Sara Rubino

Responsibilities

- Work directly with the Director of Public Health and the Public Health Nurses on various special projects - Attend Clinics such as Senior Foot Care or COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics - Organizing medical supplies and records - Updating documents such as the Emergency Response book or Surveys - Research on current Public Health Issues - Promote events taking place in the community such as Food Drives or National Public Health week - Listen in to important public health meetings and seminars

Accomplishments

My greatest accomplishment during my internship was being able to bring the Drive Thru COVID-19 Testing Center to Ames. I was one who did all the initial research on the company, reached out to their contact people, and set up meetings for them to discuss details with my supervisors.

Learning experience

The greatest lesson I learned from my experience was that there is so much more to public health than what people truly see. Especially at SCPH where we are run under Mary Greeley Medical Center, there are many things that we are involved in, and the resources that we have are much more vast than if we were not under the hospital. Here, public health is not just doing the research on the community, but they are also serving the community as nurses by providing shots, senior clinics, and lectures about what we do.

What advice would you give?

My advice is to work hard, be organized, have patience, and use all of your resources. Community and Public Health is all about prevention and promotion to those around you, and being able to gain as much information as you can to provide that to the community is vital for success in this field.