Post V: Looking Back/Overall Insight

I feel that the University of Michigan has prepared me very well for my internship here at Heritage Professional Associates. The large classes at our school have taught me to be assertive when voicing my thoughts, questions, and concerns. This quality has been beneficial in this internship when I am given tasks that are difficult and confusing. I always voice my questions to my fellow colleagues and try not to be shy when I have concerns and recommendations. I feel that my colleagues appreciate my assertiveness because it allows me to do my job more efficiently and shows that I care about my job as an intern and the company as well.

The psychology department at the University of Michigan has specifically prepared me for this internship as I am interning at a psychologist office. I have used my skills from my stats class to score the psychological tests and understand what the scores mean. I also use my knowledge in the many different psych classes I have taken to understand the diagnostics that the psychologists have diagnosed on their patients. Last week I sat in on a session where a therapist, Dr. Baird, gave a diagnosis feedback to a patient after writing a report from psychological testing. When seeing the diagnosis that Dr. Baird gave, I was able to observe the behavior of the patient and connect it with his diagnosis. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and how it affected his testing ability in college. The patient accepted the diagnosis and understood that it matched his feelings and behavior.

Overall, I feel comfortable in my internship and the tasks that I am given because of my schooling at the University of Michigan.