Meet Social Work Interns Erin and Rylie

Left: Close-up of intern smiling. Right: Intern smiling in harbor.

The Midwife Center is pleased to host students for internships, clinical placements, and shadowing experiences. Our interns play a valuable roll in ensuring individuals and families receive the best possible care. Meet Erin and Rylie, two social work interns who are working with us this school year. We're so thankful to have them!

Meet Erin

Hi! My name is Erin Wheatley and I am one of the social work interns here at The Midwife Center. I spend most of my time working with our Behavioral Health & Wellness Specialist, Jul Bibro-Ruch, LCSW, RYT. Under Jul’s supervision, I contact new Midwife Center clients and notify them of the counseling services we began offering in mid-2017. I typically shadow introductory appointments with the new clients and observe how Jul conducts a Behavioral Health Assessment.

When I am not shadowing or helping Jul, I have been editing the Front Office Manual’s Clinical Referrals section. In this manual, The Midwife Center keeps an ongoing list of providers to recommend to clients. This list contains a variety of doctors, therapists, and community groups. I keep it up-to-date by editing the addresses, removing providers who are now out of practice, and adding in new providers.

This semester I am focusing on reaching out to our postpartum clients to offer behavioral health and wellness support. Postpartum depression and anxiety can appear anytime within the first year after childbirth, and sometimes even after. I will be contacting these clients to remind them that services are available, even after they have given birth. I have really enjoyed my time thus far at The Midwife Center, and I am excited to see what this semester has in store!

Meet Rylie

Hi! My name is Rylie Rainey and I am one of The Midwife Center’s social work interns. As someone who has always been passionate about sexual and reproductive health, I was beyond excited to find out I would completing my senior year field placement at The Midwife Center.

The majority of my work over the last few months has focused on programming and evaluation. An ongoing project I have been working on is assisting in collecting and analysing data about attrition and transfer rates at The Midwife Center In order to achieve this I have worked with Sarah Sanders, Administrative Coordinator, to collect client feedback regarding experiences at The Midwife Center.

I have also had the opportunity to work with Community Engagement Coordinator Renae Green. I have always loved and valued community outreach and education so it has been very rewarding to assist with visits at local high schools. During these visits the outreach team discusses the importance of sexual health and what it means to be a midwife. Additionally, I have taken on the ongoing process of compiling a list of community resources for The Midwife Center's Needs Assessment.

When I am not working with data or outreach you can usually find me editing and collecting survey responses for The Midwife Center's many classes or researching various topics related to midwifery and health care. I have really enjoyed my time with The Midwife Center so far and am excited to see what this semester has in store!

Learn more about student opportunities at The Midwife Center.