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Reflective Portfolio
112728945
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Padraig Doyle

112728945

Reflective Portfolio

Padraig Doyle

Work Placement Reflective Portfolio

Introduction:
Work placement is such an important aspect for a university student as it
provides them with valuable experience which will stand to them when seeking
employment further down the line. My work placement is based in The
Department of Public Health in Limerick something Im really looking forward to.
This department has taken on many students and from what Ive researched its
a really great place to work and a great place to gain some valuable experience.
Im thoroughly looking forward to it and I have no doubt the experience here in
the Limerick Public Health Department will stand to me as I go down to career
path and look for a suitable occupation.
Reflective Diary:
Week 1
Events
Monday 13th of April
Began my first day of work

placement in the Limerick Public

Health Department.
Met my work placement supervisor
Dr. Marie Casey who outlined what Id
be doing while on my placement.
I was shown around the whole

department.
Met some staff members individually

during the course of the day.

Each staff member explained there
role within the department.
Was shown the office I would be
working in during my time in the
department.
Tuesday 14th of April
Placement supervisor gave me
various projects to do.
A health and wellbeing project for the
staff here within the department was
one.
Palliative Care project for children
was also another project assigned to
me.
Various staff meetings went on
during every week.
Today a weekly I.D meeting took

Reflections
The first day was all about settling in
and getting to know the department.
I learned how the department
operated by meeting other staff
members who outlined their work to
me
Meetings lasted between a half an
hour and forty five minutes.
There are many different roles within
the department most staff members
are specialists in Public Health
Medicine.

While in college Ive completed many

projects so I wasnt daunted with the
work I had to do within the
department.
Researching both projects was
essential before beginning both
projects.
The weekly I.D meeting was where all
staff members in the department
listened to what diseases were
common and any disease outbreaks
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place within the meeting room.

Met more staff within the
department.

Wednesday 15th of April

Computer in my office was sorted I
now had use of the internet and
other features such as staff email.
I began work on the health and
wellbeing activity project for the staff
here in the department.
I did some background research on
similar projects carried out by other
workforces throughout the country
and also globally.
I drew up a brainstorm of some of the
ideas I wanted within the project.
Thursday 16th of April
Began work on the palliative care
project because the hospice nurse
was coming in for a meeting the next
day.
My work placement supervisor sent
me relevant paperwork that had to
be read for the hospice nurse.
I was also sent health profiles of the
counties within the Midwestern
health board.
These were developed by the work
placement supervisor and I was told
to look through them.

that had occurred during that week.

Friday 17th of April

Once again did more research on
palliative care around children.
The work placement supervisor, I and

Padraig Doyle

Today was an interesting day as I

learned how to operate the email
system within the department.
This is an important feature in the
department as it lets people know of
any on-going courses, sets up
meeting for staff members, and
much more information its vitally
important within the department.
With the use of Microsoft Word I was
able to begin the activity project.

With the hospice nurse coming in the

next day I focused particularly on
researching palliative care for
children.
Here I learned the mental
implications it has both on the
parents as well as the nurses working
within palliative care.
I also gave a look through the health
profiles which show health statistics
for the counties of Limerick County,
Tipperary North, Limerick City and
Clare.
It was interesting comparing the
health differences between the
various counties.
It was a fairly hectic day in the office
with the hospice nurse arriving.
My role in the palliative care project
for children was one I was familiar
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another colleague met with the

hospice nurse at 2:15pm that day in
the meeting room.
Here the hospice nurse described the
research paper she was developing.
My role in this project was to find
relevant research papers that would
be useful to the hospice nurse as she
had very little experience in this
field.
I was also given the responsibility to
come up with a research question
with the hospice nurse.

Week 2
Events
Monday 20th of April
I began using the databases

available within the UCC Library

website to find relevant papers for

the hospice nurse.

I used databases such as PubMed,
Science Direct, Medline, Google
Scholar and CINAHL.
A CPD meeting also took place which

lasted approximately 45 minutes.

