Ethics in action and the power of a summer internship  

Every summer, waves of high school, college and graduate school interns flood offices and labs across the country, bringing fresh energy, curiosity and ambition. Reports suggest 61% of graduating seniors in 2023 participated in an internship experience. As an administrative intern myself and with summer slowly drawing to a close, I started to think more about the purpose of internships and why they matter. What do individuals truly gain from this experience? 

Internships provide students with hands-on experience that prepares them for their future careers. A recent survey revealed that 31% of students adjusted their degree goals after a summer internship, with nearly 70% wanting to obtain a more advanced degree. Younger generations are seeking more hands-on experience that gives them an accurate vision of what they could do in their career. Studies have found that internships and mentors influenced and even changed undergraduates’ career paths, helped them prepare for graduate school, opened doors for them professionally, and facilitated important professional relationships.

Through meaningful research experiences, community-building and peer connections for undergraduate and graduate students, internships can integrate practical, interdisciplinary training into education, with participants reporting significant career development and academic advancements. The impact that an internship can have on a student can define the rest of their life. But how do you ensure they are beneficial to both the individual and the institution? 

This year, the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine aimed to provide interns with an everlasting experience while learning the importance of cutting-edge topics. We had a variety of intern focus areas, including neuroethics, AI, clinical ethics and general bioethics and health policy research. In all our programs, students not only learned about the world of ethics but also about themselves and how their perspectives can change and grow. What emerged were not just lessons, but a blueprint of goals and guidance to help shape future internships:

1. Increased Ethical Awareness and Analysis Skills: Our internship sought to enhance students’ understanding of ethical issues. This involved fostering critical thinking skills and ethical reasoning abilities and empowering students to identify and analyze complex ethical dilemmas that arise in the field. Clinical ethics intern Jia Cummings noted, “When you encounter bioethics in the classroom, you learn primarily through abstract ideas such as autonomy or justice. You learn to apply these concepts by working through cases of the past. As a clinical ethics intern, our role as the learner pivots. Instead of retroactively applying ethics principles, we are asked to use them as a guide for creating recommendations for the care team in real time. This internship helped test the durability of my ethics knowledge against the fast-paced landscape of a clinical case in [the] process of being resolved.”
2. Professional Development: Another program objective is to provide students with valuable opportunities for professional development, while helping them connect their passions with their career goals. Through hands-on research, mentorship and skill-building in communication, teamwork, leadership and time management, the program enables students to fine-tune their interests and translate them into purposeful career pathways. Dana Foundation intern Alison MacLeod reflected on her internship research: “Coming from a background in medical humanities and a passion for patient-centered care, I’ve found this research to be a real source of inspiration, knowing that I can use my time and energy to contribute to a project that may shape the next generation of healthcare technology, and possibly tools I’ll use as a future physician.” 
3. The Benefits of Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Our internships aim to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration among students from diverse academic backgrounds. By bringing together individuals with expertise in neuroscience, ethics, philosophy, law, medicine and other relevant fields, the program encourages collaborative problem-solving and the exchange of ideas from multiple perspectives. Rothenberg Endowment intern Chloe Lee had the opportunity to research near-death experiences (NDEs) and psychedelics. She explained how her “project on NDEs and psychedelics has inspired [her] to pursue interdisciplinary research that bridges neuroscience and clinical psychology,” which she had never thought of before.

As the summer internship program ends, it’s clear this experience has dramatically inspired our interns’ future careers. Personally, in school, I sometimes feel stuck, unable to imagine how I’ll apply what I learn in the real world. Thankfully, this internship has allowed me to see my true strengths and gain clarity about the kind of impact I want to make.

This summer’s internship program was funded through grants and contributions from the Dana Foundation, Rice University, the Rothenberg Endowment and the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine.

It’s never too early to start thinking about next summer and what you hope to achieve. If this summer’s reflections have sparked new ideas or passions, consider learning more and inquiring about the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy internship program and take the next step toward your future.

By: Sophie Halperin, administrative intern, Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine; rising junior at Indiana University