A Semester in Student Health Services

Week 8: 3/4/19-3/8/19

Monday, 3/4:

Today I spent most of the day working at a caffeine Health Hub in the Life Science Complex. This topic was especially relevant due to it being the start of midterm week, a week where students drink a lot of coffee and energy drinks. This event was not as much of a success as I expected, especially considering the building where it was held is a very busy one with a lot of students walking through. Very few students, about 5 or 6, actually came up to the table to engage in our activity which was very frustrating. We had also brought a large number of flu-kits to distribute while we were there, and this too was very hard. Students declined them almost 50% of the time, and so it got to the point where we had to leave them in various spots for future students to be able to pick up. This was all mentioned during our weekly meeting with our supervisors, and so we were advised to schedule another health hub for this specific topic. This time we would go somewhere else, ideally outside on the quad, so that we will hopefully have a more successful time. During our meeting we were also all given more tasks to be completed throughout the week.

Tuesday, 3/5:

Today I spent the majority of my day putting together the Seasonal Affective Disorder bulletin board that I had put together last week. This took me such a long time because I needed to print everything out on colorful paper and then needed to cut and paste everything together before I could even put it up on the white board. Since SAD is such a commonly seen thing here on campus, my supervisors agreed to put my information right on the main white board sitting in the waiting room. I had to move the flu bulletin board that had been on the white board for the past few months, and overall this task took a long time.

Wednesday, 3/6:

Today was spent working on my giveaways for the health hub I would be running the next day. I had done research and found a few items that have been proven to help students better manage common depressive symptoms, such as play-doh, coloring sheets and journals. I used my own project funding to purchase these items, and so today I put them all together into a little kit. I also met with Jessica, one of my supervisors, for my mid-semester evaluation. Here we talked about my capstone, what I had gotten done so far, what I needed to get done and how I was going to do it. We both agreed that I had gotten a decent amount done, especially since my topic was most relevant now and would become less and less relevant as the weather gets better. I created a list of the different tasks I have completed thus far, so that both she and my professors could see what is it that I have been working on.

Thursday, 3/7:

Today I started the morning off by meeting with Teagan Peacock, who is the person who runs BeYouSU social media outlets. We spoke about different content she could use within the next few months, and the different events we would be running. Since the other interns and I are all students, I felt that this was a great opportunity since we have a better idea of what content students would actually be interested in, compared to non-students. I then had my SAD health hub for the rest of the afternoon, which went very well. Students really seemed interested in what I was talking about, and more students got my questions correct then I had anticipated. Students especially liked the items I was giving away, since they were so useful. Since it was so close to spring break and many remaining students were cramming for/taking exams, we did not get as many students as we had the previous time at this location. However, we still got about 40-43 people to take part in our activity, and so the event was a success.

Friday, 3/8:

I did not come in today, since I left early in the morning to go home for spring break.

Week 9: 3/18-3/22

Monday, 3/18:

Today was the first day back after spring break, and I spent most of the day getting myself organized and finishing up part of my capstone project. I started working on the presentation that I will be giving next week at the monthly staff meeting. Since I have already completed a large portion of the research and the awareness portion of my capstone, my supervisors and I thought it would be easier if I just presented at the April meeting. Since there are 3 of us interns, it would be very rushed if we all presented at the May meeting, especially since that meeting is important enough to begin with since it is very close to the end of the semester. In order to be able to actually have enough time to present, it was a good idea to move my presentation up. My PowerPoint included very basic information, on exactly what I was studying and the study results that I had found. My day concluded with our weekly meeting with our supervisors, from 3-4:30.

Tuesday, 3/19:

Today I began working on the tasks that had been assigned to me at the staff meeting the previous day. One of the major tasks was to make some edits to the caffeine brochure that I had made for an event. The event wasn’t a huge success despite it being on an interesting topic, and so we scheduled another event towards the end of the semester. A few recommendations were made by my supervisors, and so today I made the changes and completed the necessary research. I also packed up more flu-kits, since I was unable to attend the packing party that occurred at night. I finished the day by going out and refilling condoms at the Women’s Building and flu-kits at one of the academic buildings.

