KINS 4306 – Internship in Public Health Reflection Paper

Katelyn Hale
Introduction

My name is Katelyn (Katie) Hale, and for my Spring 2024 internship I worked with the

Alzheimer’s Association in Macon, Georgia. Established in 1980, this global non-profit mission

statement is to “lead the way to end Alzheimer's and all other dementia — by accelerating global

research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support”.

There are a myriad of roles within the Alzheimer's Association, and mine was a more local one.

There are 4 main regions in the state that each get 1 program manager, and I shadowed the

program manager that represents Central Georgia (including the coastline). The major cities

covered within this region included Macon, Milledgeville, Augusta, and Savannah. My major

responsibilities were Milledgeville and Macon since my position would not allow for travel

reimbursement. I was based in the Macon office which hosts 2 employees- the program manager

and the walk manager. The office is so small because there is huge emphasis on being out in the

community as much as possible. This leaves the office's primary functions to be holding

community resources and community volunteer meetings. The target populations for the role I

shadowed were older adults seeking resources and varying educational programs as well as those

at risk for Alzheimer’s and other related Dementias (everyone- because we all age).

Description

My responsibilities essentially were to do exactly what the Program Manager does! This

mostly involved organizing and delivering community education programs and figuring out

where we can make new connections within the communities we serve. I had two supervisors

over the span of this internship. The first was based in Macon, but got promoted to a new

position a few weeks in. For the remaining duration of the internship, my supervisor was based
in Atlanta. Given this, the first half with the Macon supervisor primarily had me shadowing at

meetings and observing how everything rolls. I was in the office every day of the week. Once the

transition happened, I was a lot more remote and self driven. We had weekly check-ins with what

I have accomplished and need to accomplish moving forward. This created two distinct

experiences for me. Both were positive, and they were important to me in different ways!

During the more in-person first half, I felt like I was getting a better sense of the 9-5

office life, and I enjoyed it more than I expected to! Since this was the first half when I was

learning the position’s logistics, I did a lot of shadowing and observing. This resulted in me

being more passive at community events, and more proactive on in-office details. Once I

transitioned to more remote, learning how to set my own schedule everyday was a learning curve

for sure; however, it made me more proactive regarding community engagement, networking,

and seeking out opportunities to introduce myself. I became much more self-assured when

making new connections and like I was representing myself well. All of this together made me

feel like I got a good sense of what the workforce looks like from multiple perspectives. The

most rewarding experience was advocacy day at the capital because it fueled my “wow, I have

the power to make a big difference and put myself in positions of opportunity” tank. While I

wish I had a little more experience with public health specific systems, I think I was exposed to a

lot more self-sufficient opportunities than some of my peers may have had!

Perception & Evaluation

The internship absolutely exceeded my expectations. Frankly, I did not have any particularly

strong pull towards aging-related issues before this internship. I was familiar with Alzheimer’s

because of my mom’s respite program and I liked the site location. I did not expect to become so
invested in the subject matter and follow this path into grad school. I also did not expect to be so

involved in decision making! I assumed I was going to be a very small part of a very big office,

but I was given a lot of voice and was treated as a highly valuable member of the Georgia team.

This being said, this being an unpaid position, I never once felt as though I was being taken

advantage of or that my time was being wasted. I deeply appreciated my supervisors giving me

appropriate work, even when the position I was initially shadowing became temporarily vacant. I

cannot emphasize enough how well-supported I felt at this site. My concerns were always heard

and addressed, and they genuinely wanted the unique perspective I brought to the table. All of

my work was such an opportunity to learn, and every effort was always appreciated! I could

comfortably ask for guidance, and despite our short time together, I felt highly encouraged by my

supervisors to succeed and reach my full potential. I felt so highly invested in, and that made this

whole experience so beyond incredible. I was a little nervous at first for the supervisor transition,

but it went so smoothly! I was never micro-managed and had weekly big-picture check-ins. This

was empowering and gave room for growth and redirection where needed. It made for a very

effective supervision experience. I am trying very hard to come up with an area of improvement

for this internship. I was a little bummed it ended up being somewhat remote, but I think it was a

valuable experience for me to have! Since the team is so small, I really could learn about

anything I asked! I would most certainly recommend this internship to others. I do not think it is

necessarily for everyone if public speaking on a whim is not for them, but there are plenty of

roles all across Georgia that fit different kinds of personalities! I think the non-profit experience

is so helpful to public health professionals because not only do you get to experience grassroot

organization engagement, but to a certain degree, you also get to understand the internal

workings of a grassroot! I have considered beginning my career in this field, but more of the
public health side of things. Once I get to grad school I will be working with people I have met

over the course of this internship which is so exciting!

Preparedness

GC&SU public health department set me up for success far more than I could have

anticipated. When going to classes you kind of get used to going through the motions and do not

realize how much you are soaking in sometimes. By the end of fall semester I was becoming

incredibly hard on myself and comparing myself to my insanely successful peers. Going to my

internship made me realize that I am extremely competent and a hard worker. I was very critical

of some of my work, insisting my advisor give me constructive criticism so I could meet the

standard I had set for myself in my head; however, to my surprise, I was consistently informed

that the work I was producing superseded expectations. Much of what I was taught made me an

asset to the teams I worked with. I felt very good about data collection and assessment,

presentation delivery, and program development. The areas I grew in were real community

engagement and asset mapping. Those are things that are easy to talk and theorize about, but

doing it effectively in real life is apparently difficult! Especially when you are new in a town and

lacking both personal experience and connections.

