.
I am very excited to have this opportunity and have learned so much. I never would have imagined that I would be able to help out a professor. Anyone have any helpful tips for reading and analyzing scientific journals fairly quickly?
Thanks.
I am very excited to have this opportunity and have learned so much. I never would have imagined that I would be able to help out a professor. Anyone have any helpful tips for reading and analyzing scientific journals fairly quickly?
Thanks.
Public Service Through AzHHA
My internship through Arizona Healthcare and Hospital Association has been an eye opening experience. The organization is very community based and the people that work here really strive to do their best so that the community, specifically hospitals benefit through the legislative work that AzHHA does. One specific element really spoke to me. AzHHA is working to reduce the stress and anxiety that comes at hospitals when doctors and nurses have to talk to patients about how they want to die and their general plans regarding death.
AzHHA employees want to make sure that patients have a comfortable experience when talking about death and have developed a system of Life Talks that make talking about death not so scary and so that people have their wishes honored if a situation occurred where a healthcare provider would have to make a decision about their life such as if they want to donate organs or die naturally.
AzHHA in general is a public service organization that serves to meet the needs of the Phoenix healthcare community. By bridging existing gaps AzHHA hopes to create healthcare solutions so that patients have an easier time using the healthcare system. AzHHA is also nonprofit so their work and energy is truly mean't to go back to the community.
AzHHA employees want to make sure that patients have a comfortable experience when talking about death and have developed a system of Life Talks that make talking about death not so scary and so that people have their wishes honored if a situation occurred where a healthcare provider would have to make a decision about their life such as if they want to donate organs or die naturally.
AzHHA in general is a public service organization that serves to meet the needs of the Phoenix healthcare community. By bridging existing gaps AzHHA hopes to create healthcare solutions so that patients have an easier time using the healthcare system. AzHHA is also nonprofit so their work and energy is truly mean't to go back to the community.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Interview with a Supervisor (with a twist!)
I am so happy to be working at AzHHA thus far and have already learned so much. My group has been doing really well at gaining momentum and gathering some good, strong data about our age group. People over 50 really have some interesting ideas about health and healthcare in general. Surprisingly people in this age group do a lot of nontraditional things to maintain health and in general feel positive about the Affordable Health Care Act. I'll be sure to post updates when we gain deeper insights.
So for this week, I am excited to talk about my experience interviewing someone at AzHHA because my supervisors actually organized all the staff of AzHHA to be interviewed by my intern group. My supervisors are wonderful because they really want us to leave this internship with deeper knowledge of ourselves and the community that we live in. This past week or so they thought it would be great to practice our interview skills by taking turns interviewing all the staff members of AzHHA (which isn't too large0 about 15 or so) and each group got to take turns practicing and then receive feedback afterwards about our interview. If you haven't had a chance to read my earlier posts my internship is based on interviewing people in the community so practicing this skill is very important! For this exercise we had to come up with questions off the top of our head to ask the staff member and most of the questions I asked them were based on this prompt! For this I will only summarize the interview with my supervisor Barb.
Barb is the Director of Government Affairs which is actually quite a dynamic role at AzHHA. She has the opportunity to act as a liaison for AzHHA and represent their affiliated organizations at the State Capitol. She actively follows policy and advocates for the hospitals in Arizona. She is very busy being a part time lobbyist and said that she often spends very late nights at the Capitol because no one is able to leave once the House or Senate is in session. She spends most of her days talking to constituents and investigating the key issues in Arizona regarding healthcare. She said that she did not know that she would end up in this field but has always had a passion for healthcare and working with the community. The most interesting I found about her was that she has always hated public speaking and that's what she has to do all the time! She said she still gets very nervous but never gives up because she knows how important her role is to the community that she serves. Barb did get a Bachelors Degree in Political Science and actually began her career working as an intern at AzHHA. She briefly left for another lobbying job at the Capitol and then returned to AzHHA because she really felt at home there. I enjoyed getting to talk to Barb because I had definitely considered a job as a lobbyist but after this interview I don't know if I would like to be so upfront and would maybe prefer a role where I am more behind the scenes and investigating policy issues.
