Summer Internship Program

The Grainer Center for Simulation and Innovation (GCSI) Summer Internship Program is a unique learning opportunity that exposes undergraduate and graduate students to medical research, simulation and clinical medicine.

This paid internship will give participants the opportunity to:

• Expand their medical and surgical knowledge and procedural skill.
• Build foundational knowledge in simulation methodologies and technologies.  
• Participate in research that contributes to improved patient care delivery and enhanced patient safety, including academic manuscript preparation.
• Contribute to projects involving the development and design of innovative simulation trainers.
• Interface with multidisciplinary healthcare teams and explore career opportunities in medicine.

GCSI Summer Internship options include:

1.    Surgical Simulation Research

Department: Grainger Center for Simulation and Innovation
Mentors: Michael Ujiki, MD and JoAnn Carbray, CCRP

Internship Overview:
This internship experience places you at an internationally accredited surgical simulation laboratory. Students who are interested in a career in medicine will be exposed to the profession through experiential learning and collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals. This internship offers invaluable experience to individuals interested in applying to medical school, physician assistant and nursing programs.

Internship Objectives:
By the end of this internship, you will:

1. Interface with multidisciplinary healthcare teams to explore career opportunities in medicine.
   1. Specific focus is in the field of surgery and the perioperative process, with particular concentration on General Surgery.
2. Develop knowledge related to diagnoses requiring surgical treatment (e.g., hernias, bariatric and gastroesophageal disorders) through medical record review.
3. Participate in surgical research meetings, with the opportunity to attend other educational presentations related to surgery, such as NorthShore University HealthSystem Grand Rounds.
4. Develop and refine scientific research skills, including collecting clinical data, performing literature reviews and preparing abstracts or manuscripts for submission.

Internship Project:
You will work with your mentor to refine your areas of interest and prepare a power point presentation to share with faculty and fellow interns. Using the skills obtained during your internship, you will complete your project using a literature review, collecting data, providing a formal presentation for discussion at a surgical research meeting and assisting in preparing an abstract or manuscript. The goal/culmination of the research project is publication in a peer-reviewed surgical journal, with citation as a contributing author.

The internship research project provides invaluable experience leading up to application for any medical-related degree program.

2.    Medical Simulation Experiential Learning

Department: Grainger Center for Simulation and Innovation
Mentors: Bridget Wild, MD and John Cram, RN

Internship Overview:
This internship experience places you at an internationally accredited medical simulation laboratory. Applicants are not required to have previous experience in or exposure to healthcare settings. Under general supervision, you will learn to:

1. Utilize high fidelity medical simulators in the training and quality improvement of health care providers.
2. Work in a well-funded innovations laboratory utilizing 3-D printers and traditional model creation techniques (silicone, gel and latex molding).
3. Interface with multidisciplinary healthcare teams to explore career opportunities in medicine.
4. Utilize the knowledge and skills learned during your internship to bring a project to life and present it to faculty members and your fellow interns.    

Internship Objectives:
By the end of this internship you will:

• Be able to articulate and understand what medical simulation is and what role it plays in healthcare and in an academic hospital system.
• Observe the process for mastery skills learning and how it is facilitated in medical simulation.
• Develop and apply newfound clinical knowledge to bring a mentored project to completion.   

Internship Project:
You will work with your mentor to refine your areas of interest and be assigned to a project for completion by the end of your internship. This project will be a summation of what was learned and has the flexibility to vary in its delivery. Types of projects that may be completed include:

• Anatomically accurate training models.
• Quality improvement initiatives.
• Medical simulation curriculum support.
• Community health training and education.

To complete this project, you will formally present it to members of the NorthShore University HealthSystem Simulation Advisory Council and your fellow interns.

GCSI Summer Internship applicants must be age 18 or above and meet the NorthShore University HealthSystem standards of employment.

Optional: College credit (undergraduate/graduate) may be earned. It is the responsibility of the summer interns to coordinate with their school administration.