Regarding what the department can improve upon, I would say bringing more awareness

to aging related issues and encouraging more practice in communication-related skills. By this I

mean having a class specifically for health communication skills. This would include skills such

as creating/editing a website, creating effective graphics for educational materials, creating

effective promotional items, etc. I cannot emphasize how often I had to create promotional items

for the Association as well as the pilot community education program I was in charge of.

Creating an effective flier was a huge challenge. Canva is not enough sometimes unfortunately.
With the huge rise of digital promotional spaces, this is incredibly important. Even learning excel

would be so helpful. One last area of emphasis would be public speaking opportunities! There

are certain skills that only come with experience, but having more opportunities for learning the

building blocks of a good presentation would be cool. I took a public speaking specific class and

felt as though there was huge potential for public health students to benefit from that content.

Overall though, the public health specific skills I learned set me up for great success and I felt

every class I took was certainly a great use of my time.

Performance

As mentioned previously, this internship was not necessarily public health centric, rather,

is an organization that aims to raise awareness about a rising public health crisis (Alzheimer’s

Disease and other Related Dementias). This being said, I got to learn a lot about program

management and the inner-workings of a non-profit. This included both soft and hard skills. Soft

skills included becoming more proficient at prolonged, non-scripted public speaking, becoming

more confident in initiating networking opportunities, and becoming a more professional

communicator. Hard skills included learning how to manage and report a real grant, learning how

to recruit and engage volunteers, processes that exist in the non-profit to maximize resource

distribution, how to assess lucrative partnerships, and how to begin addressing existing gaps.

Overall, I felt quite satisfied with my output during this internship. I think I was able to

manage my time well and maximize the quality, and fulfill roles appropriate to my position. I

wanted this to be a good learning experience, so I tried to put my best foot forward for each task

in order to maximize my experience. I think my skills and abilities were appropriate for an intern

position, especially regarding my overall knowledge about Alzheimer’s and other related

Dementias. By the end, I feel I can consider myself highly informed on the subject matter. I think
regarding outreach I could have probably been more proactive in scheduling future programs, but

I think I was just nervous to overstep since I did not have access to the master program schedule.

The program management position being empty made that more complicated in my head than it

probably needed to be. It wasn’t necessarily a task expected from me, but it certainly would have

been helpful and going above and beyond. I think the skill I need to hone the most is more of a

soft skill that is hard to articulate well. I have a bad habit of waiting for the “exact right moment”

to schedule programs, when the reality is just going ahead and scheduling them gets more done. I

don’t have to wait for perfect conditions to make it happen! Time just has a habit of getting away

from me sometimes, which can probably be fixed by working on being more present.

Benefits/insights

While it made me sad at times to be away from campus and my friends for my final

semester at GCSU, this internship was so important for me to get adjusted to graduating and

growing up. I’ve said it a lot, but the best way I can describe the feeling is “one foot in, one foot

out”. I feel a lot more competent than I did in January, and have been able to boost my resume

quite a bit. I made a lot of important connections for my future career and grad school, and I just

have to focus on developing those relationships. I feel like I have had the time and space this

semester to mentally prepare myself for moving forward and seeing what life outside of college

is like. If I am working for a cause important to me, the hard work feels justified and good. I

certainly learned so much more being able to apply skills in the field while still very much being

a student than I would have been in the classroom the last few months. I am so grateful this is a

built in opportunity in our program. In some fields, internships aren’t always particularly helpful,

but in Public Health it is so essential to grow diverse skills and build a foundational network. My
only qualm was not being paid. It simply is not feasible in the year of 2024. I struggled quite a

bit financially because of it, but it is what it is.

Going into this internship I was not knowledgeable about Alzheimer's as a public health

issue, but I ended this internship quite alarmed at the insane prevalence rates, how little we

actually know about its causes, what roles the Association plays in funding research and

awareness programs, and the gaps in care that exist. It is only now becoming recognized as a

public health issue because for years people just assumed it was a normal part of aging some

people experience. At a research presentation, it was said that where we were with cancer

research in the 90s is where we are today in Dementia research. That is concerning and alarming!

I learned there is a huge need to expand education for younger populations to encourage

preventative behavior with modifiable risk factors. Currently, a lot of people start caring once it

impacts them, and since a central pillar to public health is prevention, reaching younger

audiences is essential. Younger generations are also embracing diverse gender and sexual

identities more than ever before. Due to this population being uniquely impacted by Alzhieemr’s,

increasing the need for more comprehensive LGBTQ+ specific memory care resources is

essential.

Overall, this internship has not only enriched my professional life, but my personal life as

well. I am so grateful for all I have experienced and this was a phenomenal way to end my time

at Georgia College. I feel so set up for success and the unending support from my professors and

supervisors is what has made it the memorable experience it has been.