Sunday, September 27, 2009
Integrating Areas
There are so many options to having an interdisciplinary degree. The student that got into UCF College of Medicine had art as an area of study with a traditional science area. All of our degree areas seem to have an obvious integration of studies. I think it’s was great pairing on their part. I was afraid we would have a situation where I wouldn’t be able to identify. This works out awesome! A lot of the health fields have pairings like we’ve talked about. Only one pair of us has exactly the same match, but they are all similar. They are integrated by study topic. Also, the health field and I think that the area in biomedical/life sciences is pretty directly related to the health field, but the area of behavioral/social sciences has given me a chance to look at different cultures by taking anthropology and sociology classes and relating that to how different people view hospitals and other medical centers and seeing why different people from different cultural backgrounds prefer different treatments or prefer no treatment. Social services or any public services with have health as a hot topic. We are all finding out that Psychology must be understood to help others, too. I have used my Health area to study what I know I won’t be taught in nursing school. I’m learning about how the system works, the computer systems, the areas of growth and what needs to be improved. Health Insurance is a huge topic in any health field!! Psychology was just a love of mine and the more classes I studied, the more I realized that it is every part as much as a person as their anatomy. The nursing field is so saturated right now that I really wanted to give myself an edge. I think having this Bachelor’s degree in the fields that I’ve chosen will make that happen. I also think it has better prepared me to be a nurse. I think knowing where you are going in your career and what you are looking for helps you focus during your courses. I know what I’m going to use this information for. It’s not like Algebra in high school when you thought, “when will I ever . . ?” We do use Algebra and we will use this information in our different areas. But I think the most important lesson we will have taken away from this experience is the ability to think outside of the box. We will have learned that in the real world, you don’t ever have just one specific task defined by your boss. You need to be well educated and have a holistic education. I’ve never worked at a job where I only did work that was “in the job description.” We have our edge. How will you use yours?
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Integrating my concentrations of life/biomedical sciences and health are currently being incredibly useful in my current career. As a Hearing Technician, I come across situations where I have to use the materials I have been taught in school to accurately interpret patient information and to translate that information back to patients and their guardians. For example, my anatomy and physiology courses have taught me everything I need to know about the physical function of the organs I deal with directly. The courses I have taken in pharmacology and medical terminology have allowed me to understand how medications and other medical processes affect the indicated organs. I have been able to assist my entire department with the knowledge I have acquired integrating my health and life sciences courses. Just as Rhonda mentioned, insurance policies dictate so much about how patients can be treated. The additional courses I have taken with my health sciences minor has also assisted with my comprehension of treatments and opportunities patients have depending on their fiscal dependence. My interests in elderly patients are satisfied with my aging studies minor. Upon completion of my degrees, I plan to be an audiologist. I am expecting to have a wide range of patient ages, from infants born with congenital diseases causing hearing loss to elderly people who develop acquired hearing loss. Thus far, my minor in aging studies has been very advantageous in helping me understand the aging process. I am sure that it will also be advantageous in understanding all patients in the future. My goal is to wow admissions counsels with my integration of these concentrations. I have to show them the advantages of having interdisciplinary studies as my major has made me a great candidate for their doctoral audiology program.
ReplyDeleteWe definitely have an edge. Like you, I am in Behavioral/social science and will be taking psych and anthropology classes to better understand people. I am also taking biology classes to get into ethnobotany and how biology is applied throughout the world. My goal for this application is to get into the Peace Corps, which has become quite selective.
ReplyDeleteReshma and M. Jeske, you both have integrated your areas very well. I actually have integrated my subjects in much of the same fashion as the two of you, as mentioned a little bit before by combining health sciences and behavioral/social sciences to understand people and how they view medicine.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like you have the ideal major to match your thirst for overall and thorough knowledge,Reshma. I never knew about the possibilities of interdisciplinary studies before this class; especially all of the pre-med, pre-pharmacist, pre-dentistry programs possible. My majors fit my interests perfectly, and push me to succeed in my classes. It seems like you have a solid idea for your future, and, if you stick with it, I'm sure you will become a successful doctor who goes on to help many people.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I am still not 100% sure of all the possibilities with IDS. I do know that I have been provided with amazing opportunities thus far. My integration happened so greatly together after struggling with deciding what I wanted to do with my degree. I began in 2006 as a Microbiology and Molecular Biology major, and then I changed to nursing after deciding that I did not want to go to traditional medical school. After working as a CNA, I decided that nursing would not be long term for me. I knew that I wanted to work in healthcare, finding my niche was the difficult part.
