Let’s Meet the Summer of ‘16 Interns
Cultivating talent through our internship program is one of the facets of our company we certainly pride ourselves on. Each semester we have talented students join our team and immerse themselves in the day-to-day operations of one of our departments. They are able to take the knowledge they learn in the classroom, apply it to a real-world work environment, and then are armed with valuable experience and insights when they head back to the classroom and future careers.
The best way to really learn about what an internship experience looks like here at Modernizing Medicine is talking to the current interns and hearing their perspectives.
Intern Profile: Meet Hussain Horieh, Analytics
School: Florida Atlantic University
Year: Junior
Major: Finance
What Have You Learned from Your Experience: Things work well and are simple when they are done as a team.
Advice you Would Give to a Future Intern: Take advantage of every opportunity, make the most of it and put in the work.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years: I see myself working at a high position in a company.
If You Were to Describe Our Company in Three Words it Would Be: Creative, goal-oriented and team-oriented
Favorite Thing to Do on The Weekend: Hangout with friends
If You Had to Eat One Thing for the Rest of Your Life it Would Be: Taco Bell
Favorite Quote/words to Live By: Almost every successful person begins with two beliefs: the future can be better than the present, and I have the power to make it so.
If You Could Live Anywhere for a Year it Would Be: Bora Bora
Intern Profile: Meet Lea Stempel, Accounting
School: University of Florida
Year: Junior
Major: Accounting
Has Modernizing Medicine helped you create a network?: Yes, I have met many people in my area of work that are ready to give me advice and offer help in my career.
Do you feel more prepared for getting a job in the future?: Yes, Modernizing Medicine has allowed me to experience how day-to-day functions of a company run and how much of they rely on team-work and communication.
One Thing That You Have Learned From Your Experience: I have learned about the importance of communication. A lot of work can be lost or wasted when information is not passed along correctly.
Describe a Typical Day on the Job: The day begins with bank reconciliation, then I continue on to entering bills into our accounting system NetSuite.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?: I see myself having passed the CPA exam and working in public accounting.
Three Words You Would Use to Describe Our Company: Innovative, hardworking and intuitive
What is Something Your Colleagues May Not Know About You: I like to write fiction stories in my free time.
Favorite Restaurant: Liquid Ginger in Gainesville
If You Could Only Eat One Thing for the Rest of Your Life it Would Be: Sushi
If You Could Live Anywhere for a Year it Would Be: Southern California
What is One Word You Would Use to Describe Yourself: Determined
Intern Profile: Meet Megan Tozzie, Marketing
School: Principia College
Year: Sophomore
Major: Mass Communications
Why did you choose to work at Modernizing Medicine?: I chose to work at Modernizing Medicine because their internship program looked different from ones my friends have had.I read the intern blog from the summer of 2015, which inspired me to apply. The interns talked about doing hand on projects, which helped out the company and they felt that they were making a difference.
What Have You Learned from Your Experience: Definitely how closely sales and marketing work together. Also, having different personalities and skill sets working together is a positive in a workspace.
Has your interest changed since you have started this internship: I worked in events and helped out a lot with public relations. I have become very interested in PR.
What projects did you work on: I created the 2017 calendar, entered information into exhibit force, organized magazine and articles, worked on an ROI sheet and organized leads, helped accounting with billing, registered for shows and created a company wiki page for our user’s conference and organized sponsorship dinners
Describe a Typical Day: When I arrived at the office, I always checked my emails first, which helped me decide what I should prioritize based on deadlines and urgency. After those tasks were completed, I would register for upcoming trade shows, share documents for legal approval and fill out datasheets that were important for organizing events. I often ate lunch with my marketing colleagues, and then went back to work. I was always busy and some of the projects I worked on were done in a day and others took weeks.
Has Modernizing Medicine helped you create a network: I never realized how important networking is until I started working at Modernizing Medicine. I have created a network not only with people who work for Modernizing Medicine but people and companies we have teamed up with. I have new networks in communication businesses, other event companies, and local newspapers. What was helpful was our social media specialist put together a LinkedIn tutorial with the interns. I was able to create a LinkedIn page that looks professional which will help in building my network.
Do you feel more prepared for a job in the future: I do. I have expanded my network to multiple different people and companies. I have connections that I have never had before. I am able to keep up with a fast moving company pace and am more comfortable in interviews. Working here has taught me the importance of time management and being able to prioritize all the work I have to do to finish it in a timely manner.
Advice for Future Intern: Figure out how to be organized before you get busy (especially your emails)!
