My Internship

The most important part of scientific research– beyond the data and the implications of a breakthrough finding– is disseminating your results. To make real changes, crucial scientific information must be effectively shared with other scientists, students, and the general public. For many students in STEM, the intersection between complex scientific information and impactful communication can be daunting. Under Dr. McHenry’s guidance, I have edited and developed numerous manuscripts throughout the year at many different stages. During this process, I have learned of common misconceptions or mistakes that are often made in scientific writing by students and professionals alike. For my project, I used my developing skills in technical writing to create a module for scientific writing for any student interested in publishing their research. This module demonstrates real ways that incoming scientists can adjust their writing to truly compel the reader with the message and significance of their research. The content that is covered includes: top 10 misconceptions, the writing process, using the active voice, ‘strong’ verbs, and how to create a “flow”. Learning to communicate effectively will not only change the impact of one student’s manuscript, but will also benefit the scientific and general community as a whole.

zoom_2.mp4

Certification

In the fall semester, I became certified in "Writing in the Sciences" through an online Stanford course.

Always writing!

I have really enjoyed the immersive experience into science writing through many different projects.

Learning & skills

At IUPUI, I have been fortunate to gain a comprehensive understanding of public health communications, but this internship was my first opportunity to enact my writing skills in an impactful way for communities. In the process of submitting many different manuscripts, I contributed to the overall outcome of the writing through developing sections or copy-editing them. I was able to help develop overall ideas, messages, structures, and even whole paragraphs through my edits, which allowed the original author to submit their paper to a high-quality journal and disseminate the results to the public. My work matters for not only completing the manuscript, but ensuring it is completed at the highest level of quality.

I have used communication and teamwork skills throughout the year through this process, as well as independent organizational skills so that I met each manuscript deadline. I would like to grow in continually receiving constructive feedback and resilience for overcoming challenges or writing blocks. This can occur by continuing to contribute to manuscripts and learning to be a scientific writer. Through editing and developing research manuscripts under the guidance of Dr. McHenry, I am beginning to learn instrumental skills in of the manuscript and publication process. I feel adept in improving my own language of scientific writing and continuing to adjust areas of improvement for numerous manuscripts, many focusing on community perceptions of childhood disability in Kenya.

Therefore, my work as a scientific manuscript editor with Dr. Megan McHenry is important for effectively constructing and disseminating the results of her research, students’ research and her colleagues’ research regarding children living with disabilities in Western Kenya. Writing about the experiences of individuals and backgrounds in a manner that is not only accurate, but impactful, is really exciting for me to continue building my scientific writing skills. I have also learned a lot about the research process overtime. In terms of the rest of the semester, I plan to continue supporting and developing the drafting process of research manuscripts, as well as writing my own pieces for each manuscript and beginning to research for an upcoming publication.

My final project:

A new community

Dr. McHenry also introduced me to SciCommers, a community of science communication researchers/writers.

Over the year, I took a course for writing in the sciences and a workshop for grant writing. Although the two experiences take different approaches to this discipline, learning from two perspectives has helped complement my development in scientific writing skills well throughout the semester. I often find myself taking elements from something I learned in my science writing class and applying it to my internship work, and vice versa. Learning about study design and methodology through reading and editing manuscripts has helped me gain a deeper understanding in the epidemiological research designs that I am learning in my epidemiology class this semester. I am also taking a cultural considerations class in health promotion- because my internship work specifically focuses on research in Western Kenya, I have been able to implement some of the theories and practical outcomes that I am learning in the cultural considerations class. With all of these courses, I have found that the material I learn not only complements my internship work, but also helps me to gain a deeper understanding of elements in both classwork and internship work. I was not expecting my classes and internship experiences to have such a synergistic, two-way relationship, but I truly appreciate being able to dyadically evaluate issues in public health by drawing from these learning experiences.

What have I learned so far as an intern?

As an intern, I have so far learned critical skills regarding the research and manuscript process. I have been able to augment my skills for working individually and in a team. In fact, much of my internship during the fall semester was dedicated to learning skills through an online course for writing in the sciences. This was my favorite experience, because I was able to implement the skills that I learned in this class to copy-editing and developing manuscripts.

I have also grown as a professional, team member, and student. I look forward to my meeting with Dr. McHenry each week and speaking with her (whether that is for advice, for work, or for setting goals) has been another of my favorite experiences. I have learned a lot from Dr. McHenry as a scientist and a writer, and she has inspired me to continue pushing myself to grow new skills. For example, I have learned to be more comfortable with working with data because of the diverse projects that she has encouraged me to pursue; before this internship, I was only really comfortable with writing and words. Now, I am able to engage more resources as a writer.