Wednesday, 3/20:

Today I had my third seminar for this class, and then spent the rest of the day beginning my final capstone project. I performed my regular daily tasks such as refilling condoms and flu-kits at HS. I also spent a portion of the day re-organizing the condom supply here, making sure that the refill boxes were full and that the back-up supplies were all in the right spot. I updated the excel sheet that I had made for the supply, so that the supervisors were able to see how much we had of each item.

Thursday, 3/21:

Today was Carina’s Health Hub, and so I spent most of the day helping her get ready for it as well as helping run it. Her topic was antibiotic awareness, and getting students to learn more about when and how they should use antibiotics. Her event was successful, and we were actually able to leave earlier than anticipated due to her handing out all of her giveaways. The rest of the day I began working on the slides for the April Power Point. I divvied up the topics we wanted to include between myself and the other two interns, and started working on mine. April’s slides are very similar to March, with the addition/removal of a few slides and so we chose to just reuse some of the slides we had already made. It doesn’t make sense to remake the same exact slides, and so this Power Point should not take as long to create.

Friday, 3/22:

Today I spent the day finishing up my slides for the April Power Point. I also continued to work on my capstone project. I wanted to start this project earlier rather than later, since it is such a big part of my graduation requirement. I am one who does not do that well under pressure, and so the earlier I start papers, the better. I will be reaching out to Megan soon to discuss the conceptual framework for my paper, so that I can be sure I am choosing the right one. I performed my regular condom/flu-kit refilling jobs today, making sure that the waiting room was stocked for the weekend.

Week 10: 3/25-3/29

Monday, 3/25:

Today I spent the day finishing up the remaining tasks that had been assigned to me last week, to prepare for this weeks meeting. I finished making the rest of my slides for the April Power Point, so that it could be shown during the meeting. I performed my regular condom/flu-kit refilling jobs today as well. At 3 pm, we had our weekly staff meeting where we were given new tasks for the week.

Tuesday, 3/26:

Today, I started off the day by making the recommended edits to my caffeine brochure. Though the caffeine health hub isn’t for a few weeks, we wanted to get the brochure all set to go so that we didn’t have to rush it. In addition to this I also made the recommended edits to my April slides, so that it could be all set to go up at the beginning of the month. Today I also went out and brought condoms to some of the locations, to refill the bins we have there.

Wednesday, 3/27:

Today I started the day by meeting with Megan, to discuss different parts of the capstone project. I wanted to get my paper started and worked on as soon as possible, since the end of the semester can be a very stressful time and I did not want to rush anything. After meeting with her I was able to get an idea for what I needed to do, so I worked on some of this today. I also helped Anthony with his food safety brochure, since he was a bit confused on how it should look. I finished the day by completing my condom/flu-kit refilling jobs. I also put together the giveaways for the HPV health hub that was supposed to happen on Thursday but do to conflicts, was canceled. The giveaways included two condoms and two sets of lubricant in a carry case. We are rescheduling this health hub and so these items will be all ready for whenever we decide to run it.

Thursday, 3/28:

Today I spent the day working on packaging up some more flu kits and working on my capstone project. Although we stopped handing out flu-kits this morning, my supervisors want us to put together the rest of the kits that we have materials for, so that it is easier for them to move in the fall. Since I am rarely able to attend packing parties due to working most evenings, I try to do my part throughout the week by putting together 30 or so each day. I continued working on my capstone, getting some of the research done and putting it all together. I finished the day by going out and bringing condoms to a few of the spots on campus, to refill the bins that we leave there.

Friday, 3/29:

Today I spent the day making more flu kits and working on my capstone. Since the week was pretty slow, I figured it would be the best time for these tasks. I also went to a Barnes Center student committee meeting, to offer ideas and feedback for the school’s merge in the fall. Since I am a student, I had quite a bit of insight into what would be the best ways to get students interested and knowledgeable on what the Barnes Center is going to offer next semester. After this meeting, I spent the rest of the day finishing up what I had been working up.

