2015 Washington Area Interns Networking Day

E-mail Print

On August 4, 2015, the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research hosted the third-annual Washington Area Interns Networking Day 2015.  Leading experts from government and advocacy organizations in HIV/AIDS and Viral Hepatitis gathered for a panel discussion in which they provided career advice and shared their personal experiences navigating the fields of Public Health and Public Policy at the UCDC Washington Center on 1608 Rhode Island Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036.  Highlights from this session are included below. 

 Panelists: 

  • Veronica Miller, PhD, Executive Director, Forum for Collaborative HIV Research [Moderator]
  • A. Cornelius Baker, BA, Acting Deputy Coordinator for Affected Populations and Civil Society Leadership, Office of Global AIDS Coordination and Health Diplomacy
  • Gina Brown, MD, Medical Officer, National Institutes of Health
  • Ryan Clary, BA, Executive Director, National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable
  • Greg Millett, MPH, Vice President and Director, Public Policy, amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research
  • Michelle Moses-Einstein, MPH, Public Health Analyst, Office of AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, US Department of Health and Human Services
  • Isha Weerasinghe, MSc, Senior Policy Analyst, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations

The 2015 panelistsThe 2015 panelists from left to right: Veronica Miller, Ryan Clary, Isha Weerasinghe, Michelle Moses - Eisenstein, Greg Millett, Gina Brown, and Cornelius Baker

This event was attended by DC interns from universities both national and international including Stanford, University of Maryland, Pitzer College, University of California - San Diego, George Washington University, Howard University, Emory University, and The University of Washington. A few of the intern's representative organizations included The National Women's Health Network, The Association of American Medical Colleges, The Library of Congress, The American Dental Education Association, The HIV Medical Association, Guttmacher Institute, National Minority AIDS Council, and Kaiser Permanente. 

interns-dayInterns listening to the panelists

A few memorable pieces of advice:

"Pay attention to other's skills and expertise and learn from them. Learn how they present themselves, speak about their topic, their overall presence, etc. Always be learning from different kinds of sources"
 
"Learn to be okay with not seeing your name on a body of work, and be willing to do the background work that is essential to making the policy happen"
 
"You may not feel prepared or know what's going on, but the knowledge is stored away in your brain, and will come out if you rise to the challenge"
  
"Don't let the politics get in the way of creating effective policies"
 
"Embrace your challenges, and don't ever be afraid to take risks"
 
"Take and run with the opportunities in front of you"
 
"Don't let others limited imagination impact what you want to do"