What I Gained From This Internship

Throughout my time as an LHSI intern, I gained many transferable and field-specific goals that will aid me in my goal of attending medical school and becoming an MD. Some of these skills include:

• Conducting interviews with voluntary research participants

• Analyzing data from the electronic medical record

• Using software programs like Nvivo, Microsoft Excel, and EndNote

• Writing IRB protocols for conducting research studies

• An increased sense of personal motivation

• A better understanding of teamwork in a research setting

Building on Previous Strengths/Talents

Going into this internship, some skills and talents that I was aware of having include time management, communication, and experience analyzing data in a lab setting. Although the research Dr. Mueller is doing does not involve lab work, I was still able to transfer the skills I learned in a lab setting to her research projects. My previous research experience also enhanced my communication skills and taught me how to manage time between my research contributions and academics. I was able to develop these strengths and talents further during this internship thanks to the challenge of having a demanding academic load (e.g. organic chemistry). Having a strong drive to provide my best work academically and for my internship site allowed me to use the time management and communication skills that I had previously developed.

How I Grew My Professional Network

Something I realized relatively quickly while I worked with Dr. Mueller is how much she loves to collaborate with other people and/or departments. This provided me with the opportunity to get to know people in other departments and the work they do. One of the people we worked with frequently was Andrew Miller, an assistant professor in the School of Informatics and Computing.

Being able to work with Dr. Mueller, Andrew Miller, and a resident at Riley Hospital has opened up potential research opportunities for me because we have all worked together on projects and become familiar with each other's strengths and weaknesses.