When I was in graduate school, I served on my department's admissions committee as a student representative, an opportunity that allowed me to meet students from around the country, organize a fun dinner to recruit students for my program and help shape the next class of doctoral students. While reviewing applications, I noticed that many students said they were interested in psychology because they wanted to help people. That made me wonder, does that desire persist throughout graduate school?
For me, it has. When I graduated, I still wanted to serve my community, so I accepted a position in the pediatrics department at MetroHealth Medical Center, a public hospital in Cleveland that serves many low-income people. The job was an excellent match for my skills and interests as a bilingual child-clinical psychologist with expertise in autism, behavior disorders and parent training. I was excited to work primarily with a poor, inner-city and diverse population of patients, and I stayed there for more than six years before coming to APA.
Reflecting on my time in the public sector, I loved every minute of it. There was something special about working in a public hospital that treated people without regard for their ability to pay. My colleagues and I shared a strong sense of commitment, excitement and energy. That's why, I think, when people left MetroHealth to work at different hospitals, they often returned. Personally, I think it was the shared values and commitment to working with an underserved population that brought them back.
Working in the public sector is a great way to fill that altruistic need that so many psychology graduate students share. But public sector jobs, which are funded by government sources, usually don't top students' job wish lists. That's a mistake, since the public sector has tremendous opportunities for psychologists, including those in public hospitals, community health centers, prisons, VA hospitals and the military. Research-oriented graduate students may find openings at such sites and can also seek positions at publicly funded research centers, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Students who want to shape public policy might appreciate advocacy opportunities such as APA's Congressional Fellowship Program or the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Science and Technology Fellowship Program.
Besides helping people, there are many other benefits of public service:
Generous benefits. Public sector positions often have reasonably competitive salaries but very good benefits. You may receive separate vacation and sick days, paid federal holidays, good health insurance and the opportunity to participate in government pension and retirement plans.
Loan repayment. Some positions will help you repay your student loans. If you work in certain public sector jobs for 10 years, and keep up your loan payments during that time, your loans are forgiven. (More information.) At NIH, employees can apply for an intramural loan repayment.
Health professionals in underserved communities may find loan repayment through the National Health Service Corps (as I did), which will pay up to $50,000 of your student loan for two years of service in a qualified health professional shortage area. For more information on these programs, visit http://www.ilrsp.nih.gov/ and http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loanrepayment.
Personal fulfillment. It's very satisfying when your work and career allow you to meet your personal life mission. I felt rewarded every day working at MetroHealth knowing that I was contributing to the lives of inner-city children and helping improve their community one small step at a time.
For more information about jobs in public service, check out PsycCareers and USA Jobs, which lists federal positions.
By Dr. Nabil Hassan El-Ghoroury Associate Executive Director, APAGS
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The benefits of public services include meeting basic needs, improving quality of life, and enabling full and productive lives. The benefits of public service include uniformity, reliability, and control over services. These can be maximized through interpersonal interaction skills training and feedback mechanisms.
Entering public service provides the opportunity to become a steward of public policy and contribute to the improvements that are vital to quality of life.
You may receive separate vacation and sick days, paid federal holidays, good health insurance and the opportunity to participate in government pension and retirement plans.
To me, public service means putting the needs of your community, city, state, or country above your own. Public service is about ensuring just environments in which everyone can be safe and fulfilled.
Most public benefits are means-tested programs. This means the programs only serve people who have low incomes and few resources. Commonly available programs include: Medicaid: Provides health coverage to people with disabilities, children, pregnant women, parents, and seniors.
Federal employees cite many reasons for joining public service, including economic opportunity, the chance to do work they're passionate about and job security. For many federal employees, however, one motivation stands above the rest: the desire to give back.
B) Public service job The term “public service job” means— (i) a full-time job in emergency management, government (excluding time served as a member of Congress), military service, public safety, law enforcement, public health (including nurses, nurse practitioners, nurses in a clinical setting, and full-time ...
Public Services careers are usually those that are provided by government to its citizens, either directly or through the financing of another entity to provide that service.
Public Service Motivation (PSM) is an attribute of government and non-governmental organization (NGO) employment that explains why individuals have a desire to serve the public and link their personal actions with the overall public interest.
Government jobs also offer flexibility with ample time off and good benefits. However, there are some drawbacks to working in government such as bureaucracy, long hours and heavy workloads. It's essential for potential employees to weigh these pros and cons before making their decision.
Recent reforms seek to improve government performance by building managerial capacities, developing positive organizational cultures, and providing incentives for performance both at individual, organizational and country level (e.g. some donors allocating aid on the basis of country performance).
While public relations is a cost-effective way to potentially reach a large audience, it does come with its own set of challenges, including no direct control, lack of guaranteed results, and a difficulty in evaluating effectiveness.
Examples of public services include law enforcement, military services, healthcare, local government, education, and social care. Why study for a public service degree? A public policy or public service major teaches students to develop, implement, and evaluate practical solutions for societal problems.
The most obvious way the government is involved in the U.S. economy is providing public goods and services like education, military protection, national parks and federal highways. These goods and services are paid for with tax revenue, which introduces a second role of government – redistribution of income.
Public benefits are government benefits like food, cash, housing, and medical assistance for people with low or no income. Examples include SNAP (food stamps), TANF, Public Housing, Section 8, and Medicaid.
A public good is a commodity or service that every member of a society can use without reducing its availability to all others. Typically, a public good is provided by a government and funded through taxes. Examples of a public good include a town road, park, or school. National defense is a public good.
The purpose of ethics is to bridge the gap between these varying moral systems, ensuring that public service represents all of the public. Importantly, trust in public services is forever being eroded by public officials and organizations acting unethically.
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