In this meeting two staff members
discussed their time over in Nepal

where the disease Leprosy is very

common.
Various pictures were shown as well
as the stigma surrounding people
who leprosy disease.
At the end of the meeting the two
staff members wanted a volunteer to
run in the Great Limerick Run on the
3rd of May and I happily volunteered
to run for the department.
I was going to be running for the
charity Nepal Leprosy Trust with hope
of raising money for a shuttle bus to
transport patients to Lalgadh Leprosy
Hospital in South Nepal.

Padraig Doyle
with because of some of the college
work I had previously completed.
Data Management was a module that
really stood to me because I had
developed my own research question
and researched a wide variety of
papers while completing that project
in third year.

Reflections
It was another interesting day within
the department especially in regards
to the CPD meeting.
With sport being a massive interest
of mine I was more than happy to run
for the department and raise money
for a worthwhile charity.
In the CPD meeting I learned how
severe leprosy can be and witnessed
very sad cases especially within
children.
People with leprosy in Nepal are seen
as outsiders and normal people do
not want to associate with them in
case of developing the disease
themselves.

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Reflective Portfolio

Tuesday 21st of April

I registered for the Great Limerick
Run online for the department.
Began doing more research and work
for the health and wellbeing activity
project.
Went to another weekly ID meeting
were specific disease and outbreaks
were discussed. This is quite an
interesting aspect in regards to Public
Health as they discuss prevalent
diseases.
Wednesday 22nd of April
I received my sponsorship card for
the Great Limerick Run from a staff
member.
I found 5 relevant research papers in
regard to palliative care project and I
was no planning on emailing them to
the hospice nurse to see if there
useful to her.
I also carried on developing my
health and wellbeing project for the
staff members within the
department.
Thursday 23rd of April
I sent an email to an environmental
office about possibly going out for a
day to see what they do.
I also got involved in another project
that my supervisor is involved in.
The project is to do with mental
health in Ireland.
I was told to think of the priorities
for mental health in Ireland.
We had a meeting that evening to
discuss the points that I made.

Padraig Doyle

I enjoy the weekly ID meetings as

they provide valuable information on
the occurrence of certain diseases.
For this reason public health
specialists can look at this and try
help resolve and keep the disease
numbers as low as they can.
They can do this by providing much
needed information to people
surrounding a certain disease
through information leaflets phone
calls and so on.
Today I was busy trying to get a
substantial amount of work done on
both projects.
My supervisor also sent me an email
in regards to hospital grand rounds
by video conferencing within the
meeting room.
Here a lecturer is discussing How
Important is Health to the Health of
the Irish Economy? over a video call
that can be seen on the televisions in
the boardroom.

Today I got to look at a new project in

regards to mental health.
I learned that public health is a
massively broad subject and doesnt
just take physical issues into its own
hands but also mental ones.
While infectious diseases and other
types of diseases are taken
extremely seriously within the
department they are also concerned
about the mental wellbeing of
individuals.

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Reflective Portfolio

Friday 24th of April

I carried on more work on the
palliative care and health and
wellbeing projects.
I went to hospital grand rounds by
videoconferencing in the meeting
room.
Discussed was how important is
health to the health of the Irish
Economy.
I also had a meeting with my work
placement supervisor.
We discussed how the placement
was going and also she looked at the
projects I was developing and see
how they could be enhanced and
improved

Padraig Doyle

It was another hectic day from start

to finish in the department.
It was interesting to see how the
videoconference operated in the
meeting room.
Its simply a lecturer talking to staff
within The University Hospital
Limerick but its being video recorded
and being made available to various
work departments such as the public
health department in Limerick.

Week 3
Events

Reflections

th

Monday April 27
I developed 4 research questions for
the palliative care project being
designed by the hospice nurse.
Had a meeting with the director of
public health to discuss the health
and well-being project Im
developing.
She helped me develop the project
further by giving her own opinions on
it.
Tuesday April 28th
Developed a questionnaire for the
health and wellbeing project using
surveymokey.com
I sent the questionnaire to the whole
department to gain an insight into
their opinions and interests.
Went to the weekly ID meeting where
various diseases that have appeared
during the week were discussed.

