Step Outside the Music Box

At my internship I've learned a good amount of music I'm not used too. It's been refreshing and introduces me to new styles that I now enjoy. I've never been a fan of hip hop but since it's a favorite genre of the patients here I've had to step outside my comfort zone and learn how to rap. Let me tell you... I'm not too bad! I actually enjoy rapping now. I get really into it and enjoy learning them. A tip about recreating hip hop is to use the Q-chord, not only does it give you a drum beat but it makes it easier to rap.

In my classes at FSU I never learned much hip hop. If your still a student, learn all of the different styles of music you can! Diversify your repertoire, especially if you're interested in working with adolescents. The two genres most requested at the hospital I intern at is country and hip hop.

Another challenge with working in a Children's hospital is having to constantly update yourself with what is popular on the radio. I frequently look at billboards.com top 100 to stay updated and better predict what patients will request. I can keep track of the top hits from day to day but we also have tons of outliers! I was super excited to learn a Blink 182 (one of my favorite bands) song a few weeks ago even though they haven't been on the radio in quite some time. If a song is older than a year it typically is not requested that much. Walking into a room is always an interesting experience because I never know what I'm going to get!
  

Staying Updated with MT

I wanted to pass on two resources that keep me updated with Music Therapy!

1. MusicTherapyEnews- I came across this because I was previously in an organization that used yahoo groups as a form of communication. You will need to have/make a yahoo account to add this, click on yahoo groups, and then search "MusicTherapyEnews" and it should pop up. Click subscribe, and you will get updates on MT. This resource is published by AMTA, and I have received updates about National conference that have been very useful. Another great thing about Yahoo is that you can forward the groups emails to your primary email. Just click on "edit membership" when you are a part of the group and click on what email you want them sent too.

2. Google Alerts- I want to give credit to Elisa Aven for showing me this. Google "Google alerts" and you can set up Google to email you any web results of Music Therapy. You can limit how often, and if the links are web, news, blog etc.

I hope this helps and if you have trouble accessing these just let me know!

Child Life

What is Child Life?

Child life specialists are trained professionals with expertise in helping children and their families overcome life’s most challenging events (the definition from the child life council website). I had no idea what a child life specialist was until this internship. During my practicum at the Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare I knew the child life specialist as the friendly lady that referred patients to music therapy, but they are much more than that.

I have had the opportunity to shadow most of the child life department. The child life department consists of six child life specialists, one school teacher, and one music therapist. A definition that clarified child life for me is that they have the same objectives as music therapy but the interventions are different. In future posts I will go into detail about interventions they use that can benefit music therapy. In particular, observing a child life specialist (CLS) during procedural support has been extremely helpful.

The child life major is heavy in psychology and child development. While music therapy is normalizing an environment with patient preferred music, child life (CL) does the same idea with patient preferred activities. During procedural support nurses turn to CL to assess if the patient needs sedation. CL act as support for the patients, one CLS stated that she feels like the middleman sometimes. CLS build rapport and trust with patients, and patients confide in them what they are scared to tell the physicians or nurses. During my meeting with the CL coordinator, she said that child life and music therapy are very complimentary. After observations, I can’t see how a children’s hospital functions without both of these fields.     

Building Relationships With Other Professionals

I love my field and how established it is. We have amazing research and work together to better our profession. Another thing I have noticed, which is something that isn't taught in the classroom is the amount of compassion, professionalism, and courtesy MT has. The professionals set the standard for this and it is passed down to all interns during the internship.

I am so lucky to have a supervisor that has worked very hard to build relationships with everyone that works in the hospital. She is a great model for me to observe. My supervisor treats everyone in the hospital with the utmost respect, from the physicians to the cleaning crew. She has really established the etiquette of professionalism when working in this setting. For example, whenever she receives a referral she makes sure to say thank you afterward and let's them know how the patient did.

Typically, (being the awkward person that I am) I pass people in the hallways and never know if I should make eye contact, say hi, etc. Now after observing my supervisor, I make sure to say Hi to everyone with a smile. Even in elevators I try to make a friendly conversation. You never know whom you encounter in the hallway; you could be passing someone that could put a good word in for you. So it is very important to make a good first impression the very first time they see you.

Building relationships is so important, not only for you but for everyone else in the field. You put a face to music therapy. When you are polite and courteous, physicians are more willing to make referrals. I have seen that once you receive a few referrals on a unit, they multiply when people see what you do. Word of mouth is another great way information can get passed for MT.

This is a great skill to attain, especially for new MT programs. Just remember, the little things really do count. It takes time to gain respect from all of your fellow employees, especially when they don't understand what music therapy is. But it is a whole lot easier to put your foot in the door when you show them courtesy and professionalism.

