MDisability, a collaborative program created by members of the Department of Family Medicine, is welcoming three new summer interns to take part in this year’s curriculum. The internship begins June 6 and ends August 5.
The summer internship, now in its fourth year, is a unique academic program designed for upper class level college and graduate students, as well as students who work in the healthcare profession. The program has grown over several years, attracting 27 qualifying applicants this year, an upwards trajectory from just three students who applied to the summer internship in 2019.
The three new interns are:
Dana Chung
Dana is an aspiring physician and current premedical post-baccalaureate student at the University of Michigan. Dana graduated from Williams College in 2019 with a degree in Biology and Computer Science. Upon graduation, Dana worked as a healthcare consultant at Berkeley Research Group in Boston. In this position, she performed data analytics, ran economic analyses, and estimated damages for high-stakes litigation involving companies in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Over the past year at U-M, Dana pursued research that addresses knowledge gaps and stigma towards patients with opioid use disorder and volunteer opportunities within disability health. Dana is passionate about applying her consulting experience and technical skills to research projects in disability health and ultimately a career in medicine.
Follow Dana @_danachung
Sydney Kessler
Sydney is a senior at Murray State University studying Exercise Science with the plans to apply to medical school in May of 2023. Sydney first decided to pursue a career in medicine after enduring a spinal cord injury while playing soccer in her freshman year of college. In addition to her career pursuits, Sydney’s love for sports and competition has taken a different form through her passion for adaptive sports. She is a part of Louisville’s Adaptive Rowing Program, regularly participates in adaptive rock climbing and wheelchair basketball, and is working towards hand cycling the New York City marathon in 2023. During the upcoming summer, Sydney is thrilled to put her passions into practice and be a part of the MDisability team.
Follow Sydney @KesslerSydney3
Sanjana Ratakonda
Sanjana recently graduated from Boston College with a B.S. in Biology. She was born in New Jersey, but grew up in India for five years. Sanjana was active in her school's Emergency Medical Services during her time at Boston College and noticed a lack of education regarding the best practices for pre-hospital care of patients with disabilities. This sparked her interest in disability health and she became involved in the Deaf Health Talks team to help plan virtual educational seminars for individuals with disabilities. In high school she learned American Sign Language alongside Deaf and Hard of Hearing students and hopes to improve her ASL. In her free time Sanjana enjoys playing tennis, dancing, and good food. In the future, she hopes to pursue medicine and become an advocate for individuals with disabilities.
MDisability’s summer internship teaches students how to develop basic research skills; gives them exposure to disability-related health policy; engages them in community- and education-based disability projects; and helps them to explore best practices for the education of providers with a disability and the care of patients with disabilities.
Interns will also undertake various disability health projects that allow them to work with department faculty mentors. Additionally, they will attend several disability-related talks and research/medical profession-focused student programs.
The interns cap their studies with final project presentations at a research meeting with the Department of Family Medicine leadership, faculty, administrators and staff members.
READ ALSO: Family Medicine’s MDisability wraps up another successful summer internship program
If you’re interested in learning more or participating in MDisability’s Summer Internship program, please contact MDisability Program Coordinator Dawn Michaelat [email protected].
