Welcome back, now we're going to discuss working in the field. What you can expect and what some of the common issues are. Students in this class have had varying levels of experiences overseas, which can range from a short term group travel trip. To sort of a long term in the field research and these types of experiences are widely different, they serve different purposes. They have different value to international learning experiences. And they both bring about a different set of challenges. The reason that I am talking about curated experiences, these sort of group travel trips where you go together with other people or someone has organized it versus field work. Is because they're wildly different. And for those of you who have only had curated experiences, there are common issues and unique challenges to something more individual-based and working in the field. And so, this session is really for those people who haven't had the experience of working in the field for a longer period of time. And for those of you who have had that experience, I would encourage you to go to the discussion forums and start conversations about your experiences, what you've done, and what you've done to alleviate some of those issues. So, in global health things don't always work right. I mean they rarely work right. So, you have IRB delays, water, electricity, or something else essential might go out. And they might go out regularly, maybe even while you're in the shower. Sometimes things just move slower in developing countries. You're Internet stops working, all of the cars for your organization break down, supplies don't arrive. You may get really lonely and homesick. There could be language barriers, so you can have trouble communicating with partners, a lack of guidance from supervisors. This is all normal, unfortunately, but it is, it's all normal. And so, as we talked about in previous sections, remember to be flexible, to problem-solve and to improvise. And what I mean by that is to really dive in. Projects often go awry, your scope of work that you worked so hard to negotiate on and to get in writing change. And so, this is an opportunity for you to dive in to absolutely anything and everything that an office might offer. International offices are often over scoped and understaffed. And so, this can result in expanding opportunities to pitch in and gain experience on all sorts of tasks. This is resume building really, its opportunities to jump in where you might not otherwise had the opportunity. It results in the need to be really flexible to meet an office's needs. Whether it's writing something up and you weren't expected to do a manuscript. Helping with logistics or just pitching in on a project that's not yours. And maybe you've done a project where you don't have a ton of expertise. You gain invaluable insight from even the smallest tasks. And pitching in where needed just helps to build relationships. So, the bottom line is to be a team player in real life and not just on paper. Do your best to be an asset. Relationship building, which I just mentioned, is to effectively work in the field you must build trust, and positive relationships with the international and local staff. Anyone that you're going to be working with. Education level is not always an indicator of the level of insight that someone can bring to the table. So, people who might be volunteer health care workers or traditional birth attendants, these may be people who don't have a ton of education. But, they have a lot more insight into the community in which you're working, into the problems that your community is facing, into the things that they need. Your local staff will have a lot of insight about what's okay, and what's not okay to do, in terms of cultural but also foods avoid, where to go out at night, etc. So, learn from your local staff about the things that could get you into trouble. Even it it's the type of clothing to wear professionally versus when you're out for fun, even if it's just where to get safe salad. These could be things that the sooner you build relationships with people and ask them questions, the more you can really learn from people, whether it's work related or just living related. Remember that your primary goal when you're going overseas is to work. So, for those of you with little experience working overseas or for those of you who have enjoyed more of those curated experiences we talked about, please remember that you're going overseas to do work. It can be challenging to disassociate the overseas environment from exploration and play. Especially if you've done a lot of tourism, there is often an urge to see a foreign environment as something to go and explore. And while we want you to see as much of the country or countries that you're going to as possible, remember that your job, first and foremost, is your job. But that being said, take advantage of the fact that you are temporarily living in a really cool place, and travel every chance that you can. When you're traveling make sure that you tell local staff when you're going, and when you should be expected back especially if it's longer than just a week trip. [MUSIC]
