What organization did you intern with? What was your role?
I was a health equity officer at the Office of Community Mental Health Initiatives in New Haven City Hall.
Where was your internship located?
New Haven.
What is your career goal?
I want to work in state government applying what I have learned regarding the intersection between mental health and substance use disorders, and do policy work.
What was your internship funding source?
A Health Equity Fellowship from YSPH’s Office of Public Health Practice (OPHP).
What were your duties/responsibilities during your internship?
My projects varied from refining and communicating the Office of Community Mental Health Initiatives’ strategic plan, to coordinating resources and trainings to reduce duplicative efforts, to crafting public health messages regarding local suicide-prevention efforts.
What did you take away from your experience as an intern? What was the value of the internship to you?
I learned about safe messaging around suicide in the media, which is an interesting topic. The media play an important role in suicide prevention, and covering suicide accurately can change conceptions, dispel stigma, and inform the public on the complexities of the issue. This internship had lots of value to me as an individual who has had loved ones affected by the issue.
What was the most rewarding aspect of your internship? What was the most challenging aspect? The most surprising aspect?
The most rewarding aspect was getting certified in mental health first aid and QPR Institute training as a suicide prevention gatekeeper. The most challenging aspect was, naturally, the nature of the work, as it can at times be heavy, but my preceptor and colleagues were absolutely wonderful in performing wellness check-ins with me. The most surprising aspect was observing the active collaboration between internal departments to conduct suicide-prevention trainings and realizing the tremendous importance of that cross-sector collaboration.
How has YSPH prepared you for this internship?
A class I took my very first semester at Yale – Social Justice & Health Equity, taught by Dr. Jasmine Abrams – taught me the importance of advancing health equity, reducing health disparities among vulnerable populations, and the impact inequities have on health outcomes. The Health Equity Fellowship allowed me to put my learnings from this class into practice.
What would you say to a student who’s considering a similar internship?
Working to reduce the stigma surrounding suicide is something you should be interested in if pursuing an internship in this area. You will gain valuable skills in health communication, community outreach, and public health strategy for carrying out organizational missions. I am absolutely grateful for this experience!
Anagha Babu interns as a Health Equity Fellow at the City of New Haven, and leads a booth providing suicide prevention resources to the local New Haven community at the Waverly Community Health and Wellness Expo Fair.