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Students Turn Internships Into Work Experience
It’s not every day an undergraduate student lands his or her dream job…as a student.
But that’s how it worked out for University of the Sciences physics student JENNIFER ROBERTS PHYS’15, who has spent the past several months working with a team of scientists
and engineers at NASA to design a device for the currently-in-progress James Webb
Space Telescope (JWST).
“The JWST is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope and, by far, my favorite
thing that NASA is working on,” said Roberts. “When I found out I was going to get
to work even tangentially on it, I was unbelievably excited.”
Soon after submitting her summer internship application last spring, NASA’s Goddard
Space Flight Center in Maryland offered Roberts an internship in electrical engineering,
with a special focus on astrophysics. Her primary duty as an intern was to study the
coldto- warm electromagnetic interference characterization of the Near InfraRed Spectrograph,
one of the science instruments on the JWST.
She spent the summer deep-rooted in NASA’s Electromagnetic Interference Laboratory,
learning how to use the various pieces of scientific and space equipment. Roberts
also had the opportunity to conduct several short-term experiments, run a demonstration
at a NASA conference, and get involved in different hands-on projects that all pertained
to the overall development of the JWST.
At the time Roberts’ internship was scheduled to conclude, NASA’s Electrical Systems
Branch opted to keep her on as a semipermanent, part-time contractor. That means Roberts
continues to travel to Maryland one day each week to work on electrical engineering
experiments, scientific graphs, and demonstrations for NASA.
“Although I am technically assigned to work on the JWST, most of my work lately has
been more general than that, and I’m having the opportunity to dabble in a bunch of
different projects for NASA,” said Roberts.
The JWST is planned to launch in October 2018, and its mission lifetime after launch
will be between 51/2 and 10 years. The lifetime is limited by the amount of fuel used
for maintaining the orbit and by the testing and redundancy that ensures everything
on the spacecraft will work.
Roberts is not the only student from USciences who held a summer internship that turned
into part-time work. Pharmacy student RICHA SHAH PharmD’16 completed a paid, full-time internship with Pfizer and still continues
to work remotely for a few hours each week during the school year.
“The best part of my internship was learning how to work cross-functionally with people
in departments such as medical affairs, marketing, and regulatory affairs,” said Shah,
who worked in pharmaceutical research and development at the Madison, New Jersey,
location.
During her internship, Shah had the opportunity to participate in clinical research
projects that involved making prescription drugs available for overthe- counter purchase.
As a result, she gained a profound understanding of behavioral and clinical studies
specific to the switch from prescription to over-thecounter to help ensure that consumers
understood their medications. Because USciences promotes interprofessional learning,
Shah said it was fascinating to see firsthand how much departments worked together
to attain a common goal: a successful product.
“Pharmacy is a diverse career, and we have so many different career paths we can explore,”
said Shah. “It’s important for my peers to realize that it’s okay to step out of their
comfort zones and try new things; there are other options for us to discover through
internship possibilities that help us determine our ideal career paths.”
Like Roberts and Shah, occupational therapy student DANIEL FICHTER DrOT’15 gained practical job experience through an internship with the Ralston House
in West Philadelphia. Fichter— along with five other occupational therapy students
from USciences—spent the fall semester working in Ralston’s outpatient clinic one
day a week, where they provided seniors with the support and services necessary for
them to live with the best quality of life.
“This type of fieldwork provided us with a platform to analyze the role of occupational
therapy within a community setting,” said Fichter. “Not only did we gain experience
working directly with individuals, but we were also able to evaluate and intervene
with a community group and aging population.”
Fichter said the team of students from USciences educated the Ralston House staff
on how occupational therapy can play a distinct role in an outpatient mental health
setting.
“It was our responsibility to integrate occupational therapy into Ralston’s current
structure,” he said. “We completed needs assessments, which led to more directed
education and two program proposals that were presented to the Ralston House director
and staff for implementation.”
Upon graduation, Fichter said he hopes to develop a strong foundation in clinical
practice and then explore occupational therapy jobs that balance clinical and community
roles.
Through participation in a national initiative called the LEAP Employer- Educator
Compact, USciences has also placed many other students in internships and rotations
with science and healthcare-based companies, such as Independence HealthCom Strategies
Group, Inc.
As CEO of this company, alumnus and trustee DONALD J. M. PHILLIPS P’70, PharmD’73 said that several USciences students have ultimately been hired after
completing internships and rotations with his company.
“USciences students come to us with enthusiasm and energy, challenge us in new ways,
and gain exposure that helps make them better healthcare professionals,” said Dr.
Phillips. “In a number of instances, the rotations and internships have changed their
professional careers and outlooks.”
Although they come from different academic disciplines, Roberts, Shah, and Fichter
agreed that the applied learning they gained through internships and fieldwork undoubtedly
helped them identify their career interests as well as their strengths and weaknesses
in their fields.
Categories: The Bulletin, Alumni, Faculty, Students, Proven Everywhere, Academics, Leadership, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, Misher College, Samson College, Department of Occupational Therapy, Department of Pharmacy Practice, Department of Mathematics, Pharmacy, Chemistry, Biochemistry