Week 11: 4/1-4/5

Monday, 4/1:

Today I started the day at 8:30, as we were asked to come in for a presentation on a HIV prevention drug. The drug and everything about it that the health providers should be aware of (such as the prevention rates it causes, the symptoms, how students can pay for it, etc.) was discussed during this presentation. Afterwards, we had an earlier meeting with our supervisors, as one had to leave early. During this meeting, we talked about the different events we would be attending/running this week as well as ones for the next few weeks. A few tasks were given to us to do during the week.

Tuesday, 4/2:

Today we had our HPV awareness health hub at Whitman, which went decently. What we found was that students were not as interested in talking about a sexual topic, as they are with other topics. The prizes were condom cases with condoms/lubricant inside, and multiple students didn’t even want to take one even though they had participated. This is a good example of where the awkwardness comes in around the topic of sex, even if students are having sex, this doesn’t mean they want everyone to know about it. We didn’t get a huge turnout, and had to resort to handing out some of the giveaways just so we could get rid of them. Asides from this event I spent the day working on a portion of my capstone paper, as well as delivering condoms to some of the locations on campus.

Wednesday, 4/3:

Today I started the day off with our monthly staff meeting. During this meeting however, I was asked to give a presentation on my capstone project and what I had found. I also included a few of the recommendations that I had thought of to offer, since they might be interested. Based on the feedback I received from my presentation, it appeared that everyone loved it. Multiple health care providers came up to me afterwards and told me they enjoyed the presentation and thought that I had chosen a really good topic. Other than the staff meeting, I worked on organizing a few things in our office as well as put together a few of the kits we were asked to make. In addition to making a few flu kits, I also put together some of the condom kits that are to be handed out at Mayfest. Our supervisor informed us that over 1500 of these condoms kits needed to be made, and so it would be a good idea to get started on them sooner rather than later.

Thursday, 4/4:

Today the majority of my day was spent tabling at the Sexual Violence Awareness Fair. We were asked to table with one of Health Services physicians, to help inform students on the different exams/testing/support we offer for students who experience sexual violence. This event was not very popular, as we did not get any students. Nobody came up to our table, except to take a few of the free pens and candy we were giving away. I think that the lack of attendance was due to the fact that few tables were giving away anything besides pens/stickers as well as the topic we were tabling on. Sexual violence is not a topic that can be talked about casually, it is a very sensitive topic for many individuals. Even if students who came through Schine saw the tables and what we were talking about, I doubt they would have just come up and started talking to us about it. Besides this event, the rest of my day was spent getting everything ready so that I didn’t leave anything undone before I leave for home.

Friday, 4/5:

I did not come in today as I went home for the weekend.

Week 12: 4/8-4/12

Monday, 4/8:

Today I came in and finished up a few of the tasks that were left from the previous week. We had our weekly meeting with our supervisors from 3-4:30 where we discussed the upcoming week’s events. I also continued to work on my capstone project today.

Tuesday, 4/9:

Today we had our health hub with Anthony, with the topic being food safety. This was a successful event, and we were able to attract a decent amount of people to participate. After we got back from this event, I spent the rest of the day working on my capstone. I also put together more flu-kits and Mayfest condom kits, since these are both kits we were asked to continue making.

Wednesday, 4/10:

Today I finished my capstone paper, with just revisions left to make. This was a relief for me, since I have been working on it for so long. I will later go in and make some edits to the paper. I also continued making flu-kits and condom-kits. Not much was going on today since we were preparing for the GYT events that would be occurring the next two days.

Thursday, 4/11:

Today was the first of the two GYT days, and we hit our cap (of 75 students) right around the end of the day. This event is an extremely popular event, and it appeared that many students came in clusters as opposed to coming consistently throughout the entire day. There were points where we wouldn’t have any students (or only one/two) for a long period of time, and then other points there would be 10+ students coming at once. This is likely due to class schedules, and the fact that students are likely to come when they are out of or are done with classes for the day. We expected to see a larger amount of students on Friday, since most students do not have any classes.

