Recent Internship Experience
Jennifer Reske-Nielsen, BU School of Public Health Intern for Professionalizing Leadership and Management December 2006 – May 2007
On my first day at MSH I felt like I was in a different country. Everything was an acronym: LDP, LMS, CLM, TDY, but slowly, like any new language, I absorbed it and found myself speaking it. Problems with acronyms aside, my internship at MSH was an amazing and challenging experience.
While the work that MSH does around the world is inspiring, I found that the people are the backbone and energy of the organization. I cannot think of a more supportive and stimulating environment in which to conduct an internship. Everyone was interested in my goals in life and how I could best help them while at the same time, gain experience and skills. One of my classmates pointed out at a poster session where I presented my internship, “You did something that matters.”
This practicum challenged me because I chose a field that was outside of my comfort zone. I had no previous background in leadership and management and was learning something new every day. While it was great to learn something new, in the beginning it was frustrating to not know everything myself, especially when I had to ask for advice on what to do next. However, as I gained a better understanding of professionalizing leadership and management and delved further into my role, I felt that I had something to contribute.
Having the support of my supervisor here at MSH allowed me to take my skills and apply them to my work at MSH. My work involved helping to design the web section on LeaderNet (to be launched in September 2007), conducting desk research on models that are currently in use and helping other staff write case studies of their experiences in the field. The resources that I helped to create will be posted on the professionalizing section which will ideally help medical and nursing schools to integrate leadership and management into their own curricula.
Working with the LeaderNet team, the Global Leadership team, and all of LMS, I gained an understanding not only of the importance that this work has on health outcomes in developing countries, but found that it is relevant to life in general. My new-found knowledge of this side of health care will help me in my future as a public health professional and physician. I would strongly recommend that anyone interested in challenging themselves should intern at MSH.
On my first day at MSH I felt like I was in a different country. Everything was an acronym: LDP, LMS, CLM, TDY, but slowly, like any new language, I absorbed it and found myself speaking it. Problems with acronyms aside, my internship at MSH was an amazing and challenging experience.
While the work that MSH does around the world is inspiring, I found that the people are the backbone and energy of the organization. I cannot think of a more supportive and stimulating environment in which to conduct an internship. Everyone was interested in my goals in life and how I could best help them while at the same time, gain experience and skills. One of my classmates pointed out at a poster session where I presented my internship, “You did something that matters.”
This practicum challenged me because I chose a field that was outside of my comfort zone. I had no previous background in leadership and management and was learning something new every day. While it was great to learn something new, in the beginning it was frustrating to not know everything myself, especially when I had to ask for advice on what to do next. However, as I gained a better understanding of professionalizing leadership and management and delved further into my role, I felt that I had something to contribute.
Having the support of my supervisor here at MSH allowed me to take my skills and apply them to my work at MSH. My work involved helping to design the web section on LeaderNet (to be launched in September 2007), conducting desk research on models that are currently in use and helping other staff write case studies of their experiences in the field. The resources that I helped to create will be posted on the professionalizing section which will ideally help medical and nursing schools to integrate leadership and management into their own curricula.
Working with the LeaderNet team, the Global Leadership team, and all of LMS, I gained an understanding not only of the importance that this work has on health outcomes in developing countries, but found that it is relevant to life in general. My new-found knowledge of this side of health care will help me in my future as a public health professional and physician. I would strongly recommend that anyone interested in challenging themselves should intern at MSH.
Tae Kurosu, BU School of Public Health Intern for Millennium Development Goals January 2007 – June 2007
Getting a position as an intern at MSH was like coming back home for me. Six months earlier, I was a participant in the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) certificate course, “Leading Organizations to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals for Health” which was taught by Sarah Johnson, Joan Mansour, Sylvia Vriesendorp, and Jim Wolff. In the class, I learned valuable lessons about leadership and management through the use of the Challenge Model which I used working for a local NGO in Uganda.
With an alumna's perspective, I took on the role of revising and preparing the certificate course for the upcoming year as well as marketing the course. During the weeks, the uncertainty of offering the class this year became a challenge. Nevertheless, through efforts from each team member, students will be able to learn the skills of leadership and management again this year. In addition to the development of the course, I assisted in the production of websites for two virtual programs, organized a virtual resource for health managers worldwide, and compiled databases tracking the work of the Center for Leadership & Management in the last eight years.
Working at MSH and listening to stories from coworkers who travel to different parts of the world as consultants has spurred an interest in my future career to possibly pursue consulting. However, as of now, I will be traveling back to Uganda where I will be leading a research project to understand the conditions of the child-mothers in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.
Saman Hamid Qureshi, Heller School for Social Policy and Management Intern for Pakistan PRIDE Project May 2007 – June 2007
Although I worked at MSH for a short period of time I enjoyed every day of it. I assisted the Primary Healthcare Revitalization Integration and Decentralization in Earthquake-affected areas (of Pakistan) (PRIDE) project team at MSH, Boston, in identifying potential cost share opportunities for the project. The work was interesting and I was given a lot of leverage in how I wanted to go about doing the work that was assigned to me. My supervisor and colleagues were very receptive to the ideas that I presented and I was given the same attention and respect that any regular team member would expect to receive, which I think is rare to find in an internship program.
The people, the environment and the work of the organization are all very inspiring. My transition from a program of international development studies to MSH seemed very natural and I felt right at home from the very first day. The projects undertaken by MSH have a universal appeal in that they are spread all over the world and students from several different disciplines, international development, health economics and public policy being a few, can contribute to those initiatives.
I feel lucky to have been a part of MSH and I feel confident in knowing that I have formed a strong bond with the organization and its people.
Meghan Lind, Tufts University Communications and Knowledge Exchange Intern October 2007 – November 2007
Living in Tanzania, I was able to witness firsthand the very basic public health challenges that developing countries face today, and the lack of infrastructure and the shortage of personnel and resources to implement change for the better. Interning at MSH has given me the opportunity to learn how organizations are working collaboratively to improve access to healthcare around the globe. I was struck by their commitment to health as a human right and their passion and energy in striving towards that goal.
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