Medical Internship
When Eryn Greeno graduates, she hopes to become a pediatric registered nurse. Her internship is at Supply Elementary School, working with a mentor, who is the school nurse there. This internship is helping her get into this field, as it is directly related to pediatric nursing. Once she graduates, Eryn will be completing the nursing program right here on the Brunswick County Community College campus.
What got her interested in pediatric nursing was the time she spent in the children’s hospital when she was younger. While she had no major medical issues, she was aware of the environment around her when she did visit the children’s hospital. This internship sparked her curiosity because she knew it related to her interest in pediatrics.
At Eryn’s internship, she observes the school nurse. Here she observes visits from children. She learns about the way school children communicate discomfort. This gives her valuable insight as to how to help kids in need of medical attention. She also has the option to partake in visits with students. This can help her further adapt to interacting with small children. Lastly, Eryn is allowed to administer simple medications, such as daily prescriptions to students who take them, while she is under the supervision of the school nurse.
At her internship, she works most closely with the school nurse. She is providing Eryn with tips on working with kids and medical needs. Eryn feels that this relationship will help provide her with a possible letter of recommendation, or reference in the future.
The skills that Eryn is developing in her internship include getting to the bottom of issues children provide her with. She is learning how to talk with them to help them figure out what is wrong. This skill will definitely help her in her future career as she hopes to always be working with kids.
Eryn is of the opinion that her internship provides an accepting, positive environment. She described how eager the school nurse is at the prospect of accepting new interns. Tips from Eryn: School environments can be accommodating to one’s school schedule when looking for an internship. She also suggests that you look around at various medical facilities to determine which one will work best for you when deciding where to intern.
Science Internship
Trever Smith is another graduate student at Early College. At the start of next school year, he will be attending NC State for college. He plans on going into the field of computer science/programming for his future career.
So what is he doing right now to prepare for that prospective career? Trevor is working on an internship similar to what he hopes to pursue in his life. He believes that there he is developing valuable skills for his career. He feels that the skills he is learning are giving him a good sense of what the work is like in this field of computer science.
Trevor interns at the Brunswick County Government Complex IT Department. He was interested in interning there because he knew they had a place where he could explore the subject area of computer science. Also, his dad, working at an IT department in Myrtle Beach, contributed to his desire to intern in a similar environment.
At his internship, Trevor works at recreating/digitizing forms for public use. For example, if you are building on a property, you might be required to fill out a form describing what you plan to build, what materials you plan to use, etc. Trevor works to make this paperwork digital, think like a more sophisticated Google form. This makes it easier to preserve the information in the system rather than keeping track of tons of paperwork. Within his internship, Trevor works closely with the Forms Department Administrator, who is there to help Trevor learn about what he is doing as well as answer any questions Trevor may have along the way.
Trevor thinks that the work environment at his internship is great! He feels that they have good collaboration when working on projects. Trevor agrees that he is making connections that will help him in the future.
Not only is he getting to do something he enjoys at his internship, he is also learning things that will help him be successful in his future career!
Lastly, a word of advice from Trevor regarding students interested in finding an internship: “It is a good idea to get involved in an internship. It gives you a sample of the field you are interested in. An internship provides a good opportunity to get hands-on experience in a specific field.”
Law and Hospice Internship
Are you limited to only one internship as a highschooler? Graduate Mary Said says no. This is probably because she interned at both a law firm and a hospice center. Said worked two different internships because she wanted to decide between the fields of law and medicine to decide which path would be best for her to pursue in the future. Since these two internships, she has decided to pursue a career in dermatology which is more closely related to the medical field than it is to law.
“I mostly observed the nurses administer medicine and take vitals. I often got patients what they needed like food or water if they asked for it. I restocked the rooms whenever they needed it and I helped the nurses bathe the patients as well,” says Said about what tasks she did at her hospice internship.
Meanwhile, at her law internship, she filed cases, learned how to use the case database, and made new files.
“Lots and lots of paperwork,” says Said about her duties at the law firm.
Within the law firm, Said worked most closely with the criminal defense paralegal. “She was so sweet and she sat with me and taught me different protocols while watching police footage, how to file certain things, and other things to do with paperwork,” says Said
However, at the hospice center, she worked most closely with her mom. This is because she was the CNA teaching Said how to interact with patients effectively.
Said claims that since she is not going into a career pertaining to hospice or law, the relationships she established at her internships will not carry into her career; however, she does feel that the skills she’s learned in her internship will translate into her career.
“In both my internships I have interacted with all kinds of people and I have learned how to work with difficult ones, as well as think on my feet to find solutions when no one else could help me,” Said on the skills her internship has taught her.
She describes the environment of her law internship as very fast-paced. “It made me very anxious at times,” says Said
She also says that the hospice center had a strained environment due to the overlap of nurses and CNAs.
“I enjoyed seeing how everyone collaborated but I did feel that everyone was on top of each other more than anything,” Said on the work environment presented at the hospice center.
These experiences helped Mary Said determine what she liked and did not like about these jobs. They also helped narrow down the prospects of what she would like to do in her own life as an occupation. Lastly, a piece of advice from Said.
“My advice would be to do a lot of research on your internship place before going straight into one you don’t know much about. Also, do not wait or get on your hours. It is horrible trying to catch up and it’s just more stress, try to establish a good schedule.”