It was interesting to develop the

research question as I use the PICO
format which I used in college to
develop a research question for my
data management project.
The director of public health
suggested developing a
questionnaire for staff members to
get their opinions on activity and
health which I taught was a very
good idea.
It was my first time developing a
survey/questionnaire.
I had to make the questions and the
answers and make sure it was
relevant to the topic of interest.
Its clear from the weekly ID meeting
that there are some diseases taken
very seriously meningitis is just one
example of this.

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Reflective Portfolio

Wednesday April 29th

Received an email from the hospice

nurse who is developing the

palliative care project, she asked me

to research more relevant papers and

send them to her.
Again I used UCC library to find the
papers as it gave access to the full
paper.
I received another email later that

day from the hospice nurse again

asking me to read through a letter of
invitation that would be sent to
parents whose children have passed
away from a life limiting condition.
Thursday April 30th
Was sent an email by my work

placement supervisor in regards to

Critical Appraisal and finding and
appraising the evidence.
I also gave a look at a few more
research papers as the hospice nurse
was coming in for a meeting either
today or tomorrow.
Friday May 1st
Had my weekly meeting with my

placement supervisor where we

talked about what I had done during

the week.
She also showed me how to properly
develop s research question.
I began doing a bit of work on

PubMed to try and produce a better

developed research question than
the one I had previously done.
Also sent an email to the company
CSTAR to hopefully do an NVIVO
course with them out in University of
Limerick.
Week 4
Events
Monday May 4th
Bank Holiday
Tuesday May 5th
Met with the director of public health

within the office who thanked me for

partaking in the Great Limerick Run.

Padraig Doyle

I began feeling more comfortable

with using many databases to find
relevant research papers.
I learned how to use the advanced
search method to make the search
parameters more precise and find
extremely relevant papers for the
hospice nurse.
From reading the letter of invitation it
gave me an idea of how to structure
one if ever I was going to do
something like that in the future.

The critical appraisal and the finding

and appraising the evidence paper
was a really interesting read and I
most definitely learned something
from it. It will stand to me in my final
year in college.

Again it was an interesting day as I

learned how to fully use the database
PubMed as well as other databases.
I learned how to use Mesh terms
which help in developing research
questions.
I was also given a document which
also outlined how to develop a good
research question.

Reflections

I learned how to develop a survey

using surveymonkey.com.
It took a while for me to grasp all the
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I began work on a survey for the

health and wellbeing project which
was being sent to each staff member
in the department.
Went to the weekly ID meeting which
was held in the meeting room.

Padraig Doyle
tools within the site but eventually I
found my feet and was able to
develop a well-structured survey.
I developed a range of questions to
find out particular interests staff
members have within the
department in regards to health.

Wednesday May 6th

Day off
Thursday May 7th
Went on surveymonkey and analysed
While producing my results on a
the results produced.
PowerPoint presentation it gave me a
I was asked to speak about these
chance to improve my skills using
results in the departmental meeting
Microsoft power point.

I never developed a graph within

to give the staff members an idea of
the common interests they had with
power point so it gave me a great
one another.
insight in how to do this.
I used a PowerPoint presentation to
outline the results of my survey. I
produced multiple graphs to make it
easier for staff members to see what
interests were more common.
Friday May 8th
Had a meeting with my placement
supervisor were we discussed what
It would be a great experience to learn
Id completed during the week.
more about critical appraisal as it will
My supervisor also outlined other
stand to me hugely in my final year in
areas of work that need to be
college.
assessed for next week.
Received an email from another staff
It would also be good to learn it from
member within the department
an experienced person who deals
outlining how he would like to meet
with a variety of research papers
me and discuss critical appraisal with
were critical appraisal is essential.
me. This meeting would now become
weekly and would occur on a
Tuesday.
Went to another videoconference in
the meeting room which was about
Audit of Clinical Documentation for
HIPE/Activity Based Funding.
Week 5
Events
Reflections
Monday May 11th
Had a meeting with the hospice
I learned the difficulties and how time
nurse and another member of their
consuming it is to develop a research
staff where we discussed progress in
paper.
Noticeably ethics approval was the
regards to the palliative care project.
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Reflective Portfolio

