As an Award Recipient of the AnnieRuth Foundation’s Summer Internship Program, I had the opportunity to be exposed to the career of my choice, which was psychology. I was placed at Ascension St. Vincent’s and the Department of Health in Duval County for the duration of my internship.
At Ascension St. Vincent’s I was able to interact with diverse groups of people and help them with a multitude of tasks, which helped me acquire people skills and use critical thinking. In contrast, I did a lot of networking at the Department of Health. I interacted with epidemiologists, and leaders in the Healthy Start program, who introduced me to other public health professionals that specialize in mental health. I enjoyed my time there because I got to input healthy start screenings into their system. It taught me a lot about what goes into public health and women’s health.
The AnnieRuth Foundation’s summer internship program helped me prepare for my future by exposing me to many different medical backgrounds. I got to experience what it would be like to work in various environments and see if they were for me. It has also opened doors for future opportunities at the same facilities that I interned. This experience has been invaluable to my medical career.