Public health is a space that many feel like they have a grasp on, but I would beg to argue
that many people actually have a misconception of what public health truly is and how it properly functions. Health departments are much simpler than people would expect, and without doing the proper research or finding out for themselves by working at one, they can easily be misconceived. I am fortunate and glad to have worked this internship at the Montgomery County Health Department because it provided me with so many educational opportunities to better understand public health and the role of a health department in its community.
I spent the majority of my time here at the health department, was with the vital records and water lab. This just felt even more expanded when we interns got to tackle the project of collecting water samples from homes to aid a state-ran program that is running more in-depth evaluations of the local water supply to check for contaminants. These contaminants would come from pesticides, chemicals from the derailed train in East Palestine, Ohio, and metals from outdated systems. New revelations have started to emerge about Indiana’s native water supply, which will be interesting to follow, in the future.
Overall, it was an incredible experience to take a step back from a full medical lens and see how other fields of healthcare work, specifically public health. I was able to diversify my mind and expand on my interpretation of the term “healthcare” because I now realize that there is much more to it than many people would realize. All aspects of healthcare work together, including all of the programs that public health funds and helps create preventative measures for so that medicine doesn’t have to be relied on as much. I want to thank the GHI for funding this internship experience because it will serve me, greatly, in the future. This internship taught me so much, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to learn about the different spheres of
healthcare, learn about the true purpose/nature of public health, and lastly, to be a part of a new project that could be impactful for the public health of the state of Indiana, as a whole.
