Applied Psychology Field Assignment Analysis

The Applied Psychology course at St. Francis College offers students attending class an exciting field assignment. Psychology students were required to participate and complete 100 hours of community service. Namely, a volunteer or internship involving their particular interest related to the field of psychology. While students may initially feel overwhelmed at the idea of allocating their time between the demands of a full semester and for some, working part or full-time jobs. The opportunity to experience and complete a volunteer assignment is extremely beneficial towards any future career aspirations. Even more, interacting and working with employers and supervisors from diverse professional fields is an important step for networking. Subsequently, …show more content…
Considering this, other potential options were to explore volunteer opportunities in hospitals or clinics. Thus, I recalled my friend Fernando Moreno M.D., who has worked at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, NY for several years and proceeded to phone him and inquire. Being a friend, as well as a sweet, dear person, he offered to sponsor me and avoid the hassle of the application and interview process after informing him of my time constraint concerns. Here, this was another valuable lesson concerning future job employment with regards to networking. Sometimes, having a friend, relative, or simply knowing someone who works in a prospective company can be an …show more content…
Fortunately, this was the only unpleasant experience working in the nursing home. After this, my Saturday duties were not as personable but did eventually involve interaction with the public and incoming patients. To begin with, for my first, second, and third Saturday shift, I was relegated to retrieving and opening boxes of pamphlets, printing paper and other literature. Next, my duties requires placing, delivering and distributing these articles in preselected areas of the building and specified offices. While this was a good way to become familiar with the location and interact with different hospital staff, I felt this was not a good and proper use of volunteer time or manpower. Not only was this taking advantage of free labor, it also serves to remove potential employment for someone else. However, Jamaica Hospital is a business, and does take in its fair share of uninsured patients. Speaking about this, eventually I was assigned to handing out literature concerning insurance and healthcare to admitted patients and in a separate outside work station. Here, volunteers were recommended to engage the public and inquire if they were interested or in need of healthcare. After, any person showing interest or having questions were directed to a qualified representative to assist them. To conclude