Psychology Major Helping to Develop an App to Assess Mental Health at Columbia University Medical Center

Morgan Silverman '20 (psychology) is working as an intern with the Global Mental Health Program at the Columbia University Medical Center, where she's helping develop an app to assess mental health.

Morgan Silverman '20, Global Mental Health Program at the Columbia University Medical Center

Major:

Psychology.

What I do, day to day:

As an intern in the Global Mental Health Program (GMHP), I am one of 11 interns engaged in a variety of global mental health initiatives. Each intern is paired with a research mentor to work on their projects. During the week, we have meetings with the other interns as well as with the supervisors of the program. These meetings consist of professional development skills and learning about the other projects that interns are involved with their mentors. My research mentor is Dr. Reuben Robbins, who is leading a research project that is examining the effectiveness of a tablet app called the NeuroScreen to assess neurocognitive impairment in South African adolescents with and without HIV. I have been working with Dr. Robbins and the research team on various aspects of the research including editing and adding to the neuropsychological questionnaires to detect HIV-related neurocognitive impairment.

Other internships:

I have not had any other internship experiences. I have really enjoyed this experience and hope that I will be able to be a part of the GMHP in the future and possibly work with my research mentor again next summer and perhaps during the year.

Most valuable part of this experience:

Being a part of the GMHP has provided me with an extremely unique experience that has really supported my professional development. Having supervisors and a research mentor who are there to respond to questions about their work and my potential career path has been a wonderful opportunity. I have really been able to examine various next steps for my own future education and training.

Advice for students considering internships:

I would suggest taking advantage of having an internship because it allows you to see people engaged in the kind of work that you may be interested in doing. It also provides the opportunity to meet talented people in the field and make connections for future career opportunities.

How this internship has helped me:

This internship has allowed me to see the educational and career paths that people have taken to enter the field of mental health overall and, specifically, psychological research. This added knowledge and experience will help direct me towards future classes at Dickinson that I think will benefit my education and career the most. The internship has also allowed me to see how some of the research concepts and methodology that I learned in courses taken at Dickinson is applied in real life settings. Going back to school, I think I will have a better understanding and grasp on the concepts that I have learned and understand their connection to my future goals.

Post-Dickinson plans:

After graduation, I hope to return to Columbia and work with the research team that I have worked with all summer. After that, I would like to pursue a master’s in public health and then get a job as a project manager as a way to become familiar with the field of research. Eventually, I would like to get a PhD in clinical psychology.

Learn more about internships at Dickinson.

TAKE THE NEXT STEPS

Published August 10, 2018