Yesterday, we were encouraged to attend a health psychology round table discussion to learn more about health psychology as a field and the different career paths that health psychologists may follow. It was interesting to hear about the perspectives of these professionals and think about my own interests in health care. Before taking this course, I did not know what health psychology was about– health and psychology were two fields that I believed to be separate. When I saw that this course was offered this semester, I decided to take it because I believed it may be beneficial if I wanted to go into the helping professions, especially because I am considering occupational therapy school after graduation. At the roundtable, I learned that health psychologists can engage in both research and clinical work– one of the professionals was a faculty member at VCU, and the other was a recent graduate aiming to be a faculty member soon. I particularly loved hearing about their personal experiences of discovering the field; it was comforting to know that as undergraduates, they did not know a lot about the field, and became more knowledgable about their interests in graduate school. As a senior, I think it is easy to feel lost and unsure about your next steps. I often am hard on myself for not being able to pin down my interests like many of my other peers. Knowing that graduate school is a place where I can hone in on my many curiosities makes me excited for the future. In the beginning, I was unsure if graduate school is for me. However, after listening to many professionals speak highly of their graduate school experience, I am considering it. Although I most likely will not be attaining my ph.d, I look forward to the research process and applying to different therapy programs in the helping professions (occupational therapy or speech pathology).
I enjoyed learning in this class– the readings were engaging and I am genuinely curious about the topics we have discussed. It is often difficult for me to be motivated when reading articles or working on assignments in courses where I don’t truly feel connected or curious about the subject. I admire the human aspect of health psychology, and love how it is so connected with our day to day lives. Human connection is one of the things I value most, so learning about the integrated nature of health and how identity and social factors plays a role in overall well-being allows me to be a more empathetic and understanding practitioner in the future, when interacting with patients from different backgrounds and experiences.