Meet our intern Drew!
How did you find out about the internship at Healthwatch Tower Hamlets?
I found out about the Healthwatch internship through my university, where I was studying abroad. As part of their Learning Through Work module, you participate in a 6-week internship. I interviewed one of their staff members about my interests and job goals. She then recommended me to Healthwatch, where I had another interview to discuss the position before I was finally accepted. As a biology major looking to attend medical school, I found this internship the perfect opportunity to experience medicine and healthcare in London without being in a clinical setting. It gave me the opportunity to engage with patients and hear the true stories of what’s going on in healthcare.
What kind of things did you learn during your internship?
During my time working on the NHS App mini project, I learned how to interact and build rapport with people in a short period of time, even when I had nothing in common with them. Spending the majority of my time out in GP practices and hospitals gave me the chance to engage with people from all different walks of life and really work on my people skills. My interpersonal communication skills have developed significantly since I started this position, as has my ability to handle rejection. Beyond the interaction, working with Healthwatch has also taught me how to work in an office environment, and how to effectively balance multiple tasks while contributing the best I can.
Did the internship improve your learning/confidence or knowledge in a specific area?
This internship improved my confidence in speaking to people I don’t really know. Given the number of interviews and surveys I conducted during my time here, I had no choice but to become comfortable approaching people at random and striking up a conversation. If I wasn’t willing to do that, we wouldn’t have been able to obtain any valuable data. Furthermore, this survey process helped to develop my relationship-building skills with people. When you only have 5 or so seconds to make an impression, it’s important to leave a good one. Figuring out the best way to approach and introduce myself to a person so they would be willing to listen to the rest of my speech was paramount to my success. That approach got better and better as my internship went on, and will continue to benefit me in future jobs for years to come.
I also gained a lot of knowledge about the British healthcare system overall. Coming in as an American, I had some understanding of how the British healthcare system was structured. Through my work experience, I got the chance to take a deep dive and talk face-to-face with people who interact with it all the time. I learned so much more about the nuances and uncommon facts, while also hearing a lot about the issues that people have to deal with. It was a great chance to compare the US healthcare system with here and discover that there’s more in common than people think, especially when it comes to service and care.
What did you enjoy the most about the internship?
I really enjoyed experiencing British healthcare in the centres and settings where it takes place. My favourite part of the internship was going on visits to GP practices and conducting surveys of people in the waiting rooms. Interacting with the general public and hearing all kinds of thoughts about the NHS, specifically its app, was very intriguing. I got to experience a broad spectrum of feedback, from rave reviews to harsh feedback. Each bit of insight was as interesting as the previous one, and I loved seeing tiny patterns emerge as I conducted more surveys.
Accumulating Experience of NHS App data by interacting with the wide variety of people that Tower Hamlets has to offer was definitely the highlight of my time here.
Has working with Healthwatch changed how you view health and social care services?
Working with Healthwatch has allowed me to see just how complex and variable health and social care services can be. Engaging with patients and seeing feedback from staff on the NHS App showed how one thing can be seen from so many different perspectives. Everyone has their own thoughts and feelings about how something should or shouldn't be used, and most of the time, they don’t line up. Trying to cater to every single person is impossible, and higher-ups have to make decisions to please as many people as possible. However, there will always be people unhappy with the decisions made. It’s a struggle to make those decisions, and a struggle dealing with the fallout from them. It helped me reconsider how much pressure and stress health and social care services are under, and gave me a newfound appreciation for all the work they do. They are usually trying their best to meet their patient’s needs, even if the patients don’t always agree.
