A Summer at Springfield

Even as a native Marylander, I had never heard of Springfield Hospital Center. While I would later learn its importance to Sykesville and the community it has, I began my internship with very little knowledge of what I would be getting into. On paper, the placement was ideal, a mix of medicine and policy I have spent my undergrad working on and truly loving. In reality, this would hold true, from the many learning opportunities and unique charm Springfield has.

The Internship

One of the biggest things I gained during my prior internships was a love of meetings. As an intern, they are a great place to learn something new, connect with someone and benefit from the expertise of those in the room. Fittingly, my time at Springfield was filled with meetings, as a chance to shadow my mentor, Springfield’s CEO Jordan Butler, and to learn the operations of the hospital from HR and Executive Council meetings to Health Equity Committee and rounding with physicians on staff. It was from these that I gained knowledge of our criminal justice system and placement of patients in it, along with the ways everyone at Springfield was working to provide care to patients. I learned the many parts of the system, with more acronyms than I can remember, and became all the better for it, as it introduced me to aspects of healthcare I had never considered. More importantly, I learned from those around me, from their conduct, expertise, and them always being willing to answer the questions I had.

With the rest of my time, I worked to understand patient care and substance use,? and how it interferes with their mental health and legal status. I spent much of my time building my knowledge by speaking to staff and hearing their thoughts, along with research into forensic patient populations and common limitations faced. Unexpectedly, one of the biggest hardships of my project was working within the hospital’s paper systems, with my expectations for the system often too high, used to living in a digital world. I learned other solutions, instead working to digitize data and relying on other sources to complete my project.?

Experiences at Springfield, as a whole, taught me plenty. Beyond policy, patients and professionalism, I got to learn about Springfield and its more than a century long history, much of which is still represented through its campus and the historic buildings there.?

Insight for the Future

At the beginning, we were warned that the summer would go by fast, and it did. Yet, in those eleven short weeks, I could see the growth I had from my internship and time spent at seminars with my cohort. Now, the best insight I have is to be inquisitive and kind. I spent most of my first few weeks taking notes to ask my mentor (or google) what something meant and how it related to Springfield. Not only was there kindness in their responses, but I had to give myself kindness for having to learn and ask questions. I am often not one to raise their hand. This summer, I challenged myself to change that and got to understand the environments around me in ways I would not have otherwise. Going forward, I plan to take my own advice, and hope it will lead to even more enriching experiences.?

Going Forward

The highlight of the Maryland Public Service Scholars program is our commitment to public service. Everyday I learned from those around me, their passions and interests, and the work they do to give back to the community. As someone driven by my own commitment to public service, it invigorated me and my passion for health policy. While I still do not know exactly what my career will look like after college, I know it will be strongly influenced by the desire to serve, which my time in the program only affirmed.????

In Sum

I am forever grateful to have applied to the Maryland Public Service Scholars Program and to be a Governor’s Summer Internship Program Fellow. As an alum of the program, I’ve now successfully completed an internship at Springfield Hospital Center and presented a group policy proposal to the Governor of Maryland, two things that sound surreal to where I was at the beginning. I hope to remember the pride I have for those accomplishments, as well as the many small accomplishments I had along the way. Lastly, I hope to remember the relationships I built with my co-fellows and coworkers, and the growth I had while at Springfield.