by Amanda Dennis | Aug 13, 2019 | Career Exploration, General, Internships, Liberal Arts, Student Perspective |
By Eliza Brosgol This summer, I spent ten weeks working as a data and research intern for the Health Care Improvement Foundation (HCIF) through the Whitehead Internship Program. HCIF is an independent nonprofit organization in center-city Philadelphia drives high-value health care through stakeholder collaboration and quality improvement initiatives. The organization works to fulfill the needs of patients and consumers, and to achieve better health care. On a day-to-day basis this means that HCIF serves as a facilitator among collaborating individuals, companies, hospitals, and health systems for the projects of which it is a part. Each of the initiatives falls under one of two branches within the organization: clinical improvement or population health. At HCIF, I worked mostly with the clinical improvement team. I spent my time working on two projects: CPR Ready and the Pennsylvania Urology Regional Collaborative (PURC). CPR Ready is a Philadelphia area campaign that strives to increase bystander response and cardiac arrest survival rates. My work for CPR Ready included taking notes during coalition meetings, assisting with hands-only CPR during sessions, and communicating with organizations that were interested in arranging a CPR training. At the beginning of the summer, I had the opportunity to do research on CPR Ready’s partners and write an article, that was published, about the mission of the campaign and the success that it has achieved thus far! PURC is a quality improvement initiative that brings together urology practices in a physician-led, data-sharing collaborative aimed at advancing the quality of diagnosis and care for men with prostate cancer. My favorite part of my work with PURC was building, disseminating, and analyzing the...
by Amanda Dennis | Jun 28, 2019 | Career Exploration, Internships, Liberal Arts, Networking, Student Perspective |
By Keishla Sanchez Hello everyone! My name is Keishla Sanchez ’22. This summer I will be interning at Weisman Medical Daycare and Outpatient Care in my hometown—Pennsauken, New Jersey! With the help of Rylee Fennell ’20, I was able to learn about Weisman and her experiences as a volunteer last summer. After conversing with Rylee, I immediately went on Weisman’s website and read about their rehabilitation centers: Inpatient Care, Outpatient Care, and the Medical Daycare, all of which are in South Jersey. The three facilities provide therapeutic services for infants and children with developmental and neurological disorders up until the age of 20. Weisman’s interdisciplinary team includes pediatric doctors, rehabilitation nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, child life specialists, nutritionists, and several more. Weisman Children’s Hospital and their Rehabilitation Centers consist of specialists who are willing to go above and beyond in order to help patients function to the best of their ability. After applying to be an adult volunteer at Weisman, I decided to apply for the CCPA Gertrude Albert Heller Memorial Grant which is designed for students who are interested in primary care and working with the neurologically impaired. Weisman’s Medical Daycare will allow me to interact with children with special needs and developmental disorders directly. Both the Outpatient Care and the Medical Daycare will provide me with the opportunity to explore my passion of becoming an Occupational Therapist. Thus, I was beyond thankful to receive the Gertrude Heller Grant and was eager to begin volunteering. Weisman’s unique application process ensures that every volunteer is dedicated to helping children achieve their ultimate potential. Prior...
by Amanda Dennis | Jun 25, 2019 | Career Exploration, General, Internships, Liberal Arts, Student Perspective |
By Peter Baroff ’20 Over my summer break, I am spending ten weeks at Econsult Solutions Inc, an economic development consulting firm based in Center City Philadelphia. ESI specializes in urban policy, transportation, real estate, development, and finance, serving a wide range of clients based both locally and nationally. Over my first three weeks as a research assistant, I have been tasked on a wide range of interesting projects that complement my academic interests and have been helping me develop new skills. The wide array of projects that I have been tasked with have made each day interesting and extremely helpful in developing my multi-tasking abilities. Each day there are a number of different projects that are assigned with varying levels of priority. Assignments range broadly from institutional research on universities or museums, data collection and cleaning, fact-finding on cities spread around the globe, administering surveys, to market studies. Despite a lot of work that is time-consuming, as a group, each project has really interesting conclusions and as the summer has gone along, I have been tasked with more and more interesting work. As a Political Science major and Growth & Structure of Cities minor, ESI has allowed me to focus on certain projects that align with my interests and skills that I have gained in my course work. One such project relates to Opportunity and Promise Zones which are federally implemented areas with special tax breaks and incentives to bring development to struggling communities. ESI has also made it a priority to expose their interns to a number of different data sources and analytical tools. Over the summer...