Memorable Experience: My favorite experience was going on a site visit. We drove down to the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida, and spent around five hours there. We toured the property from the hotel rooms, to the convention center, spa and restaurants. They were great hosts and treated us to dinner afterwards. It was an exciting change of pace and an important part of the event planning process.
Three Words to Describe our Company: Fun, accommodating and millennial-friendly How would you describe the company culture: Employee centric, caring, created for change
Professional Skills you Have Been Able to Develop: I have become more comfortable picking up the phone and speaking to someone. Prioritizing the fun work with the busy work and deadlines is key too.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years: In 5 years I will be graduated from college and hopefully working in PR for a startup company.
If Could Only Eat One Thing for the Rest of Your Life it Would Be: Pizza!
If We Looked in Your File Cabinet We Would Find: Tea, headphones, files, pens and an eraser
If You Could Live Anywhere for a Year it Would Be: Colorado
If They Made a Movie about Your Life, Who Would Play You: Sandra Bullock
Intern Profile: Meet Priscila Reyes, Product Development/Software Engineering
School: Nova Southeastern University
Year: Senior
Major: Product Development/Software Engineering
One Thing That You Have Learned from Your Experience: I have attained a lot of technical skills that I didn’t have before. For instance, I was very unfamiliar with making endpoints before working here, but everyone I worked with was very patient in showing me how to do it properly.
Describe a Typical Day on the Job: In the morning, I generally continue working on whatever tickets I didn’t finish the day before. Then, at 10 a.m., Team Valkyrie has a stand-up. During this meeting, our scrum master, will go over the items that we should be prioritizing. Later at noon, we generally have lunch together. As the day progresses, I will either get new tickets assigned to me, or I will search for unassigned tickets to work on.
Memorable Experience: My favorite experiences were having lunches with my team, Team Valkyrie. We all get along really well and I really enjoyed spending time with them.
Describe our Company in Three Words: Fun, innovative and people-oriented.
If You Had to Eat One Thing for the Rest of Your Life it Would Be: Mangú (a typical Dominican dish) which is mashed plantains
If You Had a Song That Played Anytime You Walked into a Room it Would Be: “Gon’ Give It To Ya” by DMX
Spirit Animal: An otter
If You Could Live Anywhere in The World for a Year it Would Be: Constance, Germany
Intern Profile: Meet Schuyler Reinken, Mobile Development
School: Georgia Institute of Technology
Year: Junior
Major: Computer Science
One Thing You Have Learned from Your Experience: You learn a lot in a real-world work setting. Programming is a “trial and error” subject to learn. There really is no way around that. The variety of different styles of coding all used on a single application is challenging to work with, but a lot of fun to figure your way through.
Describe a Typical Day: My typical day is to come in, see what on my list of things to do and start working. Some bugs are one line fixes. Others take backend support and take longer. At 10 a.m. my team goes over their needs for the day at stand-up, and around noon I have lunch with my team. In the afternoon I continue to work, maybe do a couple of activities, like chillin’ in the zen room or taking a walk with team members. And after work, I often spend time with the team and guys outside of the office.
Advice for a Future Intern: Coding-wise, don’t be afraid to mess with stuff! Feel free to create new classes, erase existing code and re-write things. If something breaks, that’s why we have git and version control. Also, make sure to do stuff with the people you are working with, and ask for help immediately if you need it. You cannot function as a worker without help and teamwork.
Memorable Experience: The mobile team book club I lead was the most fun experience. The conversation went exactly how I hoped it would and we discussed all sorts of things.
Three Words to Describe Our Company: Driven, friendly and open-minded
How Have You Developed Professionally: I have become familiarized with the process of how data is passed between servers and local clients and how to manage that. I have learned first-hand why SCRUM and AGILE development work so well, They create constant feedback and adaptability, feature wise and coding wise.
If You Could Only Eat One Thing for The Rest of Your Life it Would Be: My Dad’s Tuna Casserole
If you had a song that played anytime you walked into a room it would be: “Centuries” by Fall Out Boy
Favorite Quote/words to Live By: If you have a dream don’t wait, act. -Axel
If You Could Live Anywhere for a Year it Would Be: In the mountains outside San Francisco
What Accomplishment are You Most Proud Of? In high school I developed a device to help store highly nutritious food content. It is being tested in Panama and I hope it continues to evolve.
A variety of opportunities with a diverse group of individuals and experiences. If you are interested in learning more about internship opportunities or a full-time position at our award-winning company, please visit our website here.
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