Experience reports from the FWJ at the University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Experience reports from the FWJ at the University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Here, participants in the Voluntary Scientific Year (FWJ) report on their experiences at the University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University of Oldenburg.
Elisa Nordlohne, FWJ 2023/2024
Why did you decide to do a Voluntary Scientific Year?
I graduated from high school in 2023 and then needed a year to get my bearings as I wasn't sure what I wanted to study. As I have always been very interested in the natural sciences and psychology, an FWJ was the perfect opportunity to experience scientific research up close and get to know the day-to-day work of a scientist better.
Where are you employed and what are your areas of responsibility?
I am employed at the University Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and work in the research department (NEMO Lab). Many different studies are carried out here, among other things to improve treatment options for patients with depression or schizophrenia. I have the opportunity to gain insights into each of these studies. At the moment, I am mainly involved in two studies: One deals with social interaction and the other with the effects of social touch on loneliness. My tasks include creating posters and texts for the website to present the studies. I also arrange appointments with test subjects, conduct psychiatric interviews with them and accompany measurements in the MRI scanner. After these measurements, there is always a small amount of laboratory work, where blood and saliva samples are processed. It also involves transferring the data into Excel spreadsheets after the appointments. I have even been able to carry out my own analyses with this data in recent weeks.
What challenges have you faced so far?
The biggest challenge for me was definitely arriving in the world of work. At school, everything was precisely predetermined and timed - in the workplace, on the other hand, every day is a little different and can't be planned exactly from the outset. Nevertheless, I have much more freedom to organise my day individually, which was still very unusual at the beginning.
What surprised you positively?
I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that I am actively involved in many processes and can take on a lot of responsibility with my tasks. I also have the opportunity to help organise my day-to-day work according to my wishes and to work very independently. At the same time, my colleagues offer me insights into various areas of scientific work as well as work with patients, so I can get to know some facets of work in psychiatry.
What do you think this year will bring you?
This year will definitely give me a multi-layered insight into research work, but also into university life. I'm taking an English course at the university and regularly attend lectures to get an overview of the various degree programmes. The FWJ provides an interface between getting to know the degree programme and the world of work. This year has already made it a little clearer to me which direction my studies will take and in which environment I would like to work later on. I hope that my decision will be finalised after this year.
What have you learnt so far during your voluntary service?
I have definitely learnt to work independently and take on responsibility. At the beginning, I read a lot of scientific papers to learn more about my field of work. This broadened my knowledge of neurobiology and psychology and taught me, for example, how certain hormones influence behaviour. I was also able to familiarise myself with various application software such as the MATLAB programming language or the SPSS statistics software. I have also become more confident in dealing with test subjects and have learnt to remain calm in difficult situations and resolve them.
What advice would you give to future volunteers?
The FWJ offers incredibly great experiences and insights into the world of work and study. Especially if you are not yet sure what you want to do after school, use the year to gain an active insight into practical work. Don't be discouraged if something doesn't work out straight away or you don't understand something - there is always someone there to answer your questions. And don't shy away from expressing your wishes, actively helping to shape your FWJ and also taking advantage of what the university has to offer (e.g. attending lectures or seminars).
You will learn a lot during an FWJ and have unique experiences!
Where are you employed and what are your areas of responsibility?
I work in the Department for Human Medicine, in the University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. In my working group, I am involved in various studies on ADHD in adults. My daily tasks include making phone calls to test subjects who are interested in studies and entering data from the questionnaires they have completed into a digital psychodiagnostics programme. I also take part in case conferences, team meetings and research meetings. On the one hand, I can listen in on conversations between psychologists and test subjects in the ADHD outpatient clinic and thus learn something about diagnostics and therapy for test subjects with adult ADHD.
Why did you decide to do a Voluntary Scientific Year?
I decided to do a Voluntary Scientific Year because I wanted to take a year after my A-levels to get my bearings so that I would be even more motivated to start studying afterwards. I also wanted to realise what I really wanted to do. I have always been very interested in research in the natural sciences, especially in the medical field, and I thought it would be very exciting to gain deeper insights into this topic. I also wanted to know how studies are structured and how data is later analysed. I hope that after the year I will know whether I can imagine working in research myself one day.
What do you think this year will bring you?
I think this year will help me above all to become more independent and to learn how to deal with unfamiliar or uncomfortable situations (e.g. talking to difficult test subjects). One of my goals after this year, especially with regard to the medical field, is to know and learn more. I achieve this not only through my work, but also through various lectures at the university, which include, for example, scientific lectures as part of an appointment for a professorship in the School of Medicine. I can also take part in lectures at the university that are given by my colleagues. I hope that after this year I will know what I want to do later.