Hello my name is Chloe Bryen and I am a psychology major from New Jersey. I am interested in health psychology and mental health advocacy. I am currently doing an honors project in the somatosensory lab with Dr. Mark Hollins studying pain perception and memory. I am also a Gil Intern. This semester I am grateful for the opportunity to be an intern at the North Carolina Psychological Association (NCPA) through the Gil Internship Program.
The NCPA focuses on protecting the rights of psychologists and the field of psychology in general. The NCPA is made of various boards, which work on topics like licensure, insurance issues, patient policy and community outreach. I work under the executive director, Sally Cameron.
I have been integrated into the Joint Insurance Committee and the Division of Independent Professional Practice. I spend much of my internship researching issues that come up for these boards and I present my research during committee meetings. These meetings have given me the opportunity to interact with many prominent psychologists in North Carolina.
One of the issues that I researched was the Health Information Exchange. This idea, proposed under the Affordable Care Act, would require all mental health providers who accept Medicaid to upload patient records including session notes onto an electronic health portal for information exchange with other healthcare providers. While this has some benefits to the patient and psychologists for their care, there are also many privacy issues with this proposed plan. I researched and presented the pros and cons of this new law to multiple committees at the North Carolina Psychological Association. Recently I have begun researching licensure in each state and I will present my research in a couple of weeks. I will also be working on the Public Education Committee to help educate people about the importance of psychology as a profession and science.
I am looking forward to completing my internship at the North Carolina Psychological Association and learning more about the issues in psychology in North Carolina. In the future I hope to attend graduate school for clinical psychology with a focus on chronic illnesses. I plan to continue working in policy and advocacy throughout my career.
I would like to thank everyone who supports the Gil Internship including Dr. Buzinski, Rachael Hall and the donor who recently endowed the program. This experience has allowed me the opportunity to learn more about psychology by working in the field while giving back to the community. I know that my experiences as a Gil Intern will help me with my future career.
#UNCGiller #confessionsofagiller #UNCPsych #fall2016
