shraddha

Clinical Intern, Kennedy Krieger Institute – Center for Diversity/Specialized Transition Program

Major: SOCY and Biological Sciences 

Minor: Philosophy

Class Year: 2019

LinkedIn Profile

 

 

 

What was a typical week like in your internship position?

The internship was 40 hours per week, and I spent four days per week at a placement site (The Specialized Transition Program at the Fairmount Campus of Kennedy Krieger Institute) and one day per week in a mini-class learning about healthcare inequity. I shadowed and assisted in physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, and mental health therapy for children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disabilities and/or traumatic brain injuries. The summer culminated in creating and presenting a research project, and mine focused on the impact of state healthcare policies on the healthcare outcomes of adolescents with traumatic brain injuries. We presented our research at the Johns Hopkins CARES Symposium and then at the CUPS Scholars Conference at the CDC in Atlanta!

 

 

What do you enjoy most about your current position?

The amount I learned about healthcare policy and the commitment of the staff/directors to true diversity (of not only race/ethnicity, but also of gender identity, religion, ability, thoughts, etc.).

 

 

How did your coursework help you in your internship?

First, having a strong background in sociology made it easy to have perspective on health equity during our discussions, and to understand the various patients we worked with in regard to their economic situations, health insurance, immigration status, etc. Second, having a strong background in biology and previous experience working in clinical settings made it easy to learn about the patients and treatment methods at my internship.

 

 

How did you locate your internship position?

My mother works at JHMI and told me about the internship. I then found it on the CDC website and applied.

 

 

Advice for students:

Search for an internship that pays you and offers housing if it is far away! If you’re going to work 40 hours a week, get your money doing it; some companies have PLENTY of money to pay people.

 

 

I loved every second of this internship and all of the people I worked with! It opened so many doors for me and got me connected to so many amazing people. The directors of the internship are such amazing women who care so deeply about what they’re doing. This was my favorite experience out of all of my internships so far.