4
Elms College Magazine
Internship goes Virtual Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual internships were virtually unheard of. Everything changed, though, when students were suddenly forced to stay home, attend Zoom classes, and figure out ways to get the allimportant hands-on experience that employers value. For junior Michelle Redenz ’23, a nursing major from Amherst, this meant canceling her plans to study abroad in Jordan over the summer, and instead find a digital opportunity to learn about public health. “I would say it was a fair trade off,” said Michelle, who completed a six-week virtual internship with three public health organizations in Kisumu, Kenya. “After I grieved not being able to go abroad, I decided to maximize the situation.” Michelle’s internship began with the Kisumu County Department of Health. For two weeks, she did everything from analyzing COVID-19 data sets to participating in discussions with epidemiologists, doctors, and communications specialists. Her cohort then moved on to work with experts at one of Kenya’s largest teaching hospitals, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching & Referral Hospital (JOOTRH). This was invaluable, Michelle said, because she connected with nurse managers from several units throughout JOOTRH, all of whom were just as eager to ask questions of the students as they were to answer questions about health outcomes in Kisumu. The final two weeks of her internship were equally beneficial for her future career as a nurse, Michelle said. She focused on conducting research at KEMRI, the Kenya Medical Research Institute. Making connections between research and evidence-based nursing practice was indispensable, Michelle said, since it will give her a strong foundation for providing culturally sensitive care in the future.
“We bonded over this experience that none of us expected to have.”
Elms prepared Michelle to think critically about the ways that culture and geography influence public health. Taking core classes in the liberal arts, for example, helped her think about health as a continuum, one that extends beyond clinical diagnosis. Having this framework going into her internship was key, Michelle said, since it put everything into context. Collaborating with peers made her internship experience that much sweeter, Michelle added. The group was spread across the globe, including eastern Massachusetts; Texas; Seattle; Delhi, India; and Amman, Jordan. “We bonded over this experience that none of us expected to have. The group brought this super diverse conversation to the table every single day.” While a virtual internship can’t replicate the experience of physically being in a new country, it served as an example of how nursing majors can take their education abroad. “Even if you’re in your hometown, you can still experience global perspectives, and apply them in the future.”
