LHSI Intern: Exciting Opportunity to Study Healthcare Disparities

Program Summary:  

This internship is offered as a part of the Life-Health Sciences Internship Program (LHSI). This program connects 125 IUI undergraduates per year with internships on campus with faculty and staff in a variety of health and science related campus areas/programs. All LHSI internships start in August 2025 and end in May 2026 and are paid $13/hour for up to 10 hours per week. Work-study is accepted but not required. 

Supervisor: Dr. Scott L. Coven

Department/Office: Riley Hospital for Children; Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

Overview of the internship site: Help our team better understand disparities in care for children with cancer and blood disorders. Dr. Coven is a practicing clinician in pediatric hematology and oncology. His research seeks to investigate disparities in care for children with blood and cancer disorders. One way to investigate these disparities and to improve the cancer experience is to obtain patient reported outcomes. We are looking to develop a database that will automate the collection of data through validated assessments for patients seen in our clinic. These tools will collect both short-term and long-term data. A few examples of assessments we plan to implement are related to their quality of life, their level of school functioning, and the financial hardship of the family. I also have opportunities for students to contribute in global health projects, specifically as it relates to needs assessment, database development and education.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Duties will vary based on the student. Tasks may include, but are not limited to, writing, data entry, verifying data entries, interviewing, learning to use research databases such as REDCap, assisting on implementation projects, patient recruitment or advertising and extracting data.

Work Environment and Dress Code: The work is performed primarily in an office setting with flexible dress code

Hours per week: flexible based on student needs (10 maximum), scheduling is flexible within regular work hours

Project-specific qualifications: Positive attitude and a willingness for collaboration.

By the end of the LHSI program, you will:

·        Carefully consider, explore, and articulate your career goals, including an analysis of how you arrived at that path and what steps you need to take next. (Community Contributor, Communicator)

·        Understand your role and strengths on a professional team and analyze who you would like to become as a professional. (Communicator)

·        Gain and strengthen skills relevant to next steps after graduation, such as communication, collaboration, teamwork, analysis/synthesis/evaluation, independence, confronting/challenging failure, problem-solving and perseverance, and constructive criticism. (Problem Solver, Communicator)

·        Convey ideas and knowledge effectively through an ePortfolio and presentation of your internship work. (Problem Solver, Communicator)

·        Set and meet your own additional learning goals identified with your supervisor.

LHSI Qualifications  

·        must be graduating May 2027 or after (usually a current freshman or sophomore in Spring 2025)   

·        Current full-time IUI undergraduate, full time 

·        minimum overall GPA of 2.0 

·        All majors welcome

To apply:

LHSI accepts at least 125 interns per year. Complete the application for LHSI at go.iu.edu/lhsi and select 3-4 internship sites on that application. All available sites are listed in Handshake and will start with the position title “LHSI Intern.” You will meet with at least 2 of these if selected for interviews.