GSU senior Nicol J-Lewis, a native of Salisbury, Dominica, received an internship for the Yale Cardiovascular Medicine AHA Undergraduate Research Fellowship at Yale University. She received this news at the beginning of the year. “I saw an ad online from a biology Club, " Lewis said. “I decided to give it a shot. So I went ahead and got all the documents I needed and just applied."
According to the American Stroke Association website, their overall goal is to provide a robust and supportive educational environment and foster research skill development in undergraduate researchers mentored by faculty in the Section of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine.
The internship requirements for the Yale Cardiovascular Medicine AHA Undergraduate Research Fellowship is to have above a 3.5 GPA along with transcripts, letters of recommendation, and a personal statement saying why the candidate should go into the internship. According to Lewis, they select five people out of many applicants nationwide to be in the internship. Lewis was one of the five chosen.
“The internship is focused on cardiovascular disease all right, " Lewis said. “We get the opportunity to develop a research project on cardiovascular disease. I am interested in going into the surgical field of medicine, and I thought this was a great opportunity for me.”
The website goes on to describe the expectation of the students participating in the program. “The structure of the undergraduate research fellowship program will include individualized research projects for the undergraduate students, matched to specific sponsors by the Program Director (PD) through review of the undergraduate's interests and career goals from the application and interview process. The students will be tasked to formulate an individual research plan for the fellowship period in consultation with the PD and sponsors.”
The internship for these students is 10 weeks during summer, involving the study of cardiovascular diseases starting from June and ending in August. “I am looking forward to connecting with such great minds, " Lewis said. “I'm going to learn as much as I possibly can because I am trying to do my exam to get into medical school.”
According to the Yale School of Medicine website, The Section of Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale has over 150 faculty members with a firm commitment to establishing fellowship education. The fellowship contains close to 50 students, including training programs in general cardiovascular medicine. The training itself takes place at two hospitals in Yale: the Yale New Haven Hospital and the West Haven Campus of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System.
In the midst of the coronavirus, Lewis has stated that the internship is still going to take place as of now. Louis shares her words of inspiration and encouragement to other students that share her goals in pursuing the medical field. “Keep growing and do not get discouraged," Lewis said. “Try to look for things that are higher than what you are trying to accomplish and always stay positive.”