Friday, 4/12:

Today was the second and final day of GYT, and we hit our cap (another 75 students) around 3pm. We did have to turn quite a few students away, even after having allowed an extra 11 students to be tested after the 150 limit. We saw that many students came with friends, which is how the numbers went up so quickly. The entire event ran very smoothly, with few problems (at least problems that were in our control). Students seemed pleased with the event, and it should certainly be redone in future semesters. If it’s possible, they should try to increase their limit, so that more students are able to be tested. Even increasing the limit from 150 students throughout the two days to 175, we wouldn’t have to turn as many away and therefore could help better the sexual health of more individuals.

Week 13: 4/15-4/19

Monday, 4/15:

Today was spent getting everything back in order after the GYT events last week. I had a few things to catch up on, which is what I spent the day doing. We also had our weekly meeting with our supervisors from 3-4pm where we discussed the events of last week as well as what we our tasks for this upcoming week are. Since the semester is coming to a close, there isn’t a lot that needs to be done. We only have 2 more health hubs and one mini packing party, with the rest of tasks just being to keep making flu-kits and condom kits for Mayfest.

Tuesday, 4/16:

Today we held a mini packing party with Anthony, where we all got together and made flu-kits. We were able to do this for two hours, and so made a couple hundred flu-kits total. We were asked by our supervisors to make as many flu-kits as possible by the end of the semester, since they are moving to the Barnes Center over the summer and preferred moving bins of already made flu-kits instead of moving over the different kit components. These kits are extremely tedious to make, especially since each kit contains so many items. Other than this packing party, I spent the rest of the day making edits to my capstone paper, getting it ready to submit. I also went to the women’s building, to refill their safer sex supply.

Wednesday, 4/17:

Today I spent the day putting together flu-kits and condom kits. I made the decision that once I make a decent amount more of flu-kits, I wanted to start counting how much supplies we still had to get through. I was also asked by one of my supervisors to organize the closet which contained these supplies, and I didn’t want to do this until we got through more supplies. I also began writing my internship reflection paper, since there wasn’t much more for me to do today.

Thursday, 4/18:

Today we had Clarissa’s health hub, which was on diet culture within the US. This was a good event, as we had a decent turnout. The timing of this health hub was better than our previous one at this location, which I think had a lot to do with the increase in attendance. We still had to go out and bring our questions/giveaways to people sitting down, but overall it seemed to be a successful event. Afterwards, I spent the rest of the day working on making some finishing touches to my capstone paper.

Friday, 4/19:

Today was spent wrapping up the week. My timesheet and reflection journals were completed, and more flu-kits and condom kits were made. I also finished my internship reflection paper. Finally, we attended another Barnes Center Committee meeting, where we discussed the Barnes Center and how to better promote it to students. As current students, we provide good insight to the other members of this committee, since we have a better idea of what students what to see, and how exactly they prefer to see it. Though the Barnes Center and any information related to it is not relevant to me, it was still a good idea to act as a member of this committee to help other non-graduating students as well as future students.

Week 14: 4/22-4/26

Monday, 4/22:

Today I continued making flu-kits, and calculated how many supplies we had left. I was asked to organize the closet where these supplies were located, and so looking at how much was left gave me a good idea of how many we had left to make and how long I should wait until organizing the closet. I also had my weekly staff meeting today, where we talked about what we would be doing for our final week.  

In conclusion, the past several weeks have been filled with various events, tasks, and milestones in my internship journey. From organizing health hubs on topics ranging from caffeine consumption to sexual health awareness, to diligently working on my capstone project and assisting with the logistics of different initiatives, each week presented its own set of challenges and accomplishments. As the semester draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on the valuable experiences gained, the relationships built, and the skills honed throughout this internship. Looking ahead to the final week, I am prepared to wrap up loose ends, contribute to ongoing projects, and participate in final meetings and discussions. This internship has been a significant chapter in my academic and professional development, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of it.