BELIZE; Physical Therapy Internship - Randy

             The Octavia Waight Centre: Help Age Belize is a home for the elderly in the beautiful, paradisaical country of Belize in Central America.  The 25 residents of the center suffer from a variety of diseases; including diabetes, hemiplegia, and Alzheimer’s.  As an active geriatric physical therapy intern I was able to participate in the treatment of these patients, specifically helping them with physical therapy.  This has been the first time that I have worked consistently with geriatric patients, so I was interested to see how I would like the experience.

            Being a part of the Octavia Waight Centre was not only educational but also very enjoyable.  5 hours a day 5 days a week I helped patients with therapy, and when I was at the apartment I studied to learn different things I could do that would help the residents.  I learned so many things and developed skills that directly apply to my major (biology) and career choice (physical therapy).  I was also able to develop relationships that I will keep for the rest of my life.  Due to privacy concerns, I am unable to post the pictures that I took with the patients at the nursing home.

            In addition to the therapy, I also participated in a variety of volunteer opportunities.  We coached a middle school volleyball team, directed a youth summer camp at the police station, set up volunteer work at an abortion advisement clinic, and worked construction at a local school.  On the weekends we explored the culture.  By the end of the adventure, we had been all over the country.  It was a very productive 4 weeks, and I enjoyed every moment.

Overall, the internship was a remarkable, eye-opening learning experience.  I loved working with the patients, and I learned that I would be more than happy to work in geriatric physical therapy.

Germany; Max Planck Institute- Chas

I interned at the Max Planck Institute last summer because I wanted an awesome experience that I could put on my resume, and I wanted to travel outside the country at least once in my life.  An internship at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology will help any student's future opportunities by  (1) helping interns learn biotechnology basics, and (2) providing an experience that looks great on a resume.

Molecular technologies are changing our world.  Gene therapy has cured many patients of SCID, AIDS...etc.  Bacteria is used to create plastics, biofuels, and KO plants.  Transgenic mice help with the discovery of the genetic basis of many diseases; viruses are used to deliver genes to crops that increase yield and decrease needed water; artificial bladders, windpipes, and veins have been seeded with patients own stem cells, and have saved several patients from deadly cancers; childhood leukemia is now curable; genetic testing saves thousands of women's lives... etc.  This internship allowed me to gain one-on-one instruction from post docs, and I learned basic skills that are used on a large scale today to produce pharmaceuticals, vaccines, vectors, and biofuels, and perform academic research.  Getting hands on exposure to these fields is challenging, and the opportunity of this internship is one in several thousand.

The Max Planck preforms research on a nicotine plant indigenous to Utah.  Since the institute is in Germany, BYU has made a deal with the Max Planck Institute.  BYU gives the institute some land, and in exchange, the Max Planck takes several interns each summer.  This is a prestigious institute that doesn't have any other arrangements with schools like BYU does.  This is a one in several thousand opportunity because we are one of the few schools with an agreement like this.  It has helped me make the next step of working in a lab with post docs, and I have not even graduated yet.  This experience is  more intriguing to graduate schools than an internship in Provo.  The Max Planck Institute is more prestigious than the Y and is recognized by the whole world as a top notch experience.

This internship will give you the skills that all new biotechnology is based off.  If you are interested in earning a PhD in some biology related field, or wish to pursue a career in industry as I do, this internship will help you get into a good graduate program.

Questions: feel free to email chassyndergaard@gmail.com

For More information visit http://www.ice.mpg.de/ext/