Ethics approval was an issue flagged

in our last meeting with the hospice
nurse and its something that is
needed for this project.
This will take a substantial amount of
time so I was asked to email to
authors who produced very relevant
research papers and ask them for an
interview guide which could be used
as a template for this project.
Tuesday May 12th
Had a tutorial with a staff member on
randomised controlled trials and also
the CASP tool used to evaluate the
paper.
The tutorial lasted around an hour
and half where we discussed and
broke down many RCT papers.
I was also asked to present the
survey results of my health and
wellbeing project in the departmental
meeting on Wednesday May 13th.
Wednesday May 13th
We had a departmental meeting in
the morning where various issues
were addressed.
At
the end of this meeting I was asked
to present my results on a power
point presentation.
My work placement supervisor also
asked me to design a rough copy of
an interview guide which will be
discussed on Friday when I meet with
my supervisor again.
Thursday May 14th
Began looking up interview guides to
use as a template for the palliative
care project.
Sent an email to the department
outlining what day we should do the
sli na slainte as part of my health and
wellbeing project for the staff
members.
We decided that Monday the 18th of
May wed partake in the walk around

Padraig Doyle
most problematic thing that had to
be approved and completed.

Today was a really interesting day

and a day where I learned an awful
lot.
The tutorial was really informative
and with it being a one to one tutorial
it was easy to ask questions and so
on.
The tutorial will really stand to me
going into my final year in college.
I learned how to read a research
paper in great detail with the use of
the CASP tool.
It was great experience to present in
front of staff members at an
important departmental meeting.
Again I think this particular
experience will stand to me in my
final year in college.

It was a good learning experience

finding out how to properly structure
an interview guide.
I also got great encouragement when
staff members were more than happy
to take part in the sli na slainte
around the city as part of my health
and wellbeing project.
I felt that my leadership skills were
greatly enhanced from completing
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Reflective Portfolio

the city.

the health and wellbeing project.

Friday May 15th

Had a meeting with my work

placement supervisor.
In this meeting I was asked to

develop an interview guide for the

hospice nurse to help her in
developing her research paper.
I had a sample one developed as she
had discussed it briefly with me on
Wednesday.
She outlined the changed that should
be made to it.
Week 6
Events
Monday May 18th
Out of work with illness.
Tuesday May 19TH
Out of work with illness.
Wednesday May 20th
Emailed my supervisor letting her

know that I was back in work from

illness as she was away in Dublin and

not around the department.

Rearranged the walk around the city
that was supposed to have occurred
Monday of this week to Monday of
next week.
Also sent interview guide to the
director of public health to make sure
it was okay.

Thursday May 21st

We counted the total money we
raised for the Nepal trust within the
department.
Myself and three friends along with
the director of public health and her
daughter as well as another staff
member all took part in the Great
Limerick Run.
In total we raised 1,212.32 for the
Nepal trust.

Padraig Doyle

I learned how to structure an

interview guide in regards to
qualitative research.
Again this will stand to me as I
approach my final year in college.

Reflections

I learned the process of getting back

into the working environment after a
short illness.
I learned how important it is to catch
up and not let the work build up.

It was a great experience partaking

in The Great Limerick Run.
As well as it being good fun it was for
worthy cause as Nepal is going
through tough times because of the
recent earthquakes that have hit the
country.
I never did anything like this before
for charity and its something I will
look to do on a regular basis now.
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Padraig Doyle

Rang Bank of Ireland enquiring about

a charity cheque which will be used
in presenting the money to the Nepal
visitors who are coming into the
department tomorrow.

