A look into the lives of CSU's Current Environmental Health Interns
Final Reflections from my internship at PVH
My internship experience at Poudre Valley Hospital (PVH) was both enriching and enjoyable. My mentors, Sherry and Claire, were helpful and supportive and challenged me with many interesting assignments. I really liked the wide array of internship projects and daily tasks, which provided me with a taste of many environmental health specialties. Although there were some elements of the internship that were frustrating, my overall experience was quite positive.
Sherry and Claire have been exceptional mentors throughout my internship at PVH. They both are extremely knowledgeable and are eager to share that knowledge and offer assistance. They also seek my input and listen to my ideas on many issues. Even though I am an intern, they do not see me as too inexperienced to offer valuable contributions. The assignments I have been working on this summer have been extremely challenging and educational. I was able to develop my own approaches to each assignment, and my mentors did not watch over my shoulder as I worked.
I have enjoyed many aspects of my internship experience at PVH, which consisted of assisting with day-to-day EH&S activities as well as special projects. One of my favorite regular EH&S activities was the emergency response drills. I was able to participate in an infant/child abduction drill, fire drill, lockdown drill, mass casualty incident drill, and violent patient drill. My roles differed depending on the specific drill, but I was always able to experience the substantial planning efforts that go into preparing for these types of emergency situations. I also particularly enjoyed creating educational material, because it allowed me to be creative and I also enjoyed helping to brainstorm IAQ and other employee complaint issues. One of my favorite special projects was a noise-monitoring project because it allowed me to explore IH and noise exposure, learn about noise regulations, and sample in a variety of cool environments (including on an ambulance ride-along).
Despite my many great experiences at PVH, some aspects of my internship were less than enjoyable. One thing that really impeded my ability to work effectively early on was lack of computer access. Although I had a computer to work on, I was not able to log into the computer or PVH systems for several week. This is because there are a number of security issues involving patient information, and requests for access can take several weeks. In hindsight, we should have initiated the access requests much earlier. Another frustrating part of working at PVH is the glacial pace at which EH&S changes go into effect. The department cannot simply identify an issue and enact change. Instead, there are a series of channels, requests, committees, and approval steps that changes must go through before they are implemented. I also attended a bunch of meetings, some mandatory, some optional. The meetings can sometimes be boring, but on the plus side, there is often free food provided.
All shortcomings aside, my overall internship experience was fun and rewarding. I would recommend that any students seeking a varied, challenging, and enlightening internship to consider working at PVH.
Sherry and Claire have been exceptional mentors throughout my internship at PVH. They both are extremely knowledgeable and are eager to share that knowledge and offer assistance. They also seek my input and listen to my ideas on many issues. Even though I am an intern, they do not see me as too inexperienced to offer valuable contributions. The assignments I have been working on this summer have been extremely challenging and educational. I was able to develop my own approaches to each assignment, and my mentors did not watch over my shoulder as I worked.
I have enjoyed many aspects of my internship experience at PVH, which consisted of assisting with day-to-day EH&S activities as well as special projects. One of my favorite regular EH&S activities was the emergency response drills. I was able to participate in an infant/child abduction drill, fire drill, lockdown drill, mass casualty incident drill, and violent patient drill. My roles differed depending on the specific drill, but I was always able to experience the substantial planning efforts that go into preparing for these types of emergency situations. I also particularly enjoyed creating educational material, because it allowed me to be creative and I also enjoyed helping to brainstorm IAQ and other employee complaint issues. One of my favorite special projects was a noise-monitoring project because it allowed me to explore IH and noise exposure, learn about noise regulations, and sample in a variety of cool environments (including on an ambulance ride-along).
Despite my many great experiences at PVH, some aspects of my internship were less than enjoyable. One thing that really impeded my ability to work effectively early on was lack of computer access. Although I had a computer to work on, I was not able to log into the computer or PVH systems for several week. This is because there are a number of security issues involving patient information, and requests for access can take several weeks. In hindsight, we should have initiated the access requests much earlier. Another frustrating part of working at PVH is the glacial pace at which EH&S changes go into effect. The department cannot simply identify an issue and enact change. Instead, there are a series of channels, requests, committees, and approval steps that changes must go through before they are implemented. I also attended a bunch of meetings, some mandatory, some optional. The meetings can sometimes be boring, but on the plus side, there is often free food provided.
All shortcomings aside, my overall internship experience was fun and rewarding. I would recommend that any students seeking a varied, challenging, and enlightening internship to consider working at PVH.
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