Internship Information

PSGP Graduate students are encouraged to do internships. To find an internship, please refer to the narratives below to get you started. Once you find an internship, please refer to requirements listed in the Internship Approval Process document below to ensure you have the correct paperwork and approval in advance. Please note that if you are being funded by a Thesis/Dissertation Award from the Graduate School you cannot receive any paid employment until you graduate.

PSGP Internship Narratives

Apurvasena Parikh (PCEU) - 2012

1. Location of internship: Pfizer Inc., Groton, CT
2. Internship responsibilities: As an intern in Clinical Pharmacology, I was assigned, and worked on two independent projects - population pharmacokinetic modeling of the non-linear kinetics of a small molecule, and meta-data analysis evaluating the effect on certain biomarkers by a comparator drug. Responsibilities also included attending biweekly east coast meetings and other seminars/webinars focusing on quantitative drug development.
3. How you found your internship: In addition to extensive networking, I applied to several industries through their online application process for summer interns. The interest was to do an internship in clinical pharmacology. The internship at Pfizer worked out through online application.
4. Suggestions on how to find an internship: Networking, and reconnecting with alumni are key. One may also want to set up their online profiles under 'career opportunities ' for various industries they are interested in, to receive notifications as soon as an internship position is made available.
5. What I learned from my internship: Skills gathered were both, scientific and professional. In addition to advanced training in clinical pharmacology (and pharmacometrics) where grad school training could also be put to use, the exposure within the big pharma industry was multi-fold. The "big picture" was clearly evident from the translational research, as was the impact of asking the 'right questions', on drug development and healthcare. Gained exposure to several programs for drugs during various stages in their development pipeline, shadowed decision making process through sub-team meetings, received exposure to the business aspects of the working environment, and also the clinical triad system, adopted by several pharma for enhanced drug development programs.
6. What I will do differently after the internship (if any): Gather as much as possible (time-permitting) with respect to skills and training while at VCU. The internship has given me a different perspective on the research and I look forward to applying some of the lessons learnt to plan and perform experiments in a slightly different way. The internship also helped understand 'what is out there' and will definitely help making decisions during the job application process.

Chenxiao Da (MEDC)- 2012

1. Location of internship - Rahway, New Jersey
2. Internship responsibilities
   • Incorporated Molecular Dynamics into the workflow for VCD spectra calculations.
   • Tested the new workflow.
   • Developed scripts to automate data generation and analysis.
3. How you found your internship - From the internet.
4. Suggestions on how to find an internship - Pay attention to the job search websites, know what the requirements are for the positions and network.
5. What I learned from my internship - The structure of the company and the research group, the techniques they use, what kind of people they are looking for, and most important, the life of researchers in a company.
6. What I will do differently after the internship (if any) - Try to learn more, not just the knowledge about medicinal chemistry to make myself more competitive.

Kunal Saxena (DPOS) - 2012

1. Location of internship - Altria Center of Research and Technology, Richmond VA
2. Internship responsibilities
   • Worked as the Tobacco Regulatory and Health Science Intern for 8 weeks.
   • Was required to learn more about the FDA regulations and guidelines related to tobacco products manufacturing and marketing.
   • Developed an infrastructural document to review and use the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) database for potential research studies.
   • Carried out a research study which examined the relationship between cardiovascular biomarkers and smoking exposure using data from NHANES.
3. How you found your internship - I got to know about the internship from an email sent by the graduate program director's office.
4. Suggestions on how to find an internship - I suggest all the graduate students to carefully read the emails from the grad. school and make use of the great opportunities our graduate program offers to everyone.
5. What I learned from my internship - It was a great learning experience and provided me with an opportunity to work outside the school environment for the first time. I was exposed to the company's great corporate working culture and learned the importance of working independently as well as part of a big team. Overall, it was a unique experience and I highly recommend it to other students. I learnt about the nuances of corporate culture such as importance of time management, adequate allocation of resources and planning of the projects (start to finish) way ahead of time.
6. What I will do differently after the internship (if any) - I will definitely try be a better planner and manager of my tasks in the graduate school.