gm286
Senior Member
- Messages
- 141
- Location
- Atlanta, GA
If I were still able to work and/or study, what are potential ways that I could help patients with ME/CFS improve or get better or gain better care / rights? I have ME/CFS but I am driven to make a difference and would like it to translate through a job or master’s program.
This is kind of a stretch, but wondering if someone has ideas. I do not have a scientific background, more of a social/humanities background. Making a difference in our community is what matters the most to me.
What kind of work, association/organization, or graduate degree program would lend itself well to this goal? U.S. centric question since I am moving there.
I got responses on FB like:
"teacher"
"social work or law" / "patient advocate in a political lobbying perspective"
"start an ME/CFS patient bill of medical rights"
"master of public health"
What kind of job fits the "patient advocate in a political lobbying perspective"? Additionally, I got the impression (though I might be mistaken), that the Master's in Public Health (MPH) will eventually have you working as a consultant for business firms. That is not my objective.
I feel like most of the descriptors above make sense on their own but when it comes down to imagining a concrete academic or professional path it is blurry in my mind.
Where should one start?
I have accumulated two years of direct support work helping disabled individuals. I have a Bachelor's degree from the U.S. Where would I start if I wanted to become more involved in ME/CFS? I really feel like if I were to succeed at doing this, it would motivate me a huge amount.
What is happening right now is, perhaps due to lack of competitiveness, due to fatigue, or due to academic/professional objectives that aren't as well as defined as I could have made them to be, I am getting rejections for graduate programs in social work, school counseling, and mental health counseling from top universities.
I feel like I need a shift in approach and direction before I reach the U.S.
Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far.
This is kind of a stretch, but wondering if someone has ideas. I do not have a scientific background, more of a social/humanities background. Making a difference in our community is what matters the most to me.
What kind of work, association/organization, or graduate degree program would lend itself well to this goal? U.S. centric question since I am moving there.
I got responses on FB like:
"teacher"
"social work or law" / "patient advocate in a political lobbying perspective"
"start an ME/CFS patient bill of medical rights"
"master of public health"
What kind of job fits the "patient advocate in a political lobbying perspective"? Additionally, I got the impression (though I might be mistaken), that the Master's in Public Health (MPH) will eventually have you working as a consultant for business firms. That is not my objective.
I feel like most of the descriptors above make sense on their own but when it comes down to imagining a concrete academic or professional path it is blurry in my mind.
Where should one start?
I have accumulated two years of direct support work helping disabled individuals. I have a Bachelor's degree from the U.S. Where would I start if I wanted to become more involved in ME/CFS? I really feel like if I were to succeed at doing this, it would motivate me a huge amount.
What is happening right now is, perhaps due to lack of competitiveness, due to fatigue, or due to academic/professional objectives that aren't as well as defined as I could have made them to be, I am getting rejections for graduate programs in social work, school counseling, and mental health counseling from top universities.
I feel like I need a shift in approach and direction before I reach the U.S.
Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far.