My Internship

In this internship, I will build my communication skills by communicating directly with families. I will also shadow and work in the clinic. This will not only build my communication skills, but also give me a deeper understanding of patients' experiences and the healthcare system.

As my internship has gone on, I have learned how to better speak with team member as well as patients and caregivers of patients. I have gotten the opportunity to sit in on several conversations with caregivers. This has included regular appointments for ongoing patients, a new diagnosis, and an interview for a qualitative study. These interactions are all drastically different.

I am most excited to learn about the experiences of patients and caregivers. I will get to contribute in making these experiences better and less stressful.

I would like to continue improving my ability to work independently. I would like to be able to find things to work on and do so more independently from my supervisor. This would improve my confidence in other areas of my work. I am already confident in my teamwork and problem-solving. 

I have been able to apply several of my classes to my internship. The most prominent of these has been my Intro to Medical Humanities class. This class explores how the interdisciplinary fields of literature, history, ethics, philosophy, and culture affect medicine and health. My team's focus on helping caregivers cope in their daily lives with a child with cancer has given me a deeper understanding of this course's material. In class, we have had discussions on how a patient's mental health, daily life, culture, and beliefs affect their health outcomes. I have gotten a chance to see how this might play out in real life. 

I have also been able to apply my Spanish minor to my internship. When I went in to shadow in the clinic for a day, I got to see how doctors interact with Spanish-speaking patients. I got to see both the use of a translator and the use of a mix of Spanish and English to communicate effectively with caregivers. 

My 

In my internship, I have learned how to 

• How did your contributions impact the larger project, goals, or mission of your internship team? Why did your efforts matter to getting the bigger job done? 

• Complete your self-evaluation: Learning to self-assess your growth and learning progress is an important skill you’ll need in graduate school or in the workplace.

  • Step 1: Complete your self-evaluation by clicking here

  • Links to an external site.

  •  or copy/paste https://iu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cCHhIiqeXNeAzSC. You did this at orientation and in the fall to track your growth.

  • Step 2: After you submit the self-evaluation at the link above, reflect on which of those skills have you used this year and where else would you like to grow. What can you do in the next month to grow these skills, or what will you do after LHSI to continue to grow?

Communication has been the most important action I have seen in my internship. Communication is the most important skill in a teamwork environment. I have observed frequent updates and important details being shared through emails and meetings. I have learned how to communicate with people from many different backgrounds. The people I have interacted with in my internship are all very different in their history. I have interacted with doctors who have been practicing for years, other research and medical professionals, as well as caregivers and patients who do not have medical or science backgrounds. I feel more confident in my ability to speak up on issues I am having or ideas I have than I did before starting my internship.

Throughout different roles of each person, the culture in this workplace is very collaborative and supportive. Everyone works together and communicates what is happening with their section of work.

One of the biggest ways I have been able to interact with and consider others of various backgrounds is through patients. In my shadowing, I have seen patients with different backgrounds, ages, and cultures. I have been able to see and hear about patients' experiences and find a new appreciation for them. For example, I have shadowed with patients who used a translator or used a combination of English and Spanish to communicate with their child's doctor.

As a professional, I would like to be able to adapt and communicate with team members effectively and without hesitation. I am also working on asking more questions. I want to have to confidence to think of and ask more questions. This not only shows my team that I am engaged in the work, but also will greatly help my own learning and professional development.

One of the most challenging part of my internship has been balancing school work and my internship. Coursework and study for tests can be overwhelming on top of other responsibilities. I have had to adapt to the schedule and become more disciplined in order to more efficiently use my time and complete all of my responsibilities. This has been an ongoing process as I learn the best systems for me to balance my schedule.

I have felt successful in the little accomplishments of completing or working on a task I have been assigned. Even small tasks being accomplished feel good when I can see my tangible progress.

My internship has changed as the main study my team was working on has hit roadblocks. The original app is currently not ready for caregivers to download. This means that my job of recruitment has been delayed. This means that my work has shifted to helping with various other projects. I have also shadowed and will be sitting in on qualitative interviews. In my second semester, I have been writing a literature review on antiemetic drugs used in oncology and talked to my team about communication training for difficult convesations with patients. While this is not how my internship was "meant" to go, I have been able to learn from a variety of experiences. I have learned about how professionals work through such adversity and found experiences and knowledge I wouldn't have otherwise.