ReplyDeleteI am in somewhat of the same boat. This is my third major. I started with Environmental Engineering, but I didn't enjoy the several waste disposal classes necessary. I was looking more for an environmental solutions to major gas problems and marine issues. Then, I was always a fan of art and drafting, so I went into Digital Media in the Visual Language. It was much too based on semantics of artistic terms and it was a lot of material that was not dense enough. I switched to IDS this semester, and love the class options and future opportunities available.
ReplyDeleteI really like how much thought we've put into the future. I think IDS is a great tool to teach us to think in multiple dimensions. I do not think any of us started out planning on IDS, but for me, it has worked out to really have broadened my education. I wouldn't have discovered so many career options.
ReplyDeleteNew information comes out all the time about the newest health trends and food fads. People who follow these trends tend to not only switch over to this new style of eating, but tend to integrate this new food into the diet that they already follow. Integration is simply taking a variety of different information and meshing it all together to try to relate with each other. Diet is not the only thing which always emerging information.
ReplyDeleteAs new knowledge and professions occur, new information comes out in academics as well. Not only does integration make it easier to keep up with these new ideas, but it also makes it easier to see the many different ways it relates to health as apposed to one specific way. By being an interdisciplinary student I have taken my areas and minor of study and integrated them together. It is very easy to integrate these areas because most all of the different classes involve health related topics. The classes that aren’t directly health related are usually culture or environmentally related. These can be “meshed” together with the health classes if you consider how many diseases are confined to certain cultures, or how most medicines come from things in the environment.
Integration can also be considered important when looking at the professional and personal developmental aspects. Being open-minded and able to integrate new ideas from different people is important in being successful. As the saying goes “two heads are better than one.” Not only do you want to use others ideas, but you want to integrate their ideas with your ideas to come up with the best solutions possible.
Stephanie, I like your analogy of "two heads are better than one." It really summarizes my concept of the broadened education.
ReplyDeleteIn Capstone, we are learning a lot about using our Whole Mind. Our left and right brains strengths. I think it's important to note that part of integrating our degrees goes further than school. We all have traditional science based knowledge somewhere in our areas. We have to remember to include our strengths we learn in our "softer" sciences. What do you think about how we integrated our "hard" sciences with our "soft" sciences in a real life kind of way?
ReplyDeleteRhonda,
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly do you mean by hard and soft sciences? Are you referring to hard being Biology, Chemistry classes and soft being more of a "self help" class?
I totally agree with this concept. Just like getting excepted into a professional school or getting a job, you can have the best resume and the highest grades but if you don't have general people skills, you probably won't get in or get the job.
I have my two areas of biomedical sciences and health. However, my minor is Psychology. I think others have a similar combination. I mean "soft" as in social/behavioral instead of traditional sciences like biology based science. Your example is spot on. It's like people high strengths in academics, but lack social skills. Studies with combination areas are a strength, to me.
ReplyDeleteIntegration is definitely key to using interdisciplinary studies to its full potential. Without integration, it really does feel like you have 3 "mini-majors" instead of one connected, developed area of study. I was initially a M&M major where it was clear exactly how the classes and electives meshed together. When I switched to IDS, at first I was overwhelmed by all the differences in the classes.
ReplyDeleteWhat helped me was to look at my extracurricular activities. These are clearly my interests, and what you choose to do in your spare time really shows who you are. As I analyzed my activities, I realized that they are already a collaboration of the very areas I study at UCF. For example, my participation with CHIP, a 5 week community, lifestyle education program, combined the very basic molecular concepts of nutrition and health with the health principles I had learned in many of my health classes, including Human Nutrition. Finally, even my public administration minor could be applied to this program. In Administrative Theory I have learned about leadership styles and motivational techniques which were intended for public or private organizations but could also be applied. Through this analysis, it is clear to see how easy it is to integrate areas into a complete, functioning program.
It's important to do a similar integration in what we choose for a future career. Also, this integration showed the benefits of the IDS degree, as I felt well-rounded to participate in many sides of the program.