Friday May 22nd

It was a fairly hectic day in the office.

Visitors from Nepal came to the

department where they met with the
director of public health.
I was asked to collect the

presentation cheque from bank of

Ireland which was going to be used
for a photo with the two Nepal
visitors.
Also had a meeting with another staff
member where he gave me a tutorial
on qualitative papers.
Also had a meeting with my
supervisor where we discussed what
had occurred during the week.
Week 7
Events

The tutorial every week with the staff

member cannot be questioned, its
massively important and Im learning
a lot from him.
I have no doubt the work Ive
completed thus far in the department
will be of benefit to me as I enter my
final year in University.

Reflections

th

Monday May 25
Went to CPD meeting where multiple
staff members presented what they
had completed in recent months or
weeks.
The first Sli Na Slainte walk took
place at lunchtime which was a huge
success and looks like being
permanently implemented within the
department.
I sent off the completed interview
guide to hospice nurse which will be
used when interviewing parents for
the overall palliative care research
paper.
Tuesday May 26th
Got in touch with an environmental

A very busy day again within the

department and another very
enjoyable one.
It was particularly great to see such
an interest in the sli na slainte which
came from my health and wellbeing
project which I was doing earlier on
in the placement.
Its great to known that something
that I did while on my placement will
be there for a long time after Im
gone and that very satisfying.

Going to be interesting seeing what

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Reflective Portfolio

health officer where we discussed a

possible day out to see what they do.
Had another tutorial with a staff
member in regards to qualitative
papers.

Wednesday May 26th

After completing the tutorial with one

of the staff members on qualitative

papers I decided to research a few
more.
I then decided to critically examine

each paper.
Also spoke to the director of public
health about the walk that I
organised and went ahead last

Monday. I explained to her it was a

huge success and now shes looking
into making it a weekly event.
Thursday May 27th
Was sent an email from the staff

member who carries out the tutorial

explaining what we will do next
week.
He sent me on a cohort paper and
also the C.A.S.P tool for examining it.
This tutorial is due to occur next
Wednesday.
Friday May 28th
Updated links in an official public

health document. I made sure that

these links were in order as its
available to the public.
Had a meeting with my supervisor
where we discussed the various
things I did during the week.
We also discussed my futures plans
within the department.
Week 8
Events
Monday June 1

Padraig Doyle
environmental health officers do and
will give me another look at another
possible career option for myself
after I finish my 4 years in college.

I think it was a great ideal critically

examining each qualitative paper as
something like this may come up in
my final year in college.
With the help of one of the staff
members I feel every week Im
learning and getting valuable
experience from him so its very
worthwhile.
I can now distinguish which papers
are of a higher standard compared to
others which is great.
Once again Im massively looking
forward to this tutorial its a one off
thing where I can learn plenty from.

I find it really helpful getting

feedback on the various work I do
during the week. It gives me an idea
how I am progressing through every
week of work placement.

Reflections

st

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Bank Holiday
Tuesday June 2nd
Had a small meeting with my
supervisor where she discussed and
told me she would be talking to my
placement co-ordinator from UCC
tomorrow.
Also looked over the cohort paper
which I was going to be completing in
the tutorial tomorrow.
Wednesday June 3rd
Had my tutorial with one of the staff
members where we discussed the
cohort paper in question.
We broke it down and went into great
detail when reading through the
paper.
Again we used the CASP tool to fully
understand every bit of the paper.
Also had a meeting with both my
supervisor here in the department
and also the coordinator of the work
placement in UCC.
Thursday June 4th
Had another tutorial with a staff
member where we discussed
qualitative papers once more.
Was also given a job of proof reading
health profiles which are being
published on a National level.
My role was to rectify any mistakes
made within the papers.

Friday June 5th

Had a meeting with my supervisor
where we discussed what I did during
the week.
I also was working again on the
health profiles trying to rectify any
minor mistakes that were made
within them.
I also emailed the Limerick Sports
Partnership who have invited me for
a week of placement with them.

