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Project Narrative

Public Health Internship

Dr. Kaninjing

Sarah Buttermore

July 27, 2020

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Over the summer, I had the opportunity to complete an internship with Coliseum Medical

Centers, which is a hospital located in Macon, Georgia. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I

completed this internship remotely. I served as a research intern for the Department of Patient

Relations, Chaplaincy, and Grief Support Services for my supervisor, Franchetta Trawick MBA,

CPRS, FT. I completed in-depth research to develop an educational guide to educate patients,

families, and healthcare professionals on the different aspects of grief and how healthcare

professionals can play an important role in the grief experience for patients and their families.

This guide included a wide range of content including different types of grief, physical and

emotional reactions to grief, models of grief management, the difference between clinical

depression and grief-related disorders, the role of sociocultural factors of grief, and the many

available treatments of grief. Additionally, I included sections explaining how grief impacts

different age cohorts, such as children and the elderly population. In the beginning of my

internship, I was assigned a topic and my supervisor allowed me to research and write about the

aspects regarding grief that I found to be beneficial and relevant to my research and my goals.

This research paper is technically the only material that I produced during this internship;

however, it was quite lengthy, so it took a lot of time, research, and effort to complete.

This project was necessary because grief can be a very overwhelming experience for

everyone involved. Nearly 2.5 million people die annually in the United States, which results in

an average of five individuals experiencing grief associated with each death. It is important for

patients, families, and healthcare professionals to understand the many aspects of grief in order

to navigate through an overwhelming time in their life. Despite grief being a universal

experience that everyone will experience at some point in their lifetime, it is not a major topic of

in-depth discussion in today’s society, especially in the United States. Therefore, it may be
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challenging for individuals to obtain information about it. My educational guide will be useful

for those hoping to find information regarding grief and identify aspects they may wish to

research further. Additionally, grief is not always a topic that is thoroughly discussed in medical

programs and training. Therefore, a healthcare professional may choose to complete additional

research to learn more about various aspects regarding grief. This guide will provide information

or perspectives that they may not have considered before or learned about in order to expand

their knowledge and utilize this information in their practice.

Overall, I would say that my internship project went very well. It was a challenging task,

but I was able to manage my time wisely and produce a research paper that I was proud of. I

received a very positive response and evaluation from my supervisor, Franchetta Trawick. She

informed me that it was one of the best research papers that she had read regarding patient

advocacy. She learned about the Patient Advocacy Certification Board (PACB), which is the

official certification exam required to be a Board Certified Patient Advocate (BCPA). She has

registered to take this exam in the Fall in order to improve her experience and credentials. I

communicated well with my supervisor and another Public Health student who interned with

Coliseum Medical Center, Morgan Scott. My supervisor ensured Morgan and I that we set an

excellent example for future students who will serve as an intern for Coliseum Medical Center,

especially during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Additionally, my research regarding patient

advocacy reassured my future career plans to hopefully become a patient advocate. I learned

about different career and educational paths that will be beneficial to me in the future.

If I could do anything differently, I would have loved to add a few sections of

information regarding grief because I find them very interesting. These topics may include but

are not limited to how family structure impacts the grief process, grief in the workplace, and the
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effects of grief on healthcare professionals, both clinical and non-clinical. Obviously, the

COVID-19 heavily affected my internship experience, but I would have loved to gain more

hands-on experience in the hospital with my supervisor. If I had been able to complete my

internship on-site, I would have loved to interact with patients, their families, and other

healthcare professionals. I would also have loved to implement a more creative project where

they were engaged in an activity that I created.