Practicum
For my practicum, I took a class under the public heath school called Health Literacy (HLTH431). Health literacy is also an options class for my major. This class involves understanding health literacy, which is in essence the degree to which individuals can make informed health decisions, and learning the methods by which health literacy should be talked about with providers and policy makers. As a part of this class, me and a group of my peers put together an in-depth public health intervention over the course of the entire semester that focused on decreasing the stigma around mental health and improving conversations around mental health in high school settings. Our intervention was aimed toward Baltimore City high school students and involved creating a peer-based mental health program to be launched initially in private high schools in the area. As a part of the program, upperclassmen mentors would be trained to lead peer-based counseling sessions for students and organize sessions to take place once a month over the course of a school year. By educating students on how to handle mental health concerns, we hoped to encourage high school students to be open about their mental health, especially because mental health problems at this age can often carry through adulthood and have lasting effects on individual's lives.
01
How Did I Choose This Practicum
When searching for classes for my first semester of sophomore year, I looked specifically for public health classes that focused on communication. I have always been interested in how outside factors impact health, so I chose to take this class in order to learn how to help individuals make informed health decisions. I would advise students who are searching for their practicum to look through their own majors first to see if any classes might be suitable. I was able to take a class that I found extremely interesting that was related to my major while fulfilling my practical requirement.
02
What Did I Learn?
Through this class, I was able to discover much about the field that I have been studying since attending UMD. Public health is so multi-faceted, and through this class, I was able to learn how public health concepts can be applied in the field. Interventions are a major element of public health because public health is about making changes at a level that can apply to a population rather than single individuals. Health Literacy itself is extremely important in improving the accessibility of health care, which is an essential part of the health care field that I believe is often disregarded. Even when individuals have access to the care that they need through financial means, that care is not as effective when individuals have no idea how to make health care decisions that can benefit them. For example, when a patient is prescribed a medication, they need to follow the precise instructions in order to feel the proper effects of that medication. However, if they have low health literacy, they might not be able to read the instructions or follow them correctly. This issue is a key factor in ensuring health equity.
​
03
How Have I Grown?
The greatest things that I have learned from this experience are how to be innovative in my work in public health as well as how to work with a large group in planning interventions and programs. Innovation was key in this project because the intervention we came up with needed to fit certain criteria that would allow it to be accessible and realistic to implement in real life. Although the intervention was more hypothetical, it still needed to be planned out as if we were proposing it to receive funding. For this reason, we needed to go into it with the mindset that every single aspect of the project needed to be convincing and completely error-free. This was my first time planning an intervention from the ground up, and it was extremely rewarding in the long run to come up with something that I truly believed could be implemented effectively. This intervention proposal demonstrates how I have been able to adjust my perspectives and work towards that goal of addressing mental illness through public health.
04
Practicum Application
Interventions are a major element of public health because public health is about making changes at a level that can apply to a population rather than single individuals. For this reason, gaining knowledge on how to create and implement an effective intervention is essential in terms of having experience for future projects that might actually be used. If I was to go into health care in terms of practicing medicine, I would still need to understand the importance of health literacy in order to give the best care for all of my patients. In order to give equitable treatment, providers must have an understanding on how to address health literacy. This class allowed me to further grasp the importance of the less technical aspects of practicing medicine. Regardless of how well a provider can diagnose and treat an illness, they are not providing sufficient care if they are not considering their patients background and ability to carry out their treatment.
Click to View Resume
05
Future Plans
For the rest of my time at UMD, I hope to finish my Public Health Science degree and perhaps also pursue a biology degree so as to get a dual degree. I also intend to continue singing and performing as often as I can, and in the future, perhaps do it on the side so as not to ignore one of my greatest passions. I have not decided what field I would like to go into but I would most definitely like to either work in public health research or go into the medical field. Regardless of what I do with the rest of my life, I hope to continue doing what I love and making a difference in the lives of those who have been left at an unfair advantage.