Make the most out of it! Talk to everyone and do as much as you can
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Patient Experience Representative
July 2023 • Boston, MA
What I liked
I really enjoyed working with my team and interacting with patients and their families. Going to work every day was something I looked forward to! I felt fulfilled knowing that in some way small way or another, I aided my colleagues and contributed to a more positive experience for our patients and their families.
What I wish was different
Advice
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Intern
June - August 2022 • Boston, MA
What I liked
I love the freedom I was able to get with my independent project over the summer.
What I wish was different
I wish that there was more opportunities to continue the research I was researching.
Advice
I would say at your internships to gain that work experience which is important but if you are in a new city go out and explore.
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Clinical Research Administrator
May 2022 • Boston, MA
What I liked
All of it
What I wish was different
None
Advice
Network and meet as many people as possible
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Clinical Research Assistant
June - September 2021 • Boston, MA
What I liked
I got to work on a clinical trial project and learn what goes on behind the scenes for a clinical research project. There is a lot of paperwork and data analysis that is very necessary in order to carry out testing on patients. I enjoyed the patient interaction and working in a large hospital system
What I wish was different
Advice
1
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Clinical Nursing Assistant
May 2020 • Boston, MA
What I liked
Great coworkers and resources. I am able to see a lot of different things that can be useful in future nursing career and continue to gain experience and comfortability caring for patients in the CNA scope.
What I wish was different
Nothing!
Advice
Do not be afraid to submit applications to bigger named hospitals even with limited experience! Hard work and dedication to learning weighs more important than anything!
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research intern
January 2021 • Boston, MA
What I liked
Working with MD/PhD doctors and students taught me a lot about what the field of medical research is and how amazing it is
What I wish was different
I should've been more engaged in everything that was going on in the lab but wasn't able to due to schedule conflict(volunteering, summer classes, etc)
Advice
Don't be afraid to ask for help and advice from individuals who are in the position you want to be in 5, 10, and 20 years
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Pathology Administration Intern
April 2019 • Boston, MA
What I liked
The experiences at my internships that I enjoyed the most were leading a team of interns, coordinating clinical research requests for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and organize billing and invoices for the administrative team of the Department of Pathology. Before the pandemic, my main responsibility was to provide shadow opportunities for other student interns who wanted to pursue a career in Pathology, Histology, or Cytology. I was able to schedule the interns with different types of employees such as principal investigators, chief pathologists, lab technicians, and molecular lab supervisors. In addition to providing shadowing opportunities, I worked with my teammates to accomplish front office and administrative tasks such as filing requisitions and shipping consult slides back to their original medical institution. During the pandemic, our clinical research assistant was stepping down from his position to pursue osteopathic medicine and the department needed someone to take over. While I was leading my team of interns, the CRA asked us for some assistance with approving cases to be sent to DFCI for tumor reviews. I was well trained in his position and was able to act as part intern and part CRA for six months. I communicated with the DFCI clinical research team on a weekly basis to make sure that the PROFILE, COG, and GAIN requests were in progress and fulfilled. Using applications such as REDCap and Excel, I was able to track all possible requests made by DFCI and never ran into any errors. Recently, I trained our new CRA so that our team was still operable and efficient. This was my favorite experience during my internship. Lastly, I was able to practice my financial skills and created invoices for external billing. I learned from our administrative associates on how to deposit checks and track our billing for the department. I was also in charge of transitioning our administrative department to digital financial records on Excel. Originally, we used SliQ software to track our invoices but the team had a change of heart and I moved all of our invoice tracking to Excel.
What I wish was different
My only gripe with my internship was that I had little patient experience. Pathology is a research department and does not need patients to sit in their offices and discuss their findings.
Advice
My only piece of advice to anyone who would want to experience my internship is to be outgoing and personable. The administrative team is outgoing, but the team of pathologists tend to be introverted. Don't be afraid to sit down and have a conversation with them. They are very nice people and you can learn a thing or two from them. By getting to know the people you work with will be helpful when it comes time for recommendations and references.
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Emergency Medicine Research Assistant
March 2018 • Boston, MA
What I liked
The multitude and diverse tasks I encountered on a weekly basis that introduced me to many aspects of research.
