Past Interns

I had a fantastic time interning with the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Program! I had the freedom to analyze the trauma admissions and research any mechanism of injury I wanted. It was a great learning experience! I was able to attend many events with the team and be a part of the amazing work they do in the community. Thanks to Stacey, my manager, I was able to network with many different professionals at VUMC. I met physicians, other clinicians, administrators, and even the COO. It was an invaluable experience that I’m sure will continue to benefit me long into the future. Spending time at such an amazing hospital with such special, talented people made for an awesome summer!

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship experience with the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Team this semester, as I learned so much about how we can educate diverse communities about preventing injury and illness in our children. I also really appreciated having the opportunity to connect with a child life specialist, music therapist, NICU nurse, and occupational therapist and how we can collaborate to promote the best outcomes for our patients. Dr.Bull was a professional I value greatly and having the opportunity to speak with her about her work, what else is needed, and how I can contribute to these changes was an extreme honor. Additionally, the community events were very eye-opening, as I loved having the opportunity to provide resources and speak with individuals in need of education and basic needs. Thank you so much for this opportunity. As a future child life specialist, I look forward to advocating for children with special needs as well as pediatric patients that can benefit from a trauma injury prevention team.

I have had such a great time working with the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Program and have gained invaluable research and communication skills. I am a fourth-year undergraduate at Vanderbilt University from Cleveland, Ohio. I am double majoring in Medicine, Health and Society and Communications of Science, Engineering, and Technology with a minor in Scientific Computing. This internship has allowed me to utilize my passions for public health and science communication to study how social media has been used in pediatric injury prevention. I have learned how to conduct a research paper from start to finish and am excited to see my work published soon. I am incredibly thankful for this opportunity and I look forward to attending events in the hospital and gaining hands on experience working with the community as the school year begins.

I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to intern with the Pediatric Trauma Prevention Program. I am a junior at Vanderbilt University from Connecticut, studying Medicine, Health, and Society, and Chemistry. During this internship, I am conducting research in public health to develop accessible resources for injury prevention outreach, especially given the increase in virtual learning, that transcend cultural and economic barriers. I am creating a Best Practice Guide to be used as a resource for the program. This internship is allowing me to gain practical experience in medicine and public health as well as invaluable research skills. I am so thankful for this opportunity and will carry the knowledge and experiences this internship has provided throughout a career in healthcare. 

I am very excited about this opportunity to intern in the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Program. I am a junior at Vanderbilt University from Atlanta, Georgia, double-majoring in Human and Organizational Development; and Medicine, Health and Society. I plan to pursue a career in public health. This internship is providing me experience in identifying projects, conducting research, implementing proposals, evaluating programs and quality improvement. I have competed in swimming for 13 years and lifeguarded for five years With this background in water safety, I am developing a Best Practice Guide for Drowning Prevention. I look forward to gaining insight from the invaluable people surrounding me and using my new knowledge to pursue a Master's degree in Public Health.

I have had such a great time working for the Trauma Injury Prevention program. I wanted more experience in the hospital, and through this internship I have been able to research up-and-coming injury prevention trends, attend meetings about child safety, and interact with teens in the BITZ teen driver safety program. I even had the chance to write a research paper on child fall interventions. This internship is an amazing opportunity for any student who would like to further their research, best practice, and public health skills in a fulfilling and positive environment. I know that the research, time management, and interpersonal skills I have gained through this experience will serve me well in nursing school and beyond. I will miss being part of this wonderful team of people, but I look forward to applying what I’ve learned in the future.

I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to spend my time as an intern for the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Program. I will be working on protection of minors and risk reduction for the Teen Driver Safety Program. I will also continue work on the Tennessee ATV Safety Program by assembling additional survey questions. I will review the current ATV safety competition manual for possible improvements to best fit participants’ accommodations. I will examine different forms of messaging that have a greater reach and impact on youth. I am excited to be part of this program and experience the community that is both Children’s Hospital and Tennessee. I look forward to the practical experience I will gain from this internship and the greater exposure to the field as I advance in my career in healthcare administration.

I feel so fortunate to have worked in the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Department as an intern. I was able to work hands-on with injury prevention in both the hospital and the surrounding community. I appreciate the variety of projects I have been given, helping me gain practical experience in the field of public health. Some of these projects include grant writing, research compilation, communicating with area partners, making a water safety display board, and creating a best practice guide for firearm safety. I also attended and helped with outreach events to teach safety measures in elementary schools, refugee centers, and in the hospital. It is so rewarding to work directly with the children and see how much this department is impacting the community. I am very thankful for my time here and look forward to my future in this field.