Padraig Doyle

Going to be interesting how I will be

assessed by both my supervisor and
the work placement co-ordinator.
The tutorials are standing to me
every week and Im learning more
and more every day.

Doing different papers every week is

something I look forward to.
Weve now looked at cohort,
randomised controlled trials and
many qualitative papers which will
most definitely stand to me next year
in college.
In the meeting it was good to talk to
the co-ordinator and explain exactly
the things and roles Ive been given
in the department.

Again the tutorial was interesting and

very worthwhile.
Examining the health profiles was
quite a substantial job as these
papers were being published on a
national level so I had to be very
focused when reading through them
and rectify any mistakes made.
There were a few minor mistakes
made so it was my duty to correct
them and tell my supervisor about
them.
Being involved in something which is
going national is quite interesting
particularly for a third level student
like myself.
Im delighted Im getting the chance
to see what happens within the
Limerick Sports Partnership it will be
a great experience working there for
the week and it will give me an
insight into what they do on a day to
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Reflective Portfolio

Permission was granted from my own

placement The Limerick Public Health
Department.
Week 9
Events
Monday June 8th
Looked through more health profiles

and looked for any mistake or

misprints within them.
Was also sent a cohort paper by one

of the staff members which will be

looked at in tomorrows tutorial.
A member of staff showed me where
the data comes from within the
Health Profiles.
Tuesday June 9th
Had another worthwhile tutorial with

one of the staff members within the

department in regards to cohort
studies.
Again I proofread a lot of health
profiles to ensure no mistakes were
made within them as there being
published on a national level.
Wednesday June 10th
Went on a trip to Galway for a

meeting in regards to the health

profiles with my work placement

supervisor and also another staff

member.
Various things were discussed like
when theyll be available on a
national level, make sure there are
no mistakes within them and another
meeting was organised.
The meeting lasted about an hour
and a half with a lot things covered in
regards to the health profiles.
Thursday June 11th
Went into meeting room with my

work placement supervisor and

another staff member where we

worked as a group rectifying any

errors within the health profiles.

Padraig Doyle
day basis.

Reflections
It was nice to see where the data
actually came from in the health
profiles.
They come from the central statistics
office who have years of data
collected and are being used within
the Health Profiles

The tutorials as Ive said on multiple

occasion are really helpful and were
a great addition to my time here in
the department as well as working
Im also being educated especially as
Im approaching my final year in
university.

It was a great experience to go to

Galway and be involved in a meeting
of that magnitude.
It will really help me understand what
needs to be prepared and done for
meeting such as these and it most
definitely will stand to me in the
future.

Ive thoroughly enjoyed being

involved with the health profiles as
its another fairly big project.
Being involved in something which is
going out on a national level makes
you feel important and sufficient
within the department.

Friday June 12th

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Made the final changes to the all the

health profiles and ensured that it

was all grammatically correct as well
as all the data being correct.
It was then sent off to the person

over the health profiles whose job

was to make the changes we
identified.
After this is completed they should
then be ready to be published on a
national level.
Week 10
Events
Monday June 15th
Out of work due to family
bereavement.
Tuesday June 16th

Started working for the week in the

Limerick Sports Partnership.
It was national bike week so there
were a lot of different events
happening during the week.

We went on a cycle around the

Limerick City with girls who were in
5th class in national school.
This was all done to give them good
experience on the city roads it was

well supervise with 3 staff members

as well as one guard.
I also went out to the Limerick
Regional Hospital as a representative
for the Limerick Sports Partnership
handing out leaflets and providing
information as it was also Mens
National Health Week.
Wednesday June 17th

Today we went mountain biking with

disadvantaged children around the
Limerick City area.

We were given bikes and helmets on

the premises.
The mountain biking went on for the
whole day and it was good for the

disadvantaged children to have fun

in area where it was safe and secure

for them.

Padraig Doyle
Identifying the changes within the
health profiles was a very tedious
and hard job but I most defiantly
enjoyed it.
As Ive mentioned before it was a
great experience to be involved in
something on a national level and it
will be something I will put down on
my C.V.

