I am Chrissanca Saintsurin, an aspiring pediatrician and rising senior at Darnell Cookman School of the Medical Arts, and I completed my internship experience at multiple different medical sites. During the first two weeks of my internship experience, I worked at Affirm Primary Care with Dr. Jonnique Bennett and her medical assistant, Jasmine. Dr. Bennett is a family physician who works with a large range of people and ages and owns a private practice. For the last two weeks of my internship experience, I worked at the Women and Children center with the Florida Health Department with Dr. A. Pope and Dr. Saint Pre. This was a clinic environment, and it was a public practice as compared to Dr. Bennett’s private practice.
During the entirety of the AnnieRuth Foundation’s summer internship program, starting from the first meeting up until the Post Event Celebration, I learned a lot. I was able to learn some new skills and refine other skills I already had. Some of the projects and tasks that helped to improve and enhance my skills included the interview experience, the etiquette meeting, the career exploration assignment, and the build your brand/you are your brand meeting. These were just a few of the assignments during the meeting portion of the experience. Aside from the meeting portion, I also learned a lot from the different mentors that I was assigned during my internship experience. In addition to shadowing, I was also able to pick the brains of the doctors on site and learn so many different things about their respective practices.
Participating in the AnnieRuth Foundation’s Summer Internship Program was a really great experience. During this program, I learned things that can be applied to my life not just now but also moving forward. I learned so many valuable skills about the workforce, being a good employee, starting a business, creating a brand for yourself, and so much more. This program did help me prepare for a successful future, set me up on the right path, and gave me knowledge that I can use to continue to set up a plan for success.