I am so grateful for the incredible experiences I have gained from my internship with the Pediatric Trauma Prevention Program. In my internship, I explored the barriers physicians face in firearm safety counseling, and I and pioneered a project to evaluate current firearm safety counseling practices. I also created a best-practice guide on the role of physician counseling and social media in firearm safety education. Through this internship, I have met injury prevention experts from around the community and learned more about injury prevention efforts in Nashville. Experiencing the incredible work of the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Team at Vanderbilt has further validated my belief in the importance of injury prevention education and programming efforts. I look forward to using the invaluable skills and knowledge I have gained as I pursue a Master’s degree in Public Health and a career in injury prevention.

I have been truly fortunate to have spent my summer as an intern with the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention team at Children’s Hospital this summer. For several months I conducted a study on child passenger safety and car seat recycling programs while also researching best practices for firearm safety initiatives within children’s hospitals. Through my research, experiences at outreach events for child passenger and driving safety and hospital pediatric trauma rounds, I have learned that comprehensive healthcare involves both medical intervention and passion for public health and preventative care. My experience this summer and the individuals I have learned from have played an instrumental role in how I hope to shape my future medical career.

I am extremely grateful for the opportunity of working for the Trauma Injury Prevention Program at Children’s Hospital. This is not your typical internship, in the sense that there is such a broad array of experiences and that every day brings something different. I helped jumpstart the Tennessee ATV Safety Program in its pilot year by creating replication and competition manuals for students to create their own ATV safety campaigns at their schools. I also helped translate the Kohl’s Stay Seat Smart Program presentation into Spanish to better access Nashville’s Hispanic community. Finally, I shadowed numerous doctors, surgeons and nurses, and worked on a research paper with a medical student. This experience allowed me to dive into multiple realms of the medical field including public health and research. It has provided me with research, writing and planning skills. I would especially like to thank Purnima Unni for her help and guidance.

I am extremely thankful for the opportunity that I have been given to work as an Injury Prevention Intern at Children’s Hospital. The experiences and knowledge that I have already gained will help further my education and career goals. This summer, I have been given the task of mirroring the ATV Safety Campaign to our BITZ Program. Through this campaign, the Injury Prevention Program is hoping to increase awareness among Tennessee youth about the risks and consequences associated with unsafe ATV riding. Growing up in a rural community and riding ATVs on family land, this campaign has already made me aware of the safety procedures that need to be followed while operating ATVs. As a student hoping to work in the medical field someday, I am honored to have the opportunity to work in such a prestigious organization as Vanderbilt.

I am grateful for my opportunity to intern with the Pediatric Injury Prevention Program. This summer, I will be working on a best practice guide that analyzes current national, state, and local programs that focus on parent involvement in teen safe driving. I will then offer my recommendations on how a parent portal can be implemented to enhance the already successful BITZ Campaign. Additionally, I will be working with Dr. Alex Diamond and the PIPYS Conference to ensure a smooth and successful event. During my time with this program, I will meet with various partners, health administrators, and physicians; I will be participating in community outreach events and compiling research. The skills I will gain throughout the summer will mold me into a more well-rounded future health administrator. I am so thankful for this internship, the people I will be working with, and the opportunity to have an impact on the community around the hospital.

I worked on a Firearm Safety Program. The program included a parent education component on safe storage practices taking place in pediatrician offices, as well as a child education component on how to handle being around firearms.

My internship with the pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Department has been an invaluable experience in public health and injury prevention. As an intern I was able to write a best practice guide for pediatric firearm suicides, which also gave me the opportunity to meet and interact with dedicated health professionals from other departments and hospitals. I worked directly with members of the Middle Tennessee community through community health fairs and initiatives like the Be In The Zone (BITZ) driver safety program. As a former student in the BITZ program, it was extremely fulfilling to help implement the program with new students. I have learned so much about the public health field from the amazing team here, and I am extremely grateful for their guidance and for this experience.

Working this past summer in the pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Program was an eye-opening experience. I was able see health outcomes from multiple different perspectives, made possible by the direct intersection of public health and medicine. Working on a gun safety injury prevention curriculum made gun safety issues real for me. I saw the prevalence of gun safety injury in my state, and was able to learn about the kinds of patients that come in and initiatives that have been used to improve health outcomes and prevent injury. As someone who hopes to pursue a career in medicine, these experiences are invaluable.

I am thrilled to be part of the pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Program. As a junior at Vanderbilt with a Human and Organizational Development major, this program is perfect for me because of my interest in pediatric healthcare. I am currently researching programs on national, state, and community levels that focus on children’s safety around firearms and finding ways to develop similar programs for Children’s Hospital. This semester I plan to gain experience in research, writing project proposals, and increasing organizational effectiveness. I look forward to developing meaningful work and projects within this program.