I could not be more satisfied with the combination of "hard" and "soft" sciences that I have integrated into my curriculum. You are right on when you say that it allows us to be better in a professional field. We will not only have a strong academic background in theory, but we will also be able to apply it. Although my concentrations are not directly social/behavioral sciences I have taken many psychology and sociology courses within my discipline. They have been very helpful in allowing me to see real applications of the book work.
ReplyDeleteRhonda and Stephanie, I definitely agree with your analysis of integrating the "hard and soft" sciences. As people interested in health, it is easy to get caught up in the chemistry and the biology classes where everything seems to be black and white, but it's very different when it comes to actually working in the health field. Working with people always poses certain challenges, which an area in the 'soft' sciences can help to prepare you for. My minor in public administration is definitely different than my other 2 areas. At first it was definitely a challenge because I wasn't used to these type of classes and analysis, but have definitely grown from it. Also, it's taught me a lot about motivation and people working together within an organization; skills which will be helpful in any field. This integration definitely adds to the "well-roundedness." In a competitive job market, I think it allows us to offer something different and shows our adaptability to employers. While I may not use all my areas in a future career, I know that at least I have learned from each of them and am probably a better "people-person" and communicator as a result.
ReplyDeleteI feel very much the same way about this discussion about "hard" and "soft" sciences. I also started as an M&M major when coming to UCF then switched to Health Sciences. I finally settled on IDS realizing that I enjoyed so many different things it was hard for me to pick just one specific field of study. Though my minor is still health sciences and life/biomedical sciences is one area I feel that choosing to do behavioral/social sciences has given me a chance to take classes that required a little more thinking outside of the box where as classes that I've taken in the other areas have been based more on just the facts. I feel that bringing all of these aspects together really gives me the chance to be a more well-rounded person and it prepares me to go into a field based on more than just facts or social skills, it allows me to master both.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the hard and soft sciences again. I feel like for some people (such as me right now) it can be hard to maintain good grades and still make time to socialize. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-social or anything...but I am sitting here on my Friday night doing homework and studying for my PCAT. As long as you don't forget that school isn't everything in life, you should be capable of maintaining social interactions and people skills.
ReplyDeleteIntegration is an essential part of being an IDS major. Utilizing your areas collectively is the whole point. One must consider the field they wish to enter when they graduate by picking areas that can better prepare them for it. For instance, I pick certain classes within my majors that I think could help me once I’m a nurse. In my Health area, I’ve taken classes such as Introduction to Pharmacology, Health Care Ethics, and U.S. Health Care Systems. I believe I should at least be familiar with different aspects of health care, even if it is not necessarily a requirement. My Life & Biomedical Sciences area gets more into what I’m going to be studying, such as anatomy and physiology. I tie it all together with a minor in Psychology. Fortunately, psychology is a useful area of study for nearly all careers. I’ve always found the field interesting as it is. I think it’s the perfect addition to my health sciences “medley”. It is definitely something I can use to understand human emotion and mentality. I am currently enrolled in Developmental Psychology which delves into the physical and mental development of humans from the time they are fetuses up until adulthood. Understanding the human body physically and psychologically before I even begin my nursing education can only make my time in nursing school more comfortable, if not easier. Technically these areas are different from one another. However, I found a way to bring them together for a common goal and it works for me.
ReplyDeleteI started out as an M&M major as well. I do pretty well in my science classes, but it was a little more rigorous than what I wanted for a "backup plan." With this major, I get the sciences I need, and a bit of useful "fluff." Instead of being bombarded with the same material over and over, my interest won't falter because of the diversity of the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteJillian, I like your point about not losing your interest due to the diversity of the curriculum. I definitely agree with you there, having only science classes can be a bit too much. Having only biology or anatomy and physiology can make me lose sight of the big picture. I like having my health classes, as they show the more practical side of things and also the actual "people" side of what I'm learning. This diversity keeps me interested and makes me look forward to entering the workforce and being able to apply all my skills.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, anatomy was pretty brutal. I didn't think integrating my areas would be too difficult since they each relate to the health field in one way or another. Out of curiosity though, if nursing doesn't work out, how can I find out what employers accept my major? I know I want to stay in the health field, but what are my options?
ReplyDeleteJillian, that's a little beyond my scope!! I definitely think you'll have a better understanding of your options after you finish cornerstone. You'll have a lot of work geared towards answering and finding that answer!
ReplyDelete