Practice Fellowship Experience- Caitlin Farrell

Over the summer I completed a fellowship with Mary’s Center. I was able to work under Katya Quintanilla and Kimberly Giron in the teen summer program. Mary’s Center’s mission is to build better futures through the delivery of health care, education, and social services. With the summer teen program, my role was to create and host in-person educational and motivational workshops. The goal of the teen program is to provide college prep, empower teens, build on life skills, and give teens a place to be themselves. The sessions I hosted included information about career preparation and healthy behaviors. Another one of my deliverables was creating monthly infographics for July and August that included current scholarships, opportunities, and activities throughout DC. From my fellowship I learned that when working with adolescents, it is important to build relationships to improve outcomes. I believe my fellowship with Mary’s Center allowed me to grow and learn as a public health professional by gaining planning and communication skills. I would recommend Mary’s Center fellowships to anyone interested in community health or health education. For incoming fellows, I would recommend meeting with a previous fellow to gain information about their experience and recommendations. Before my fellowship, I was able to connect with Cassie Navalta to gain information about Mary’s Center as well as her experiences with the teen program. This was extremely beneficial for me, and allowed me to feel comfortable in the role before starting as a fellow.