Volunteer perspective

This week’s blog comes from Sara Cranston, the Edinburgh University Records Management trainee, who spent last week on a volunteer placement with us at LHSA.

“I have been visiting LHSA this week to get an insight into the world of archiving. My main tasks have been working on the on-going volunteer project to index the case books of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, and cataloguing some NHS staff newsletters.

My task with the Royal Edinburgh Hospital casebooks has been to input details of each patient to create an index for each admission. When this is finished it will be much easier to locate records of individuals in the Case Books, which should be of great help to family historians and researchers.  Although I believe there are still around 20,000 patient records to input.

I have found these Case Books really fascinating. The volume I have been working on dates from 1878 – 1879 and contains remarkably detailed information about each patient. It definitely makes me want to find out more about nineteenth century perceptions and approaches to mental illness. Some of the pressures felt by the patients admitted to the Hospital are ones still present in society today. For example the causes of some patients’ illnesses are attributed to stress over lack of work, grief over the death of a loved one, and even the result of banking crises.  One patient is a metal merchant who stops speaking due to ‘mental anxiety’ after losing all his money due to the collapse of Glasgow City Bank. Others are admitted after drinking bouts, or more physically manifest symptoms such as epileptic fits.

Sara with a Royal Edinburgh Hospital case book

As well as this, I have been organising copies of the Messenger internal staff newsletter of the Lothian University Hospital NHS Trust into acid free folders, and cataloguing them. These are much more modern documents dating from between 1999 and 2003. My instinct would be to think that an internal staff newsletter probably wouldn’t be that interesting, but from reading the headlines as I catalogued I notice they contain lots of information and opinions about the changes taking place in the NHS and document the move of the Royal Infirmary out to Little France. 

I’ve also been getting an insight into the wider work that LHSA does, from dealing with enquiries, to outreach (including blogging like this), to receiving records from the NHS, and I am looking forward to learning more about conservation tomorrow afternoon. “

How to Have Your Student Loans Forgiven

In a few instances, you're able to get rid of some or all your school loan debt through a loan forgiveness program. Depending on your degree with your current occupation, you could be able to get one of several programs. In case you are thinking whether it's possible to have your debt through your job, ask someone in your human resources department. The following are techniques for finding your student loans forgiven.

Volunteer

Some volunteer companies offer loan forgiveness in return for a specific amount of your energy and time. If you happen to volunteer for AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, or Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) you can get nearly 70% of your loans forgiven. Visit their websites to learn more information regarding available programs.

AmeriCorps
PeaceCorps
VISTA

Become a Full-Time Teacher

If you have a Perkins loan, you might have some of it forgiven by working full-time in an basic, middle, or junior high school that assists young people from low-income households. The more years you teach, the more you can have forgiven. A local school board should have additional information about which schools within your area offer loan forgiveness under the National Defense Education Act.

Other states have additional programs where you can apply for as well as additional scenarios. You could call your loan board of education for information about your situation

Join the Military

One of the benefits of joining the armed forces is loan repayment. At present, the Army, Army National Guard, Air Force, Air Force National Guard, and the Navy offer repayment programs up to $20,000 dependent upon the branch. Unfortunately, the Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Air Force Reserves do not offer such opportunities.

Become a Doctor or Lawyer

Health and legal professionals can receive six-figure loan debt relief. Fortunately for these Ph.D holders, there are various loan forgiveness programs that can reduce their financial stress.

The National Institutes of Health forgives some financial debt for health care students who complete some types of medical research including clinical, medical disparities, and birth control research.

Certain physicians can get up to $50,000 of student loans forgiven through the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program in return for two years of volunteer service at a clinic which has a lack of medical experts. You may be able to receive added forgiveness for additional service.

An extensive list of medical student loan forgiveness programs can be obtained at the Association of American Medical Colleges' website.

Law school graduates could have some of their loans forgiven by doing some non-profit work. Equal Justice Works has a list of law schools that have a loan repayment assistance program. If your school is listed, get hold of your financing department to find out how you can have your student loans forgiven.

In addition, you can find easy to use, helpful information about student loan forgiveness at Student Loan Forgiveness Headquarters. Student Loan Forgiveness Headquarters is a site dedicated to helping you to find the necessary options and information that could help you get rid of your student loan stress, today.

Global Student Insurance

Studying within the country might not be what many students love. Instead, some students prefer to study overseas. For students who would love to further their studies abroad, it is good that they get global student insurance. This has a lot of benefits to offer them during their courses.

Actually, this type of insurance is meant only for students in the U.S. However, citizens working in the education sector abroad as well as faculty members also get benefit from this plan. Health issue may pose a lot of challenges while abroad. Climate and dietary intake are two major contributors to this.

As a result, the global student insurance also caters for health care of the international students. Various health issues are in the package. They include; inpatient hospital services, drug prescription, inpatient mental attention and physician visitation. Maternity services are also part of it.

Since global student insurance is a contract like any other business transactions, once the period of the insurance ends, the policy also terminates. To continue enjoying the service, a new agreement needs to be made.

There are various plans for global student insurance, however, the Patriot International plan is the most common of the plans. This plan is very flexible. As a U.S student travelling abroad to study, this plan will cover all your needs outside the country especially the health needs. The plan is renewable, so you can continue to enjoy the service.

However, you need not to stress yourself regarding applying for the global student insurance as you can apply online. You will need to get an online manager and register. You will have to present all your documents for the trip after the application has been approved. Afterwards, it would be sent to you through mail. Although you may take the traditional way of registration at the office of travel insurance agent, it is stressful. Also, you will need to take your documents along and after verification, the contract begins.

However, the online registration is easier and safer. It will save the cost of travelling to agent office and as well you can channel the time to do other preparations. In either case, it is good that you confirm that the agent you are registering with is internationally certified. There could be some changes along the trip and without the company being certified internationally, problem may arise and you would be at risk.

Also, it is important and advisable that after the completion of the registration with the insurance agent, you register with the state department of international students. This is to present your study abroad travel insurance certificate. This would help in case of emergency or any assistance that comes forth from the government to the international students.