Picking Sites and Topics

After thinking hard about what I would like to do and what is available to me, I have largely changed gears. I have two possible sites on the table, and my final selection may come down to logistics.

I have begun volunteering with a local community health clinic affiliated with a non-profit that has established a network of clinics across central Texas . While this is a non-profit clinic, people are asked to pay what they can, and some of the office staff have to deal with the bureaucracy of healthcare financial aid. hope to volunteer there about once a week for 2 hours. I have spoken with the site manager, and she seemed quite all right with the notion of my studying health professionals for my anthropology class. While I still need to contact her again, especially as details arise, I think it is logistically promising to work with this site as I have contacts elsewhere in the organization. What I am lacking is some focus on the question(s) I might be able to ask and problem I might be able to address. I would like to center my topic on how healthcare workers of all stripes (from doctors- both MD and DO- to secretaries) view health and healthcare.

For example: Does a doctor take care of his/her health differently than a secretary? Is this due to socioeconomic differences or due to their varying interactions with patients?

There is also potential for asking so many more questions based on gender, cultural, and socioeconomic differences. I will try to keep my ears and eyes wide open as I volunteer to try to link to what I am reading.

The other option I might be able to cultivate is working with a mother's group in Austin called Mamas of Color Rising. A friend of the family works in this non-hierarchal grassroots group to promote several different issues concerning maternal and child health as well as general well-being. Currently, they are working on a multimedia presentation of mother's stories. They have worked with anthropology students before and may feel comfortable letting me in to volunteer as well as to interview them. They would be harder for me to study simply for logistical purposes (relatively long drive, inconvenient meeting times), but I would be fascinated to learn about a grassroots organization so unlike the middle-class ones that I have encountered before (e.g. school advocacy groups, Sierra Club, etc).

I suppose I should start reading and researching. But any other thoughts or advice?