Bennington Postbac Premed Program
Lawrence's Field Work Term
“During this Field Work Term I have been interning a few days each week at the Hawthorn Recovery Center, an addiction medicine clinic here in Bennington, which focuses on supporting the recovery of people who have opiate addiction. The clinic is run by Dr. Nels Kloster, a Psychiatrist, and also includes several counselors and nurses specializing in the treatment of substance abuse. Dr. Kloster’s program prescribes and closely monitors the administration of Suboxone, a mixed agonist-antagonist opiate receptor modulator, which, at a maintained dosage, allows patients to receive the necessary therapy and guidance while navigating a life sober from opiates.
“At the clinic, I’ve had the opportunity to attend several of the weekly group therapy sessions and doctor-patient meetings. Listening in on these sessions has been extremely eye-opening to the reality of addiction as a disease with the potential to permeate all aspects of one’s well-being. Additionally, I’ve been able to assist with reviewing urinalysis lab results, and have been trained to analyze symptoms of patients’ withdrawal upon intake to the program, based on the Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale.
“Outside of my internship experience, I have been working together with other Bennington postbac classmates in the coordination of a research project aimed at understanding the accessibility to sexual health services for adolescent females in the Bennington area. On my off-days, my goal is to refresh myself on the material covered in the previous two terms in preparation for spring and the MCAT.
Lastly, skiing: I hope to make it out to the slopes at least once more before the term begins again at the end of February!”
Lawrence's Field Work Term
“During this Field Work Term I have been interning a few days each week at the Hawthorn Recovery Center, an addiction medicine clinic here in Bennington, which focuses on supporting the recovery of people who have opiate addiction. The clinic is run by Dr. Nels Kloster, a Psychiatrist, and also includes several counselors and nurses specializing in the treatment of substance abuse. Dr. Kloster’s program prescribes and closely monitors the administration of Suboxone, a mixed agonist-antagonist opiate receptor modulator, which, at a maintained dosage, allows patients to receive the necessary therapy and guidance while navigating a life sober from opiates.
“At the clinic, I’ve had the opportunity to attend several of the weekly group therapy sessions and doctor-patient meetings. Listening in on these sessions has been extremely eye-opening to the reality of addiction as a disease with the potential to permeate all aspects of one’s well-being. Additionally, I’ve been able to assist with reviewing urinalysis lab results, and have been trained to analyze symptoms of patients’ withdrawal upon intake to the program, based on the Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale.
“Outside of my internship experience, I have been working together with other Bennington postbac classmates in the coordination of a research project aimed at understanding the accessibility to sexual health services for adolescent females in the Bennington area. On my off-days, my goal is to refresh myself on the material covered in the previous two terms in preparation for spring and the MCAT.
Lastly, skiing: I hope to make it out to the slopes at least once more before the term begins again at the end of February!”