Reflections

Working in sport was always

something I was interested in doing
so getting the week with Limerick
Sports Partnership was going to be a
great experience.
As it was bike week I always knew I
was going to be on a bike for most of
the week, Ive always been fairly
good on a bike so I was more than
happy.
Working with different age groups
was something I was looking forward
to and a challenge I wanted while on
placement and The Limerick Sports
Partnership would provide exactly
that.

Working with the disadvantaged

children really was an eye opening
experience.
It just showed me never to take
anything for granted because these
teenagers had been through an awful
lot in their short lives.
For this reason I wanted to give them
an enjoyable day out.
It was most defiantly challenging at
times dealing with the teenagers but
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Padraig Doyle
it was something I became
accustomed to as the day went on.

Thursday June 18th

On this day we were out in Adare

GAA in Limerick helping out with a

skills day for many national schools

across the county.
I was asked to supervise and show
the students how to do one of the
activities on the bike.
As well as supervising I was asked to
help the students improve their
cycling skills and make them more
confident on the bike.
Friday June 19th
It was my final day working in

Limerick Sports Partnership.

On this occasion the staff members
were within the Sports Partnership
were asked to supervise a walk for

students in Castletroy around the

city.
This walk was carried out because
they had just opened their new
national school at the beginning of
the year and today was their official
opening of it so they wanted to

complete a walk across the city.

Once again I was on a bike stopping
traffic that was coming out of
housing estates and out of shops so
that the children could cross safety.
After this I was sent out to Limerick
Regional Hospital to provide leaflets
and information regarding Mens
National Health Week.
Week 11
Events
Monday June 22nd
Was back working in the Public

Health Department.
Had a meeting with my supervisor

were we discussed what I did during

my week in the Limerick Sports
Partnership.
Also began looking for case control

studys for my tutorial with one of the

Again it was great to work and

communicate with young people.
It was a great experience teaching
the students on how their cycling can
be improved and how their
confidence can also be improved.

It was a great experience working

within the Limerick Sports
Partnership for a week as Ive always
had a keen interest in any type of
Sport.
It was great to work with a variety of
different age groups who all came
from a different background you
dont get this type of experience
working within the Public Health
Department so that was also quite an
interesting aspect of the job.
In future it might be something Id
like to do and may look there again
for experience in the foreseeable
future.

Reflections
It was great to be back working in the
Public Health Department.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the
Limerick Sports Partnership although
I did feel I probably needed more
time within the place to fully grasp
what they within their department.
I was keen again to start looking for
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staff members during the week.

Padraig Doyle
papers for the tutorial as it will
greatly stand to me next year.

Tuesday June 23rd

Received an email from the palliative
care nurse to let us know that ethical
approval was granted for her
research paper and work on it could
finally make some progress.
We have a meeting with the
palliative care nurse Thursday
coming where various things will be
discussed and plans drawn out.
Wednesday June 24th
Received a phone call from an
environmental officer who invited me
for a day out to see what they do.
Tutorial was also scheduled for
tomorrow as well as the meeting with
the palliative care nurse.
Thursday June 25th
Had a tutorial in regards to case
control studies with one of the staff
members in the department.
Had a meeting with palliative care
nurse where we discussed the
progress of the project after ethical
approval had been granted.

Friday June 26th

Met with my supervisor where we
discussed what I did during the week.
She also outlined what Ill be doing
for next week.
She also identified the types of jobs I
can look for when I complete my
public health degree.

Looking forwards now to seeing what

will be discussed on Thursday in
regards to palliative care project.
Work on this project came to a bit of
a halt while we were waiting for
ethical approval but now that its
been granted work can now finally
commence.

