Courage and Community: Preparing to Engage in Public Health Work in San Antonio
Sarah Olson
1st Year MPH Global Health Epidemiology Student
In just over a week, I will be on my way to San Antonio, Texas. We are working in collaboration with South Central AHEC on a project focused on community health in Bexar county. I am highly looking forward to this experience; even though I have been to Texas multiple times before, I have never been to San Antonio and also have never been to Texas specifically for public health. I am exciting for this experience and am eager to build upon the research and knowledge of public health in Bexar county that we have been gaining throughout this semester. This will be my first time leading a focus group, which I am a little bit nervous for. I have traveled across the world to study public health and work in short-term internships, but qualitative data collection and analysis in the field is a new concept to me; something I am excited and anxious to explore further in this trip. Preparation as a class for this experience has been quite interesting; towards the beginning of the preparation course, I was wondering when things would pick up a bit (news flash, it's right now). However, I feel that this group of people has become closer every time that we meet and I am so excited to share this experience with each of my fellow colleagues.
Public health field work can be scary; no amount of planning and preparation can truly prepare someone for every outcome or scenario that might occur. The best that we can do is to be knowledgeable of the area and the public health contexts, adjust our questions to fit community needs as much as possible, and go into this environment ready to learn in every way that we can. No matter what role I am taking, whenever I go somewhere new for public health, I recognize that I am a stranger to the area and to the community, and that the best possible thing that I can do is go with a goal of learning as much as I can; the characteristics of the community and the area, ways that I can better my goals in public health, and how I can contribute to the community's goals and needs. While we will only be in San Antonio for a week, I am so excited for the opportunity to participate in this experience and look forward to the skills and memories that will be gained from it.