Internship
About the Internship
The goal of the Komen Tissue Bank and Biospecimen Collection and Banking Core at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center and the IU School of Medicine is to help accelerate cancer research through the collection of biospecimen and clinical data. They are dedicated to facilitating science to identify new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer through collaboration with our community, patients, providers, and scientists. As a result, they hope to advance cancer research and ultimately, find a cure. The Komen Tissue Bank is the provider of the repository that houses these biological samples for scientists and researchers to access via proposal submission.
The Komen Tissue Bank is a nonprofit organization made possible by philanthropic support from a plethora of individuals and corporations. Susan G. Komen is the global leader of the breast cancer movement and a leading contributor.
Workplace
My current strengths as a team member are adaptability, collaboration, willingness to learn, and leadership. Over the course of my internship, I've really put these soft skills to action. When operating in a space that has a hand in the many sides of research, I've been able to adapt to the different roles that are needed from me. There have been times where it's important for me to display my willing to learn spirit, other times where I've had to learn how to be collaborative and a helpful part of a team, and other times where I've had to demonstrate order and leadership over my own projects.
Over the course of my internship, I've grown immensely in my communication skills, and my leadership skills. As I've been tasked with projects, and guided into how to navigate the workforce, I've seen myself grow in confidence and have a hand in many roles. I believe that one can never fully master the professional workforce, especially in healthcare, and that's where I seek to continue to grow. My interpersonal skills have a huge hand in any work environment I may find myself, and I strive to continue to grow in that area.
The smaller efforts that I made in my internship, contributed to the much bigger picture being made by my internship team. I felt extremely fortunate to be given these seemingly "minor" tasks because they contributed to the overall mission of my team, and I got to see my efforts come to life within those projects.
Working with people who have such differing experiences and perspectives from mine has fueled my growth not only as a student, and an intern, but also as a person. I was able to see first-hand how everyone brings something special and new to the table, and how when working as a team, it allows new ideas to transpire.