Its going to be a good experience

seeing whats involved in an
environmental officers job.
Its nice seeing what other areas
there are to explore when looking for
a job in the public health
environment.
It was good to see how far the
palliative care project has come.
It was nice to see that the interview
guide that I produced will be used
when interviewing the parents for
this project.
I also found out during the meeting
that this is also going to be published
so once again Im delighted to be a
part of this project.
It was nice to get an insight into the
other types of jobs I can look into
when I finish my college degree.
My supervisor most definitely
broadened my horizons and
explained the types of jobs I can look
for here in Ireland and also abroad
which was greatly appreciated.

Week 12
Events
Monday June 29th
Went on trip with an environmental
officer out to Aughinish Port in
Limerick.

Reflections

It was a great experience again to

see another different aspect of public
health.
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We went out to inspect a ship that

had arrived into the port and make
sure its hygiene and health standards
were adequate.
We looked at various areas of the
boat ranging from the kitchen to the
engine room to make sure everything
was up to scratch.

Tuesday June 30th

Back in the office within the
department today.
IT were into to look at the computers
so my access to documents was
restricted today.
I began structuring my reflective
portfolio and looked over all the
notes I had written during every
week I was here.
These notes were going to help me
construct my work placement
portfolio.
Wednesday July 1st
Did more work on my reflective
portfolio for my college.
Also had my last tutorial with one of
the staff members on case control
studies.
Had a brief discussion with my
supervisor who wanted to have a
meeting with me tomorrow to help
her finalise her report on me which
has to be sent back to the college.

Thursday July 2nd

Had a meeting with my work
placement supervisor where we
completed the report for the college.
We also discussed how my
placement for the 12 weeks went.
This was my last day in the office I
was given Friday off.

Padraig Doyle
Environment health was a particular
module I was interested within my
own degree so it was nice to see
what an environmental officer does.
These opportunities within the
placement are broadening my mind
and its giving me a wide variety of
different career paths I can take
when I finish my public health
degree.
It was important to me to make sure I
laid out a well-structured portfolio for
my college and my degree.
I feel the portfolio is of great
assistance to students who are
beginning the public health degree
and also current college students
within the degree as they can look
through it and they can see the
various jobs and activities I did while
I was on work placement.

The tutorials were a huge help and

benefit to me as Ive mentioned
above. They will greatly help and
stand to me over the coming year
and also next year.
I will most definitely use these
documents when studying papers
while in my final year.
The tutorials have given me a better
understanding of research papers
and how to read them correctly using
the different types of CASP tools
available.
Placement had now come to an end
it was a thoroughly enjoyable
experience and one I wont forget.
Had a great rapport with each
member within the department
which also helped in making it such a
wonderful place to work.
I will most definitely stay in contact
with staff members within this
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Padraig Doyle
department and I have taken a keen
interest in the Great Limerick Run
and will look to it again next year for
the department.

Friday July 3rd

12 week placement completed.
Conclusion:
Working for the Limerick Public Health Department was a thoroughly enjoyable
experience and one that I wont forget. It has provided me with a vast amount of
experience in the public health sector as well as educating me from time working
here. It was a great experience being involved in multiple projects some on a
national level and others just for department use. Implementing a health and
wellbeing plan for all the staff members throughout the department, being
involved in a national palliative care project and also being involved in the health
profiles on a national level was just an unforgettable experience and it will most
definitely stand to me in the years to come. I wasnt just stuck in the office for
the 12 weeks I also got trips out. One example was the trip to Galway for a
meeting regarding the health profiles. The Department here always tried to link
me into other areas of public health, they sent me with an environmental officer
for a day to see the type of work that they do, they also sent me for a week to
the Limerick Sports Partnership again too give me an insight into the work they
do. All in all I enjoyed my work placement here within the Department of Public
Health and I couldnt have chosen a better placement to gain such wonderful
experience. I had a great relationship with all the staff here and it was a pleasure
to work and be involved with all of them. I learned so much in such a short space
of time and it will no doubt stand to me in my final year in college particularly
the tutorial I did with the staff members in here in regards to research papers. I
would highly recommend The Department of Public Health in Limerick to
students in third year seeking work placement.

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