Summer internships helped these biology students define their passions and forge their paths

Completing internships is an important way for students to gain hands-on experience in their chosen industry in a setting that is low stakes and focused on learning. These experiences can be particularly important for students in programs like biology that have a wide range of potential professional applications.

In this case, internships can also be tools to help students discover their interests and define their career goals. For Kara Brooks, a senior majoring in biology and minoring in Hispanic studies, her internship with Community Care Clinic in Boone this past summer did just that.

Throughout the internship she learned about all areas of the clinic, from shadowing clinicians and specialists to assisting with patient intakes to completing organizational work in the facility’s office. Brooks approached the internship with Community Care Clinic as a learning opportunity, but she also had a clear career path in mind before starting the role. Her experience there changed that.

One of the clinicians she shadowed most frequently at the clinic was a nurse practitioner, and Brooks became inspired by her level of care and the strong relationships she built with her patients.

“I went in thinking that after I graduate I want to go to PA school and work more on the diagnostic side of things, but the more I was there I could see that there’s a really big difference between physicians and PAs, and nurse practitioners that have a nursing background,” Brooks said. “With the specialists and physicians and PAs that came in, they were like just diagnose and move on to the next one. That really changed my path, and now I’m planning to go to nursing school after Lees-McRae to pursue being a nurse practitioner. I really like that person-centered care over the diagnostic-centered care.”

Brooks is not the only one whose experience with hands-on work helped reshape her passions. Avery Walston is also a senior majoring in biology and minoring in psychology. She has completed internships with the Lee Lab at the Duke University Department of Radiation Oncology over the past three summers and has more clearly defined her interests with each new experience.

During her first two internships Walston assisted Duke PhD students and other members of the lab with their research projects, and this past summer she was able to take on her own. While her interest in bench research initially led her to consider pursuing a PhD, her time in the Lee Lab has helped foster a greater interest in the practical side of medicine. She is now planning to pursue medical school.

“It definitely helped me narrow down what I want to do with my future career and what my goals are. My main goal with going into research was that I wanted to help with their physical health. I wanted to do that in a research setting by developing medicine and stuff like that,” Walston said. “After working this summer, I kind of realized I want the more personal aspect of working one-on-one with people and helping them in that manner rather than in the research setting.”

With refreshed and refined outlooks on their careers, both Brooks and Walston are looking forward to taking their next steps following graduation. Both plan to continue investing their time and education in the health of their local community—Brooks through nursing school at Appalachian State University and Walston through medical school at Wake Forest University.

“These two experiences together have really prepared me well for the next step in my educational and career journey. I have gotten the benefit of being here in class at Lees-McRae and learning so much information from the professors. There are so many different possibilities in the sciences, and it was kind of difficult for me to land on biology,” Brooks said. “It was really great to get out and see how you can actually apply that knowledge in a career setting. It gets kind of hard sometimes just sitting in class, but when you get an experience like this you can see how people are using this information that you’re learning right now. It makes me excited for my classes.”