Summer Internships

[lemonade90]

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Anyone know if med students can intern with legislative reps (senators/congressmen) during the summer and whether this work can be of a substantive and non-clerical nature? Ideas and advice would be appreciated.

 

[OpalOnyx]

i think it would be interesting -- and unique. why not? just ask around and try to create an opportunity

 

[hurdlepup]

check with AMA, I know they have a program for this.

 

[sunset823]

Hey, I would definitely recommend the AMA Government Relations Internship Program (GRIP) - I was accepted into this, but because I have a lot of health policy/politics background and very little clinical background, I elected for a more clinical research oriented internship. You will usually have to secure the internship yourself, but the AMA will pay you for it. And since you'll be formally representing the AMA, you will get substantive work. GL!

 

[maeday]

I did this during the summer before my senior year of undergrad along with about 20 other students from my school...and EVERYONE had only clerical work (whether it was non-profit or working on "the hill"). I had other ways of making this a very meaningful experience. However you are fooling yourself (and others are fooling you) if you think the actual work YOU will be doing will be "substantive".

not trying to be a debbie-downer, just realistic.

 

[davesmith]

Hello,

Summer Internships are good for the training students and provide the experience for that.

Thanks,
Dave Smith

 

[sunset823]

I did this during the summer before my senior year of undergrad along with about 20 other students from my school...and EVERYONE had only clerical work (whether it was non-profit or working on "the hill"). I had other ways of making this a very meaningful experience. However you are fooling yourself (and others are fooling you) if you think the actual work YOU will be doing will be "substantive".

not trying to be a debbie-downer, just realistic.

it definitely is organization dependent - I participated in a federal internship program in college (after junior year) at the DOD, and I had VERY substantive work (i.e., top secret Pentagon kinda stuff - very cool) - it wasn't 24 or anything (I wish - I coulda been a desi Chloe, and lived through 8 seasons lol), but it definitely beat the coffee makers and copy machines my friends in the program were intimately acquainted with on the hill.

But I digress, this internship wasn't at all health policy related. I would agree that Capitol Hill is one of the less substantive (and more bureaucratic) places in gov't work, but I also think you get more substantive experience as a med student than as an undergrad. And you should also be proactive. One of my old bosses (an MD + policy PhD) had done tons of federal internships during undergrad and med/grad school and she had some great substantive experience, mostly cuz she's a genius and the people she worked with probably recognized that sooner rather than later and gave her more 'challenging' work.

 

[ouncecake]

For those of you who did the AMA GRIP summer internship, what do you think helped you get the internship? I'm currently writing the application essays but I wasn't sure. And I'm applying through their pre-arranged AMA one.