by Amanda Dennis | Jun 20, 2019 | Career Exploration, General, Internships, Liberal Arts, Student Perspective |
A Summer at the New York League of Conservation Voters By Johnluca Fenton ’21 Thought experiment: can you name even one local elected official that represents you and the town you are from? For most people reading this post, I would bet the answer to that question to be a regretful no. But I totally get that. In a political world that has become so incredibly polarized and iconified by a select few congressional and federal leaders, most Americans often fail to understand or acknowledge the incredibly important work that our local elected officials carry out every day. As an intern at the New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) this summer, my role has primarily been to dive deep into this not-so-apparent, yet fascinating, world of local politics. In doing so, I have been tasked, along with a team of several other interns, to help the NYLCV figure out which candidates they want to officially endorse in the local New York state elections taking place this fall. Before going any further, I should spell out what exactly the NYLCV is and does. As per the NYLCV website, the storied non-profit is “the only state wide environmental organization in New York that fights for clean water, clean air, renewable energy, and open space through political action.” To achieve this end, the NYLCV focuses on three main approaches to environmental political advocacy: evaluating (through their yearly environmental scorecards of all NY state elected officials), campaigning (for the passage of eco-beneficial laws and initiatives), and finally endorsing candidates who show a true care and concern for the environment. As you might...
by Amanda Dennis | Jun 11, 2019 | Career Exploration, General, Internships, Liberal Arts, Student Perspective |
My Shift Capital Summer: Shattering Expectations By Jessica Lopez Hello from Kensington, Pennsylvania! My name is Jessica Lopez ‘21, and I am an Anthropology major, Health Studies Minor, Economics Minor, and Latin American Iberian studies Concentrator. I am spending my summer as a Whitehead intern for Shift Capital. When I initially saw this internship was available, I knew little about Kensington. But after a quick google search, I was stunned that countless headlines covering Philly’s burgeoning opioid crisis put Kensington at the center of it all. Labeled as the ‘Walmart of Heroin,’ by the New York Times, Kensington’s historically marginalized community is facing this new challenge head on. As one can guess, there are many people trying to help bring Kensington out of this chapter. Shift Capital, a real estate investment group, is aiming to be a part of this effort. But, how can a real estate investment group be a part of the solution? As someone who studies the power structures that trap marginalized folx, this question was at the forefront of my mind, when considering an internship at Shift Capital. As I’ve learned, Shift’s real estate investment model is centered around maximizing what it calls its “social impact,” or how much one’s actions can positively affect the community. Accordingly, Shift’s mission is centered around curtailing the negative effects of gentrification: displacement, job loss, and inter-generational poverty. For example, Shift buys abandoned property and turns it into housing that is 60% AMI (area median income) or less, where the grossing median income for a four person household is $90,000. That means Shift is offering rents that community members...
by Amanda Dennis | Jun 7, 2019 | Career Exploration, General, Internships, Liberal Arts, Student Perspective |
By Maya Ahmed When I searched for a summer internship, I was hoping to find a role that would integrate my interests in economics and environmental studies. Despite this, I never considered that I could work at a firm centered on architectural services until I saw the Handshake listing for MKThink. My artistic skills are too terrible for words, and I’ve never taken a course in architecture or visual studies. However, after doing more research on MKThink, I realized that the internship involved so many topics I was intrigued by: data analysis, public policy, and most of all, environmental sustainability. Fast forward: I’ve been at MKThink for two days so far, and my hopes have been fulfilled. During orientation, my supervisors Josh, Rachelle, and Mayssen explained that MKThink’s mission goes beyond simply “building buildings.” MKThink’s work actually spans three practice areas: strategy, architecture, and innovation. Strategy and innovation projects develop processes to help an organization streamline operations and prepare for the future. The three practice areas frequently overlap. One of MKThink’s specializations is helping clients renovate existing spaces to improve their functionality, aesthetics, and environmental performance. The company takes pride in reimagining better uses for features that already exist, providing clients with significant savings and avoiding the negative environmental impact of extensive construction. From my short time so far at MKThink, I’m really impressed by two aspects of the company. One is MKThink’s emphasis on making their design projects responsive to an organization’s culture and values. From the beginning to end stages of a project, MKThink seeks input from community members who use the space. The result are changes...
