PATRICIA MORTON
Sociology Intern
Department of Sociology
College of Liberal Arts
Texas State University - San Marcos
San Marcos, TX 78666
Fall 2009 Texas State University - San Marcos Sociology Internship
Site: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
During the 2009 fall semester at Texas State University-San Marcos, I partook in the Applied Sociology Internship Program. This internship provided me the opportunity to intern at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) as a research coordinator. The UTHSCSA is a public university that offers graduate and post graduate degrees in Nursing, Dental, Medicine, Health Professions, and Biomedical Sciences. My internship is within School Medicine in the Pediatric Department. I am working with a pediatric doctor who is the section head for Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics at the UTHSCSA. Together, we are doing a qualitative study on parents of children with severe neurodevelopmental disabilities.
My duties as research coordinator include research
participant recruitment, participant interviews, and data analysis. In order to be properly trained and approved
by the UTHSCSA Institutional Review Board (IRB), I have completed three
training certifications: Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Training, Collaborative Institutional
Training Initiative (CITI) Training, and UTHSCSA Clinical Research
Training. The research is expected to
take about a year, so I will continue my involvement beyond the sociology
internship program. Currently, I am in
the process of participant recruitment.
The Sociology Department at Texas State University – San
Marcos has provided excellent preparation and continued guidance throughout my
experience. During my undergraduate
coursework, I took a qualitative research methods class that required a
qualitative study and subsequent research paper. This class and the assignment
have definitely primed me for my internship.
Also, there are several professors within the department who are
accomplished qualitative researchers.
These professors have been able to answer my questions and provide guidance
at the graduate level throughout my research involvement.
If you would like more
information about any of the organizations mentioned above, or would like to
contact me, I have provided links below.
