Internship: Day 1

Just returned from my first day at the internship! I was SO nervous last night and this morning, fearful of whether I would make it there on time or if I would get completely lost in town, if I would like the people I am working with/for and whether they would like me, whether all of this is worth it. As of this moment, I am feeling hopeful.

Nungate Bridge, which I take to the hospital

I DID get a little bit turned around this morning on my walk to the hospital. But luckily I know myself well enough that I thought this might be a likely occurrence and I left the house a half an hour earlier than I needed to. I ended up needing an extra 10 minutes to get myself back on track, so I got there pretty early. Many of the roads in Haddington look the same, and you have to take a lot of gennets between streets to avoid taking twisty roundabout ways to get anywhere. I think it should take me about 30 minutes each way, but maybe shorter if I get brave and start exploring shortcuts, It is a really pleasant and scenic walk!

View from a bench in the park

When I first got to the hospital I was not sure exactly where to go. I knew I was looking for the Psychological Therapies building, but all of them looked the same! I'll try to remember to take a picture tomorrow. It is a very old hospital, all separate stone structures, but it was redone inside many years ago to house the psychological services for East Lothian. One can tell that the inside looks like an old hospital ward, however, there have not been beds there for years. According to my supervisor, the hospital buildings are "like the inside of the Tardis - it's bigger on the inside, and the hallways seem to keep going and going forever." This was a nice reference to start the day, and I found it very accurate! There used to be a short term psychiatric unit there but that was moved into Edinburgh. I guess the most equivalent type of place in America that I can compare it to is a health agency - not a typical "hospital." People come in for individual, family, and group therapy, and the therapists also travel to other locations around the Lothian towns. Inside the Haddington hospital are housed a clinical psychologist (my supervisor), Masters level therapists (who in Europe are trained in one type of therapy such as CBT), nurse therapists (still unclear on their role exactly), art therapists, and social workers (in a different building).

First thing, my supervisor gave me a lift to the Midlothian office center, where we were to attend a meeting. The health care system in the UK is socialized, the government split up the Lothian areas (I'm in east Lothian) and provides care through the National Health Service. The meeting included the mental health service providers for all of the Lothian areas. It was really interesting listening to all of the conversations, as the terminology is very different! There is apparently a lot happening in Scottish politics that will be changing some things in the system, so I have been told it is a good time to be around. Another girl started volunteering today, but she will only be here on Mondays. It was nice to have someone else about my age there. Everyone was very nice!

After the meeting we went back to the hospital, we took a tour, met the rest of the staff, and talked some about the differences between the Scottish system and the USA system. I can already tell there are many aspects of the system I will have questions about. Hopefully many of them will be answered by spending time with various professionals. At about 1pm, my supervisor took the other trainee and I out to lunch as a "welcome treat." It was so nice. She also made us cupcakes! After lunch we went back again to the hospital, talked a bit more, and then decided to call it a day. Going to try to get there between 9am and 9:30am tomorrow as well. I have a lot of assessment tools and vocabulary to orient myself with!

By the time I left, it was HOT. I think I brought summer with me. I decided to make the walk home leisurely, and enjoy some of the sights, including St. Mary's Church which you can see below. I think I am going to take it easy the rest of the night. Not sure what the plan is!