What I wish was different
I wish there had been more structure
Advice
Be organized and pay attention to details. There are many ongoing projects going on at the same time with various collaborators and it can be easy to get mixed up at times.
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Student Summer Intern
May 2017 • Boston, MA
What I liked
I have loved volunteering as a Summer Intern at Boston Children's Hosptial for the past three summers. I have gotten to work on different floors and build my network of references and points of contact. BCH treats their volunteers and interns as if they were any other member of the team. It is this team aspect that makes me so excited to return and hopefully work with this team as a nurse one day.
What I wish was different
I wish there was even more exposure! Since I am a nursing student, I am always eager and looking for more experience. Boston Children's Hospital has been a wonderful way for me to build my own career confidence and discover that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
Advice
Go in with an open mind! Every day is different and if you are open to taking on any job (little or larger!) be equally as helpful, enthusiastic and you will get a lot more out of your experience.
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Urology Intern
June - August 2018 • Boston, MA
What I liked
I enjoyed learning about what happens in a urologic pathophysiology lab. I enjoyed culturing cells and isolating such cells from rat specimens and I enjoyed learning multiple molecular biology techniques such as assays, western blots, transfections, imaging, and q-pcrs.
What I wish was different
I wish that the commute wouldn't have been so long, but nonetheless it was totally worth the experience.
Advice
Despite being an undergraduate with no background in advanced biochemistry, molecular biology and urology , I was able to grasp many of the concept needed to be successful in such an environment. It took time and lots of work, but then again nothing thats worth doing comes easy.
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Pulmonary Genetics Intern
May 2019 • Boston, MA
What I liked
I loved the exposure to clinical research. It was very valuable because I hope to be a Genetic Counselor one day.
What I wish was different
I often did not have a lot of work to do because there were issues with my credentials having access to certain hospital software. The department had many projects for me, but I was not properly credentialed until my last two weeks. They have kept me on board to do some off-site work.
Advice
Ask they physicians and clinicians every question you have.
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Program Assistant
June 2019 • Boston, MA
What I liked
I liked the experience of working in a large, cutting edge research hospital, and the opportunity to shadow was excellent.
What I wish was different
I wish I had known more about my role and what I would be doing before I went in to the position.
Advice
Make sure you're clear about your specific duties before you start!
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Certified Nurse Aide
March 2019 • Boston, MA
What I liked
Everything, the nurses and the environment
What I wish was different
Advice
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Research Associate
June 2019 • Boston, MA
What I liked
I enjoyed the team I worked with and the flexibility that allowed me to also study for the MCAT.
What I wish was different
Advice
If you can, try to focus on one thing (MCAT or Research) Doing both can be very challenging.
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Biology Research Intern
June - August 2019 • Boston, MA
What I liked
I loved the responsibility I was given over my own project and the freedom I had to work independently while still with a group of people who could answer my questions and help me out. The hours were flexible and I learned a lot.
What I wish was different
A higher pay rate would have been nice. Also my PI was gone on vacation for several weeks, which slowed down the work a little bit.
Advice
Take responsibility for your own learning and write down everything! The faster you learn new techniques and ideas, the faster you can feel like you're properly contributing.
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Certified Nursing Assistant
December 2017 • Boston, MA
What I liked
Love the people I work with and experiences I can put towards school.
What I wish was different
Advice
Never be afraid to ask for help or ask questions to broaden your knowledge
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Certified Nursing Assistant
May 2018 • Boston, MA
What I liked
I would like to be a nurse so I learn every day by working in the nursing field
What I wish was different
Nothing
Advice
It is important to work on skills such as time management and communication
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Research Intern
June - August 2019 • Boston, MA
What I liked
I was able to experience how medical research is done and the work that is put into interpreting data and analyzing big data sets.
What I wish was different
N/A
Advice
Definitely apply to do research if you're interested in going into medicine! You will learn much about the field and the direction of future treatments. It definitely is an eye-opening experience and there's no doubt that you will learn a lot!
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Undergraduate Research Assistant
May - August 2019 • Boston, MA
What I liked
Great working environment full of young adults who are willing to help you with your professional development. That's why they were there. Many were employed there as a stepping stone before graduate school and beyond.