Chaplain Shadowing Experience

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to shadow Sue Crowley, the chaplain for the hospital. She started off by introducing what she does and gave me several informative articles about her field. Before we saw patients Sue showed me where the chapel of the hospital was. I must have passed the open door countless times and didn’t realize it was there! At the entrance there is a prayer box for patients and she collects the deposits.

Sue receives referrals for patients but mostly makes rotations on floors to see if she is needed. She tries to go to rounds three times a week to assess her priority as well. I observed her with many patients and I loved the sense of peace she gives off.

I think one thing that I liked most of this shadowing experience is the way she introduced herself. She is very open to all spiritualities and when she knocked on the door she said who she was and started a conversation about how everyone in the room was doing. She picked up on religious cues and knew when it was appropriate to offer to pray. I think Sue shows great compassion for all of the patients in the hospital and I enjoyed getting to know more about her job.

Getting Involved

I feel one of the bigger challenges in the beginning of an internship is being in a new town, living alone and not knowing anyone. It can be a hard transition when you're used to being surrounded by roommates and close friends. I had the opportunity to get involved in the community here and it has helped make this change not as difficult.

Prior to moving to Fort Myers I researched the community with my interests. I love to play soccer, so I researched an adult soccer league. It was pricey to join for a summer season. Luckily, that site led me to a soccer blog for south west Florida. I became a member and they send me emails with notifications of new pickup games. I try to play every Thursday and Friday but it's nice because I have the option to go. If I'm overwhelmed I can always go the next week.

Another interest I researched was finding a local church. I've always wanted to play an instrument or sing for the services. I found the website of a church and emailed the music director. He responded that they could always use people and I've been playing for services ever since. It's also really nice because I can go to church and not have to worry about sitting alone.

I honestly love playing in the church and being involved in the community at least a little bit. It's just the right amount to not feel overwhelmed. I think it's good to research early and have an idea of what you can do before you go. I can't count how many times I started something or was involved in a group and said "I wish I started this sooner."

This can easily be transferred to you! I know not everyone likes soccer. But if you like volleyball, running, volunteering, or anything, you can look it up wherever you intern or move to and their will definitely be something for you. You just have to find it and look in the right place!

Are you a current or past intern? What helped you with moving to a new place?

Finding the Right Internship

The internship application process can be very stressful and overwhelming. The purpose of this post is to share my experience, tips, and to answer common questions that may arise.

My Strategy

When I started looking for an internship I didn’t know what population I wanted to work with, I liked them all! I also didn’t know where I wanted to be located. I have lived in Florida all of my life and maybe I want a new state, a new city? Needless to say it was easy to put off applying since it was such a big decision. Big Mistake! Be proactive.

Everyone picks where they apply differently, but since I wasn't limited on location I wanted to look at all of my options. First thing I did was look at the AMTA Internship Roster and started eliminating the sites by:

1. Population

2. Location

3. Philosophy of Music Therapy (This requires some research).

Then I started emailing directors for more information and an application. After some research, I had an idea of my top choices, and I started applying to my top three sites.

 **Don't forget about university affiliated internships. I am currently at an internship affiliated with FSU. You will need to speak with your MT Director to find out about these internships.

Be Proactive

• Do the research early.
• Try to have an idea of where you want to go as soon as you can.
• Check due dates now- some internship applications are due 6 months-1 year before it starts. Know when your deadlines are.
• I had my applications proofread by a handful of people before I sent them off. In my opinion, the little things such as spelling and grammar are important.
• Emailing- When conversing with Internship directors, proofread your emails before you send them out. My supervisor said she looks at everything when deciding on interns, especially professionalism in emails.

The Interview

1. Dress appropriately
2. Be prompt, polite and professional
3. Be prepared

Questions

1. What if after my internship I want to work in a different population?

           That's okay! I thought it would be hard to find a job in a population you have not interned with. If you talk to professionals about past job experiences some have done it all! 

    2. What if I don't get an internship?

        

          This can be a scary question for students applying. I'm a firm believer in what is meant to happen will happen. If you get turned down by your top three choices, keep applying. Have backups and if you apply early then you will have time to apply to other sites before the deadline. A lot of internships also start in January so you can always reapply to your top choice. A good idea is that if you do get declined, to email the director and ask for things to work on for your next interview or application. I'm sure they will gladly give feedback. If you are worried and have asked this question, apply early so you have more chances to intern when you want to!

     3. What if I need help financially?

         There are scholarships out there for interns! You just need to find them! If you are an AMTA student member you can log onto the website and find scholarships you can apply for. Check it out!

I hope this helps, if you have questions or have anything to add please comment!