Ben Geier ’18 Montgomery County Health Department – Over the summer I completed an internship with the Montgomery County Health Department.  During my experience, I was introduced to all of the different roles that a public health department plays in the community.  This included food inspection, vector control, meth home cleanup, and more.  Our boss ensured us that every day we would be working, and was consistent in making sure that we always had something to work on.  One major project that the interns worked on was Montgomery County’s very own S.W.A.T. team.

Now I know what you may be thinking and it is not that, this S.W.A.T. team stands for Surveillance of Water and Air-borne Transmitters.  Our role as interns was to go throughout Montgomery County and set mosquito traps.  We would then collect the mosquitos, identify what type of mosquito it is and then send them to the state so that they may be tested for any diseases.  We would perform this multiple times a week, keep detailed records of numbers collected, GPS coordinates, weather conditions, and more.  All data were then compiled to determine optimal areas and conditions for trapping in the future.

Not only were we the S.W.A.T. team, but we were all able to choose individual projects to work on throughout the summer.  Being a pre-med student, I chose to make a very detailed manual for future public health nurses.  The manual would serve as a guide to help in transitioning into a nursing job for the first time. It contained the main policies and procedures that the Montgomery County Head Nurse is in charge of.  It included how to perform communicable disease investigations, professional contacts, immunizations, and more. 

Being bilingual in Spanish and English, I was tasked with translating the community awareness and attitudes survey for Montgomery County.  The survey asked questions about the controversial topic of addiction to both alcohol and drugs.  By translating this survey, we were able to pull data from the large Hispanic population present here in Montgomery County.  This served as a new and efficient manner to incorporate an often overlooked group who actually have a large presence.  This should hopefully assist in the overall well-being of the county.

I can confidently say that this internship benefited me in a plethora of different ways.  It gave me memorable experiences that will be useful as I transition out of college and into the working world.  Thank you, Wabash College and the Small Business Internship Fund for making this internship experience possible.