This summer, I had the opportunity to intern at the Posey County Health
Department in Mt Vernon, Indiana with Kelli Goedde, RN. Some of the main tasks I had was helping with their PEACH program which gave underprivileged mothers supplies for their children, going to events to expand the community’s knowledge on the health department, installing car seats, checking blood pressure/sugar, testing lead levels in blood, and creating an entirely new Excel format for the office. By having these experiences, I have gained many valuable skills and traits that will help me in my future career.
Throughout this journey, I was able to see what it was like to provide help to a community that has plenty of members that do not have the resources that many people have. I saw many different residents who were striving to get help, and just being able to be a part of an office that tried to be that help in any way was something new to me. I learned through this experience that I really enjoy being there for people who feel like nobody cares about them. As long as I can remember, I have always tried to be there for anyone who was hurting in any area of their lives, and this experience helped me further realize that this is what I enjoy doing.
Apart from going into the community and providing support, I also was able to see what the work is like outside of the public eye. I studied and learned many diseases and viruses that were either prevalent in the society at that time or could be prevalent in the future. By learning about these various diseases, I was also able to learn how we can try and prevent it from becoming a major issue in the society. In addition to this, I was also honored to help out in the making of the first mobile clinic for Posey County where the health department can now provide services in many locations within the county rather than the community members having to drive to the health department themselves.
In conclusion, I am very honored to have been able to do this internship this summer. I wholeheartedly thank Kelli Goedde, RN, and everyone within the Posey County Health Department for an educational and life changing summer. I would also like to thank the Wabash GHI program and all of its sponsors for making this entire experience possible for me and many other Wabash men.