So for this week, I am excited to talk about my experience interviewing someone at AzHHA because my supervisors actually organized all the staff of AzHHA to be interviewed by my intern group. My supervisors are wonderful because they really want us to leave this internship with deeper knowledge of ourselves and the community that we live in. This past week or so they thought it would be great to practice our interview skills by taking turns interviewing all the staff members of AzHHA (which isn't too large0 about 15 or so) and each group got to take turns practicing and then receive feedback afterwards about our interview. If you haven't had a chance to read my earlier posts my internship is based on interviewing people in the community so practicing this skill is very important! For this exercise we had to come up with questions off the top of our head to ask the staff member and most of the questions I asked them were based on this prompt! For this I will only summarize the interview with my supervisor Barb.
Barb is the Director of Government Affairs which is actually quite a dynamic role at AzHHA. She has the opportunity to act as a liaison for AzHHA and represent their affiliated organizations at the State Capitol. She actively follows policy and advocates for the hospitals in Arizona. She is very busy being a part time lobbyist and said that she often spends very late nights at the Capitol because no one is able to leave once the House or Senate is in session. She spends most of her days talking to constituents and investigating the key issues in Arizona regarding healthcare. She said that she did not know that she would end up in this field but has always had a passion for healthcare and working with the community. The most interesting I found about her was that she has always hated public speaking and that's what she has to do all the time! She said she still gets very nervous but never gives up because she knows how important her role is to the community that she serves. Barb did get a Bachelors Degree in Political Science and actually began her career working as an intern at AzHHA. She briefly left for another lobbying job at the Capitol and then returned to AzHHA because she really felt at home there. I enjoyed getting to talk to Barb because I had definitely considered a job as a lobbyist but after this interview I don't know if I would like to be so upfront and would maybe prefer a role where I am more behind the scenes and investigating policy issues.
Life Update
Hello everyone,
So happy to have made it half way through the week already. This semester has just flown by and I am sorry to say I am actually eager for winter break to come quickly. I am excited because this past week I have been asked to be a research assistant for the end of this semester and next spring. I am so excited for this opportunity because I think it will give me a chance to discover more about my own passions especially in the world of public policy. The details are still vague at the moment about the project as a whole but I do know that I will be doing a whole lot of reading!
Hope you all are having a great week. It is almost Friday!
So happy to have made it half way through the week already. This semester has just flown by and I am sorry to say I am actually eager for winter break to come quickly. I am excited because this past week I have been asked to be a research assistant for the end of this semester and next spring. I am so excited for this opportunity because I think it will give me a chance to discover more about my own passions especially in the world of public policy. The details are still vague at the moment about the project as a whole but I do know that I will be doing a whole lot of reading!
Hope you all are having a great week. It is almost Friday!
Leadership at AzHHA
I love working at my internship thus far, if you haven't had a chance to read my earlier posts I work for Arizona Healthcare and Hospital Association. Here I work with 12 other interns and we are separated into smaller groups of 3-4. In my group I work with two guys and one other girl who both have attended or are attending ASU. I love that we all have something in common and can talk about our experiences at ASU during break times.
Leadership is very important as AzHHA because my supervisors have given us the reigns to work at our own pace and control the outcomes. We are responsible for interviewing community members (my group interviews people 50+) and record data about their experience with healthcare and lifestyle choices in general. My supervisors do give us due dates and have expectations but the way to achieve results is all dependent on us as a group. We are able to show leadership as a group, because we have to produce ten or more interviews a week, but also as individuals to express our ideas and to help carry the team if other members have a difficult week getting interviews. Because I have lived in Arizona the longest out of my group I have more connections to people over 50 so I have taken a leadership role in helping my team reach out to some of my contacts.
My supervisors are amazing leaders and often host weekly workshops for us to improve as leaders by doing team building exercises and introducing us to healthcare leaders in the community. They often share with us what their responsibilities are and how they have tackled problems in the past. I am so grateful for them and their willingness to help us during this process.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Fall Break is almost here!
Happy Wednesday everyone,
I am so excited for this week to be over so that I can go home for fall break. I don't live very far away, only in North Scottsdale, but I cannot wait to be home for awhile. I love living with my roommates but you can only spend so much time with three other girls! I plan to spend time in the hot tub, reading a book just for fun, and maybe doing some shopping. I cannot believe how fast this semester has been going by, just yesterday I remember being a freshman. I have included an image of how I plan to spend my break for reference.
I am so excited for this week to be over so that I can go home for fall break. I don't live very far away, only in North Scottsdale, but I cannot wait to be home for awhile. I love living with my roommates but you can only spend so much time with three other girls! I plan to spend time in the hot tub, reading a book just for fun, and maybe doing some shopping. I cannot believe how fast this semester has been going by, just yesterday I remember being a freshman. I have included an image of how I plan to spend my break for reference.
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