IAESTE Annual Review 2020/21

Remote
Internships
2020
Northern Ireland – USA
Mary Mallon, Northern Ireland
Caroline remote working
Many students are in lockdown this summer due to Covid-19 with
international travel restricted, but one student from Queen’s University
Belfast decided to use her time gaining international skills and experience
through the British Council’s IAESTE programme.
For one student, Caroline Campbell, from Queen’s University Belfast, being
accepted to undertake an IAESTE placement at Baylor College of Medicine,
in Texas, USA was like a dream come true. In the final year of her degree
in Biomedical Science, Caroline was extremely excited at the prospect of
joining the Baylor College of Medicine for the summer. Caroline says, “I
saw it as an amazing way to kickstart my career in science – a once in a
lifetime opportunity!”
So, when COVID-19 meant travel was not possible, and IAESTE USA and
Baylor College of Medicine offered an alternative to Caroline – a remote
internship, she jumped at the chance. One of the things that Caroline was
impressed with was the clear structure and how organised the Baylor
Remote Virtual SMART programme was. Caroline’s project involved virtual
scientific research into breast cancer, led by her supervisor Dr Jeffery Rosen,
himself an IAESTE Alumni. Caroline had 1-1 weekly e-meetings with Dr
Rosen and participated in synchronous online research discussion groups
with Dr Rosen and students from across the USA. Caroline remarked that
prior to the internship she had never spoken with anyone from the USA.
Caroline says, “Working virtually with Dr Rosen and fellow students from
across the USA, has nurtured my love of science and exposed me to the
latest research techniques and breast cancer breakthroughs. At the end of
each week, we met online to discuss the results of that week’s lab work and
Caroline’s home working setup
57