Catherine Graham, Holly Paesch, and Rachel Wallach, Jul 31
When Julia Ye, a junior at Johns Hopkins University, signed on for her summer internship, she never imagined that she’d be interviewing candidates for a manager position at her company. But, after shadowing interviews with her supervisor, she’ll soon have the chance to lead some on her own.
“I’ve been able to be more hands-on than I ever expected,” Ye said of her experience at the World Trade Center Institute’s human resources department in downtown Baltimore.
Ye matched with the institute through the InBaltimore Internship Program, which is part of Johns Hopkins’ Life Design Lab. The program is designed to increase undergrads’ involvement in Baltimore City and help strengthen the local community. For 10 weeks this summer, 13 students worked 40 hours a week at nonprofits, government agencies, and companies around the city. Integrative Learning and Life Design provides a $4,000 stipend and professional development.
We introduce a few of this summer’s InBaltimore interns here.
Julia Ye, Class of 2026
Major: Psychology and cognitive science with a minor in business
Internship site: The World Trade Center Institute, a global business network that helps existing and emerging leaders develop skills, knowledge, and connections to create a healthy economy, environment, and society in the Mid-Atlantic and globally.
Role: As a human resources intern, Ye analyzes data and helps with revising the employee manual, preparing onboarding materials, and analyzing results of the team performance survey. Shadowing her manager, the director of HR, she sits in on meetings with other leaders, and assists with the process of hiring new employees.
Takeaways: “The cool thing about HR is that it’s the applied side of psychology. I always knew that HR was like psychology but applied to the workplace, but I can really feel that now. When I’m in the office and we’re talking about things that I’ve talked about in classes, it’s a really fascinating experience for me.”
Jennifer Izaguirre Martinez / Image credit: Will Kirk / Johns Hopkins University
Jennifer Izaguirre Martinez, Class of 2026
Major: Molecular and cellular biology
Internship site: Baltimore City Health Department Immunization Program
Role: As a clinical assistant intern, Izaguirre Martinez does medical translation between Spanish-speaking patients and non-Spanish-speaking providers. She also schedules appointments and updates and reconciles medical records that may come from other countries or contain outdated information; a patient may have multiple records with different versions of their name. She also organizes back-to-school immunization clinics, cross-referencing school immunization records with the state database.
Takeaways: “I’m really seeing what it takes to run a clinic. A lot of care has to happen when you’re with the patient but also when you’re doing paperwork behind the scenes. Connecting with people who share a little bit of my culture is very important; when you can’t communicate with your provider and you can’t be understood, that needs to be addressed. The way you connect with a patient is very important to the care that they receive and how they feel throughout their entire experience.”
Grace Noh / Image credit: Will Kirk / Johns Hopkins University
Grace Noh, Class of 2026
Major: Biomedical engineering, with a focus on imaging and medical devices
Internship site: CoapTech, a medical device company that created the PUMA System, the first FDA-cleared, ultrasound-based solution for bedside feeding tube placement
Role: Noh is a product-engineering intern working on in-house production, paperwork for regulatory (FDA/ISO guidelines), and editing CAD drawings and sketches. Additionally, she is working on the “PUMA NG project,” which involves research and development of a nasogastric feeding tube, and the “GI Joe Project,” which aims to develop a biorealistic training model that reduces the overall cost and weight.
Takeaways: “Through my internship experience, I have felt that I have a firmer understanding of what kind of environment I would like to work in. I realized I love working in a fast-paced environment with a small, tight-knit group of engineers and clinicians. I believe that this experience is shaping my perspective on what I want for my future career.”
Akshat Sinha / Image credit: Will Kirk / Johns Hopkins University
Akshat Sinha, Class of 2026
Major: International studies and economics
Internship site: Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs
Role: Sinha is an outreach and policy intern. He is researching and developing materials about housing, health care, public benefits, employment, citizenship, and language interpretation services for the “Know Your Rights” section of the office’s welcome guide. He is also creating one-pagers about citizenship, health insurance, and accessing services, and helps at outreach events.
Takeaways: “There are plenty of resources, but the problem is that people aren’t always able to find them or don’t know where to look to find them. There’s also often a language barrier if someone recently immigrated. It’s nice to actually help people and see your work make a positive difference in the community.”
Read more at: https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/07/31/inbaltimore-summer-interns/
