Summer internships provide an enriching, hands-on learning experience for students at the College of Charleston. Public health major, Kionnie Epps, was part of a select summer internship program funded by the Centers for Disease Control, the Summer Public Health Scholars Program at Columbia.
Can you briefly share your summer internship experience with the Summer Public Health Scholars Program at Columbia?
This internship exposed me to public health from a policy and administration perspective. I was placed to intern at the Commission on the Public Health System where I witnessed health advocacy. I had the opportunity to work alongside health care professionals in evaluating health communication guides, organizing coalitions to lobby, and attending meetings during the establishment of NYC Cares, a health insurance initiative for all New Yorkers. Additionally, at the end of the program, I presented my research, “A Heap See, but a Few Know: Hardships and Health Inequities Among Single, Black Mothers,” at the Centers for Disease Control.
How did this experience deepen your knowledge of public health and help you grow as a student?
In addition to my practical public health experience, I took three graduate-level classes at Columbia, which helped me understand public health issues in a deeper sense. I learned the value of having a team and building relationships in the communities we wish to serve. This experience also influenced me to pursue a Master’s in Health Administration after graduating from the College of Charleston.
What are your career aspirations or goals?
I hope to become a hospital administrator and one day, own health systems in rural communities as an effort to improve health in our forgotten cities.
Interested in applying to this program? Check out cdc.gov for more information and application deadlines.
