Internship Spotlight: Milki Gemeda

Milki Gemeda
Class of 2020
Summer Research Intern at University of Minnesota
Bachelor of Arts in Biology, Society and Environment

“Through my pre-med program, I got paired up with a mentor who is a Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist. My mentor has really helped me throughout my undergraduate and when he saw that his department had a research grant opportunity, he asked me if I wanted to do a research project with him through this grant. The grant was not very advertised especially for undergrads, so without him, I doubt I would have gotten it.

I was responsible for going through the transcripts from phone interviews that were conducted with childhood cancer survivors and parents. I analyzed the main themes that emerged from their narratives and wrote about my findings for the results section of a scientific paper that my mentor plans to get published.

I have a great interest in social inequality and the healthcare system so I was really able to apply the knowledge that I gained from my liberal arts education to inform my writing.

It is so important to find mentors in your career of interest. Those mentors can really open up doors for you in terms of finding internship or professional development opportunities. In addition to that, they were once in your shoes so they most likely can relate to your feelings or experiences and provide you with valuable wisdom to make the most out of your undergraduate experience.”