Madison McInnis, University of Washington
This content was created by an EHS intern to describe intern experiences. It has not been revised or edited to conform to agency standards. The findings and conclusions are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SUPEH Intern, Summer 2015
As a SUPEH intern, this summer was filled with a lot of firsts that have greatly influenced my perspective on environmental health and my future, in general. I am a student working towards a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Health and a minor in Spanish from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. The first day of the internship was a whirlwind of paperwork and federal clearance processes, but I was so excited because everyone seemed so smart and I was going to be able to live out all my nerdy tendencies. Ten weeks later, I reflect on what I accomplished and learned and can say that it has been an unprecedented experience that gave me the opportunity to learn and appreciate the small details, those that are not immediately thought of, but are equally as essential. My summer project, field trips, and personal accomplishments all fall under an umbrella that I like to call “figuring out the details.”
One section within my umbrella is my project, Translating and Visualizing Data. Over the course of this internship, I worked with user data from the National Voluntary Environmental Assessment Information System (now named the National Environmental Assessment Reporting System). This assessment tool was launched to the public April 2014 with the help from the CDC communications team and partnerships at the state and federal levels. Its intention is to improve assessment efficiency and productivity when conducting foodborne illness outbreak investigations. Throughout the summer, I worked through a tedious translating process in which I took data from an online database and scribed it into an Excel worksheet. I then sorted, organized, and deleted redundant data in order to gather information to make various data analyses and calculations. I had never worked this intimately with website statistics or data and was faced with the challenge of deciphering details, combing through seemingly random numbers, and pulling together a report the food safety team could use to assess the success of their marketing efforts. It was an intricate and at times frustrating procedure, but I gained an unprecedented appreciation for the entire scientific process that will undoubtedly be brought to my next professional and academic positions.
Since I was about 13 years old, I have wanted to be a doctor. I haven’t veered from that path, but I’ve always tried to gain a wide variety of experiences to ensure that being a physician is what I want to do. This internship gave me the opportunity to engage with a tremendous amount of people, each of whom have their own path to the CDC. These conversations and presentations had a huge impact on my perception of the future and gave me insight on the details that shape a career. I still want to attend medical school in the future, but I have a greater appreciation for the path that I am taking to get there instead of focusing solely on the big picture goal.
I would like to thank the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the opportunity to be participate in this program at the CDC; it has been a very rewarding experience.