Sucesses

Transitioning from editing to developing my own manuscripts from their inception
Completing a large systematic literature review and meta-analysis on different forms of malaria
Becoming certified in the Stanford “Writing in the Sciences” course
Growing more confident in my abilities as a writer, team member, and professional with the guidance of Dr. McHenry and other IU School of Medicine team members
Copy-editing a new manuscript each week in various research topics across the globe
Becoming skilled in using EndNote and Excel to analyze data and conduct ethical research practices
Developing an "orphaned" manuscript from two pages of data to a completed manuscript by the summer

New success of the year- Completing an intense, two-day workshop on "Write Winning NIH Grant Proposals"

Challenges

The most challenging part of the internship experience has been the learning curve that is presented to me for publishing scientific manuscripts. High-quality manuscripts value attention to detail. In order to be accepted into quality scientific journals, manuscripts must be consistently checked for accuracy, flow, redundancy errors and correct citation style. I struggled with the complexities that involve writing a large systematic review of literature or developing a manuscript “story” from data and evidence, because there is so much information to condense into an effective flow. I have overcome these challenges by referencing models, both in the professional world and in the literature. Dr. McHenry also helped me brainstorm new ideas, leverage my connections in scientific writing, and learn from high-quality research articles. As I enter the summer, I feel more confident in being able to ask for help from my team when I need it.

The workplace

Dr. McHenry is really valuable as a professional because she truly emulates the balance that can be achieved as a supervisor between expectation and empathy. Her dedication and excitement for not only her work, but my own projects has also been contagious in helping me feel valued in the workplace. In particular, I enjoy the way that Dr. McHenry leads our meetings together while still keeping the floor open and being receptive to my own comments, questions and concerns throughout. Being able to meet with a supervisor every week who truly listens to what I have to say as an intern has allowed me to truly grow as a student and a professional, and I appreciate Dr. McHenry's willingness (and passion) for helping interns, such as myself, reach their highest potential. I feel comfortable with not only writing accurately in the field of science, but impactfully. Dr. McHenry's own impact on my internship experience has been truly enlightening to demonstrate the way that personal values can positively shape workplace behaviors and actions. I am grateful to her time, and will continue to carry the lessons she has taught me through my career. If I am able to lead a team of my own someday in publishing, I will strive to be a leader like her: both compassionate and determined.

An in-depth reflection of the workplace

Although I was aware that this internship experience would be a great learning experience, I truly was not aware of the vast range of skills that I would learn, especially skills I had never even thought of before. As time has moved on through this semester in the internship, I have made the surprising revelation that I have gained the most valuable experiences or skills through the projects that my supervisor has introduced me to because they offer a diversity of skills that I’m not able to conceive on my own. That is to say, I believe now that the most value from this internship has truly come from my engagement with projects and information that I was completely unfamiliar with at the start of this year. I have still enjoyed building upon my previous skills and engaging with original ideas for projects, but I was not expecting to be introduced to such a wide range of experiences that surprisingly augmented my current skills and helped develop new ones. I have been surprised by the way that writing different projects day-to-day can become challenging, and also how much understanding data has played into my ability to write effectively. Each day, I am not only engaging with passionate researchers across the board, but I am also reading and sharing the invaluable stories of communities across the world. I have learned about HIV stigma in Kenya, explored the cultural barriers experienced by Burmese patients in Indianapolis, analyzed qualitative interviews with mothers of children with disabilities, and synthesized the cognitive outcomes of thousands of children in low- and middle-income countries with asymptomatic malaria- all in the past few months!

Because many of the writers that I work with often have years of experience in research and manuscript publishing, the organizational culture really values attention to detail. In order to be accepted into quality scientific journals, manuscripts must be consistently checked for accuracy, flow, redundancy errors and correct citation style. I have learned how to value the structure of a manuscript as much as the actual writing, as this is an expectation across fields of scientific writing. While manuscript writing does adhere to the strict scientific process of research, the Department of Pediatrics at IU maintains an ideological culture that truly upholds the value in their work: to tell stories that are often hidden in the media and to actively portray communities across Indiana and the world. When working with others to perfect a manuscript, there is a culture that predicates the writing as more than just a piece that will be published in a journal, but that its results and the stories told will truly be helpful to improve the lives of others. In this sense, there is both a well-structured outcome and people orientation intertwined throughout the organization. I am learning to become comfortable and competent in both of these areas, especially as my ideal workplace culture centralizes people orientation. By sharing stories from across the world, reading manuscripts from numerous different authors, and collaborating with researchers in Kenya, I feel grateful for being able to write with people from other cultures. I've been able to learn about the importance of active listening in professional meetings to balance expressing my own ideas and learning to integrate ideas with others.

Page updated

Report abuse