Internship Location: Boston MA
Organization Type: Nonprofit/NGO
Policy Areas: Health Policy
Over this past summer, I was a health policy intern at Children’s HealthWatch in Boston, MA. Not only did I learn and practice hard skills like op-ed writing, literature review, and data collection and analysis, but I progressed in my soft skills such as collaboration and self-reflection. Specifically, I authored and analyzed reports on diaper distribution and guaranteed income, created a new research method for Thrifty Food Plan investigation, and wrote an opinion piece on the Make America Healthy Again and One Big Beautiful Bill Act published on the Children’s HealthWatch blog. The writing skills and knowledge I have learned through my La Follette courses allowed me to have a running start in my internship. I had background knowledge on many of the policies and understandings of how they are analyzed and determined to be effective or not. Mostly, I was surprised at the administrative barriers in place that can prevent work from being done, and how much time must be dedicated to avoiding such barriers. Being part of a team and being able to get feedback on my work has been invaluable to growing in my both my hard and soft skills. I would recommend this internship to anyone who is interested in working in and understanding health policy, children’s health, how politics and health intersect, and interested in pursuing a career at a non-profit. Overall, I was able to assess my own goals and aspirations, and what I would want my future career to look like. I loved my experience at Children’s HealthWatch and would recommend it to anyone who asked!