Internship Program

Project Summary

The internship program at the Center offers current students the unique opportunity to learn about the clinical applications of personalized health care, and use this knowledge to assist in refining the practical tools needed to bring personalized health care into reality. Interns are exposed to the works of some of the top thinkers and professionals in the field, including Dr. Ralph Snyderman, the Executive Director of the Center and the “Father of Personalized Medicine.” Additionally, interns can grow their professional skills by working with research professionals on ongoing quality improvement projects and clinical research studies related to personalized health care.

The intern class is also offered the opportunity to take on co-facilitating the Center’s Duke undergraduate house course: Transforming the U.S. Healthcare Delivery System.  The course explores topics related to personalized health care and its potential to change how health is approached with focus on: major policy and research efforts related to personalized medicine, the evolution toward personalization of health care and medicine, current integrative strategies for improving how individuals manage their own health, and other relevant themes.

This course is sponsored by Dr. Snyderman, but entirely student run with interns creating and managing the syllabus, guest lecture schedule, grades, and course requirements.

Aims

• Fulfill professional development needs of students seeking to enter the workforce in a health care related field with personal passion for personalized health care
• Cultivate student’s individual interests within personalized health care through supporting the Center’s research studies and projects with a culminating final presentation delivered to Dr. Snyderman and the team
• Publish blog posts on topics chosen and written by interns on personalized health care related topics to be shared via the Center’s website and Twitter account increasing student’s personal and professional visibility while simultaneously serving the purpose of producing content for Center followers and interested parties
• Contribute to the Center’s social media presence through weekly tweets and represent the Center among an external audience of key individuals, companies, institutions, and thinkers at the forefront of the field of personalized health care

Contribution to Practice

• Positively influence the dissemination of personalized health care ideals among the student population and next generation of health care professionals
• Utilize this key demographic of young thinkers to workshop interventions, discuss health behavior motivations and developments in mobile health and technology