Internship

Skills I Bring to LHSI

• Adaptability:
  During my Bank of America Student Leader internship, I had to quickly adjust to working with diverse community members, assisting with rental and utility aid at Christamore House. This experience taught me to navigate unexpected challenges and think on my feet. I expect this adaptability to be crucial in the LHSI Internship, where healthcare decisions can be complex and often require quick, informed adjustments.

• Leadership, Communication, & Teamwork:
  As a case worker at Christamore House, I led initiatives like managing the diaper pantry and collaborated with fellow social workers to meet clients’ needs. These roles helped me develop leadership and communication skills, which I plan to use when working with my LHSI team to ensure all perspectives are valued and our research findings are effectively communicated to improve patient care.

• Diligence & Persistence:
  My strong work ethic and persistence were evident during another internship I participated in my senior year of high school, where I handled multiple cases simultaneously. I applied a detail-oriented approach, which helped me deliver quality assistance to clients. I’ll apply the same level of diligence when researching end-of-life medical decisions to ensure comprehensive and accurate data analysis.

• Creative Problem-Solving & Innovation:
  In my role as a tutor at Ally Learning, I often had to adapt lessons to fit the unique learning styles of students, using creative methods to help them grasp difficult concepts. This ability to think outside the box will allow me to contribute fresh ideas to the LHSI research team as we look for innovative ways to support patients and their families in making informed, compassionate decisions.

These skills, developed through coursework, internships, and experiences, will allow me to contribute meaningfully to the research team at LHSI and make an impact on patient care. These skills that I've acquired over the last few years will help me navigate my new role and adapt well to my new research position.

As a transcriber, I played a crucial role in ensuring that interviews and discussions were accurately recorded and preserved for analysis. My job required patience, attention to detail, and a strong understanding of healthcare-related terminology.

At the start of the internship, I focused on simply getting the words down correctly. However, as the months went on, I became more attuned to capturing tone, pauses, and emphasis, which are essential for researchers interpreting the data. I also developed strategies to work more efficiently, such as using transcription software and medical dictionaries to verify terminology.

Successes

1. Learning to Synthesize Research: One of my proudest moments was when I successfully analyzed a complex study about barriers to advance care planning (ACP) and summarized it for my team. Initially, I felt overwhelmed by the technical language, but I broke it down into manageable sections, sought clarification from my supervisor, and referred to similar articles for context. 

2. Personal Growth in Time Management: One success I’ve had this semester is refining my time management skills. I’ve been balancing my internship work with academic responsibilities, and at times, I felt overwhelmed. However, I began using a planner to organize my tasks by priority and set realistic deadlines for myself. This adjustment helped me stay on top of my responsibilities without feeling overburdened. 

3. One of my biggest successes this year was improving my transcription speed and accuracy while handling complex medical conversations. In the beginning, I struggled with some of the technical terminology and the fast pace of discussions. However, by using research tools and refining my note-taking strategies, I became much more proficient. 

Challenges

1. Transitioning from Research to Application: Since my role has focused solely on research, I’ve struggled to see the direct impact of my work on patients and families. This disconnect makes it hard to feel the tangible effects of our efforts. To address this, I plan to ask my supervisor about opportunities to observe clinical discussions or hear feedback from healthcare providers who apply the findings.

2. Balancing Multiple Deadlines: Juggling internship tasks, coursework, and other responsibilities has been a challenge. For example, I once had a tight deadline for a research summary during midterms, leading to some late nights. To improve, I’ve started using a digital planner to schedule blocks of time for each task and will continue refining my time management strategies in the spring.

3. One of the biggest challenges I faced was staying engaged during long transcription sessions. Because transcription is repetitive, it was sometimes difficult to stay focused, especially when working on lengthy recordings. To overcome this, I developed strategies to improve efficiency and prevent burnout, such as breaking sessions into shorter intervals, using transcription shortcuts, and listening to recordings at different speeds. Additionally, my team helped by providing feedback on my transcriptions, which encouraged me to refine my work further.