Pre-Med Junior Fieldwork Reflection Writing:

Name:
Cristina Vega

A/B Day:
A day

Advisory Teacher:
Keeble

Fieldwork Location:
Mental health first aid

PREPARING FOR YOUR VISIT:

Complete this section before you go on your fieldwork trip. If you do not know about the
organization, please research and include your research findings below.

1. What do you know of the location you will be visiting? What services does the
organization provide?
The organization that will be visiting us is the mental health first aid service; they provide
training and education to the community.

2. If you are visiting a specific department within the agency, what is that department's
primary focus?

The department’s primary focus is to educate the public on how to help someone who is
in a mental health crisis and end stigmas that surround it.

3. What is the public health function the organization/agency addresses?

(Assessment, Policy Development, Assurance)
No idea :(

4. What preconceived ideas (personal bias) do you have about the location you will be
visiting?
 My preconceived ideas are that it will all be by the book and common-sense information
and anyone will be able to look up the same information and understand what to do in a
fraction of the time.

DURING YOUR VISIT - OBSERVATION:

Review the prompts in advance and take a small notebook on your fieldwork visit. You should
be taking notes on each of these topics so you will be able to add your observations after you
return.
Close Read your Surroundings:
Observe the physical space and "read" them as if close reading a text. Pay attention to:
● sensory details
● signs posted
● languages you hear
● colors of the offices and uniforms.
● does the location have a certain smell?
● what sounds do you hear?
Observations:
● Talking
● Whispering
● laughing

Observe your Emotional Response: Take notice of your reactions (emotional and physical)
to different things and reflect on why you might be reacting this way.

Observations::
● Uncomfortable
● Sad
● Hot
● Nervous
● Annoyed
● tired

Ask questions of the person you’re shadowing and/or the industry people you encounter:
- general questions of interest
- relating to your potential career choices
 - public health-related issues and challenges they see as important to consider.

Record your questions and answers here.

Observations: I do not believe I asked any questions during this training and I unfortunately
do not clearly remember any questions people asked.

Summary Reflection
After your return from your fieldwork experience address each prompt below to capture your
thoughts on your experience.

Reflect on specific highlights or observations from the day. What was a lesson (big or small)
you took away from your experience? Consider lessons that presented themselves in both
positive and negative ways.
Reflection:: A big lesson that I took away from this is that I am not a therapist and cannot
cure someone who has mental health problems, however, what I can do is guide them to
resources that can help the person and be comforting towards them.

How did the experience meet, exceed, or fall short of your expectations? Explain and
include specific details from your fieldwork notes to help support your answer
Reflection:: I feel as though the experience really fell short for me because I feel as
though it was all very generic information. While it was very informative and
enlightening, it felt as though they barely scraped the surface. Maybe I just already
know too much or just have a deep interest and want to learn more but all in all, it felt a
little useless, which is very sad because it is such an important topic.

What connection can be made between what you saw on your fieldwork experience and
the functions of Public Health?
Some suggestions
- the role of public health within this career path
- public health needs or challenges within the field you observed
- thoughts on how to address these needs

Reflection:: The connections that can be made are that we must do so much more
research on mental health issues and we must learn more so that individuals can
educate more impactful manner. The speakers did amazing but lost the class often; I
don’t know how else they could teach or what other information needed to be added
but I do know that there is so much more that is yet to be uncovered and taught.