I thought hearing from the health psychology professionals and their different fields and experiences was insightful. Two people practiced clinical work, and one was a graduate student at VCU. I did not know there were only 20 health psychology programs in the U.S, and I thought there were more branches, schools, and fields in health psychology since it seems so prevalent previous to this talk. One spearheaded the field of health psychology and created a job for herself, and another is in health psychology research, and another came into it from a pre-med student perspective. I enjoyed listening to the testimonies of their job, especially about patient encounters such as talking about personal experiences of fighting obesity and how her coworkers were very wary and cognizant about her previous experience, preventing her from properly assessing her patients. I also enjoyed hearing about how well they actually practice their teachings, and I thought it was relatable to hear that they were not always the most healthy, active people as well.
I thought this class was informative on many aspects of health psychology, and made me more cognizant of my own health behaviors for each topic discussed. I learned from the personal behavioral change project and how to motivate myself and keep accountable of my progress to make the personal changes being made towards the my goal. I also learned about several surprising factors that go into longevity as seen in the Terman participants, and how gender, environment, and personality characteristics can largely influence and relate to longevity. The different topics that we read about and discussed in class such as eating and sleep made me more aware of my own health behaviors from a physical standpoint, and topics such as kidney and organ transplants, cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and health disparities across racial groups and within racial groups made me aware of my surroundings and socioeconomic factors that can influence one’s health behaviors and health outcomes as well as being better informed on health related diseases and what I could do to help and make and impact.