The experience so far…
It’s been two and a half months into my internship and it’s been nothing less than pleasant and enjoyable. I’ve had many projects and they have all challenged me. My tasks have ranged from building newsletter templates to creating webpage layouts for displaying patient stories to updating rankings for the NASCAR drivers competing on the behalf of many patients. I’ve been able to help others outside of the interactive section and every part of it has been worthwhile.

With all the projects given, it’s a bit difficult to gauge what deadlines the long-term ones have because I work little by little on every one each day. Also, I’m usually told that it’s okay to have them done by the time I leave, which I thought would be by the time the semester starts. However, to my surprise and happiness, I can continue throughout the fall.

Well beyond the classroom
One of the things that I appreciate mostly is my teammates’ willingness to teach me new things in almost the same fashion as in a classroom. Coming in, for example, I had no idea how to carry out tasks regarding SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. Its basic definition is taking measure to make sure the hospital’s website is the first result to appear when searching a term on Google. This is a very difficult task for any business (imagine how maddening this would be for pizza shops) trying to set themselves apart from their competitors, and there are many obstacles that make it nearly impossible to be the first thing users see. I had no idea how these measures were carried out until one of my co-workers set aside a two-hour time slot with my supervisor and I for an introduction to SEO. 

More than an intern
Whenever I start a new job, I make it my goal to become somewhat of an expert, even if it’s of a very miniscule part. I’m pretty certain that becoming an expert in this kind of industry would require me to become a pre-med student and I don’t see that happening any time soon. Even so, a few of my co-workers have made me the go-to person for making changes to the website or building an e-newsletter or asking how to make changes in the content management system. Given that this is my very first internship, it feels like so much more than that and I'm happy that I'll be here a little longer.