After hearing the two speakers in class yesterday, I was mostly intrigued by the different directions that health psychologists in their careers. Knowing that a degree in health psychology can be used for research that helps such a wide range of students and children, rather than just clinical work, is really interesting and important. Having such diverse opportunities within one field, and the way that the health psychology field can overlap with other fields, makes health psychology of high interest to me.
I also found the challenges faced by both speakers to be very interesting but disheartening. Most of the challenges were systemic, in that the policy prevents them from working to their full potential. Even though health psychology is a relatively new field, it seems as though policy makers would work hard toward this cause. It was even more disheartening to hear about the ways that health psychologists are disregarded in the work place. With such an important job that can contribute so much, one speaker still felt as though she had to “prove herself” among other healthcare professionals.