I thought it was very interesting to hear more about Health Psychology careers from individuals in the field already. There represented careers that focused on seeing patients and the clinical side as well as ones focused on research. I learned that there is a difference between clinical research and just research. I did not realize that there was a difference. It was interesting to hear particularly why they decided to get into the field and how there are different paths to get to the same point in a health psychology career. From the perspective from the graduate school student, I thought it was interesting how he did not even decide to go into health psychology until after earning his undergraduate degree. He did not even know that it existed as field until after he graduated. What surprised me from the talk was that the individuals, when asked about their own health lifestyles, admitted that they are human and it is hard for them to “practice what they preach”. While we talked about some of these careers in class, it was great to hear from people working in the field.
I thought this class was interesting and I am glad that I signed up for it. My psychology classes have been very diverse and covered a lot of topics. This class was very different from others and introduced a whole new set of concepts. I was particularly interested because I want to learn how to have a healthier lifestyle. I have always known that being healthy is more than just eating healthy foods and exercising, but taking this class has helped me realize that it is much more than those things. It is also how your body reacts to external factors (like stress) that effect your body and how genetics, social, and psychological factors all play an important role in how healthy you are.