I feel so fortunate to have worked in the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Department as an intern. I was able to work hands-on with injury prevention in both the hospital and the surrounding community. I appreciate the variety of projects I have been given, helping me gain practical experience in the field of public health. Some of these projects include grant writing, research compilation, communicating with area partners, making a water safety display board, and creating a best practice guide for firearm safety. I also attended and helped with outreach events to teach safety measures in elementary schools, refugee centers, and in the hospital. It is so rewarding to work directly with the children and see how much this department is impacting the community. I am very thankful for my time here and look forward to my future in this field.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to intern with the pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Program. I gained experience in community outreach, best practice evaluation, and grant writing while learning many other useful skills. As a pre-med student, working at Children’s Hospital was a wonderful way to become more exposed to a hospital setting. The research experience I acquired and the relationships I established while working with the injury prevention team will definitely assist me in my future career. I created a home safety best practice guide and helped design a firearm safety program. This internship has sparked my interest in public health and community outreach. I’m so appreciative of the opportunity to work with the injury prevention team.

Being part of the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention program is such a rewarding experience. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to work at Children’s Hospital alongside such a great team. I’ve worked on awesome public health projects such as the Be In The Zone (BITZ) program. I’m mostly focused on developing an ATV injury prevention educational program, seeking to improve adolescents’ knowledge of ATV safety, and in turn decrease the number of ATV-related injuries. I have gained valuable experience in coding data, conducting background research, creating research measures, and working on IRB proposals. All the experiences I have gained through this internship will carry with me past the walls of the hospital and help me in my future endeavors. I am so thankful to be part of this program!

This year as an intern at the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Department, I contributed to a number of exciting projects. First, I completed training to work with the data recording and processing technology. I then used these tools to analyze data from the Be In The Zone (B.I.T.Z.) Program to prevent injury due to distracted driving in teenagers. Another project that I’ve enjoyed working on is the seasonal education within the hospital. Important topics have included holiday travel and winter safety tips. Upcoming projects I look forward to working on include developing accessible and easy-to-navigate educational materials for parents and children to avoid emergency-related injuries, and interactive lesson plans to teach children about injury prevention safety. My time interning in Injury Prevention has been very rewarding. I have learned a great deal about the field of public health from this team. In the coming year, I am thrilled to apply for admissions to Master’s of Public Health programs and continue working on community outreach and education in the field of pediatric injury prevention.

I have had such a great time working for the Trauma Injury Prevention program. I wanted more experience in the hospital, and through this internship I have been able to research up-and-coming injury prevention trends, attend meetings about child safety, and interact with teens in the BITZ teen driver safety program. I even had the chance to write a research paper on child fall interventions. This internship is an amazing opportunity for any student who would like to further their research, best practice, and public health skills in a fulfilling and positive environment. I know that the research, time management, and interpersonal skills I have gained through this experience will serve me well in nursing school and beyond. I will miss being part of this wonderful team of people, but I look forward to applying what I’ve learned in the future.

I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to be a part of the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Program team here at Children’s Hospital. As part of my internship, I was able to help with the Be In The Zone (BITZ) program, a pilot teen motor vehicle safety initiative aimed at various Tennessee high schools. Through this initiative, I had the privilege of working with these teens and their communities by assisting and overseeing the implementation of their own distracted driving awareness campaigns. I also had the honor of meeting and shadowing different doctors in the Department of Pediatric Surgery. The knowledge, skills, and connections I have gained through this internship will undoubtedly benefit me greatly with my future pursuits. I am thankful for this program’s tremendous guidance and support.

I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work as an intern in the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Program at Children’s Hospital. During my time there, I honed many invaluable public health skills, including coalition building, program development, and research acquisition and compilation. In fact, I had the privilege of being involved in the creation of a Tennessee Coalition for ATV Safety that comprises representatives from critical healthcare providers and health education institutions from across the state. The skills and professional relationships I developed while working in this department will surely serve me well as I pursue my education in medical school this fall.

Working as an intern in the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Program was a fulfilling experience! This internship offers the chance to work directly with the community in implementing programs encouraging safe behavior as a part of everyday life. I had the honor of creating an Anti-Texting while Driving Campaign manual that was used as a part of our teen motor vehicle safety initiative in local high schools. The skills I learned in research, best practice, and program planning have served purpose beyond the internship. I am thankful to the Pediatric Trauma Team for their experience and support.