Summer Global Internship: London

1. This summer, I spent eight weeks participating in the Summer Global Internship Program through the Fisher College of Business. Through this program I lived and worked in London, having been placed in a full-time intern position with Doctor Care Anywhere, one of the UK’s largest telemedicine companies. I worked on the NHS development team, helping turn what started as a privately funded health service into a function of the UK’s public health system, the National Health Service.

2. Coming into this program, I was unsure of my decision—after all, I had chosen to participate in a program through Fisher that would place me in an office job even though I’m not even a business student. From the time that I applied to this program, however, the SGIP staff were nothing but helpful and we’re able to aid me in finding an internship position that is relevant to Public Health, my field of study.

Despite assurance from the SGIP staff and my friends and family, I was still wary going into an internship that I thought I was not fully prepared for. Through my time working for Doctor Care Anywhere I learned so many skills and expanded my skillset beyond what I could have ever imagined. This program helped to develop myself not only as a student and a professional, but it also reminded me that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.

3. My transformation during this project was due to a variety of factors, but for the sake of simplicity they can split into three different categories: the work that I was doing, the people that I was surrounded by, and the responsibility of living independently.

One of the reasons that I was able to derive so much meaning from my experience at Doctor Care Anywhere is that I was truly passionate about the work that I was doing. As I mentioned before, since this was a program through a college of study different from my own, this was a minor miracle in itself. To explain why I chose this program in the first place I should explain: I am a Public Health major that wants to start a career in Health Consulting. Because of this, having experience in an office is necessary, I had just never dreamed that I would be lucky enough to be in an office setting with a company that focuses on healthcare efficiency (AKA the best of both worlds). The work that I was doing was engaging and challenging and I absolutely loved it. I was actually passionate about the work that I was doing—which I wasn’t even sure was possible for an intern to be—which helped me transition into the professional world seamlessly.

Another reason that this internship abroad was so impactful was that I was surrounded by such amazing, diverse people—an experience that I only could have gained in one of the largest, most culturally diverse cities in the world. In my office alone I had coworkers from Australia, Italy, Greece, Lithuania, India, Wales, and Ireland, just to name a few. With so many different viewpoints and backgrounds in close quarters I was able to expand my worldview and learn more about different cultures in a way that I have never been able to experience prior to this summer. Beyond cultural differences, my office was also very diverse in their professional differences with everybody coming from different career fields—from doctors to tech geniuses to experienced consultants, each employee was able to bring a different skillset and viewpoint to the table. I am thankful that I was able to learn so much from my coworkers in such a short period of time.

Finally, my time in London helped me to develop my confidence and abilities, both professionally and personally, because I was forced to take on the responsibilities of living independently. Not only was I working a full-time job, but I also had the responsibility of navigating an entirely new city in a foreign country, tackling a 50-minute commute to and from work, grocery shopping, and cooking meals. These things forced me to be accountable to my actions and really expedited my personal transformation.

4. This transformation will be nothing but beneficial going forward in my life. Professionally, I feel much more confident in my ability to adapt to an office setting. I also feel confident enough to pursue endeavors that may be challenging but ultimately useful. I have also made a lot of professional connections through my internship which will help to connect me with opportunities for career growth in the future. Personally, I also feel much more confident in my abilities—in this sense, my ability to adapt to different lifestyles, cultures, and environments. Overall, I am thankful to have had the opportunity to participate in this STEP transformational project—my time at Ohio State would have been significantly different if I had not.