For Anna-Marie Carver, being hard of hearing may be challenging, but this didn't deter her from spending her summer helping trauma patients as an intern at an Indianapolis hospital.
For Anna-Marie Carver, being hard of hearing may be challenging, but this didn't deter her from spending her summer helping trauma patients as an intern at an Indianapolis hospital.
"As an intern, I attended all trauma codes that came into the emergency department alongside the trauma surgeons and associated staff," Carver said. "I assisted with data analysis for patient cases that are reviewed by the trauma department and for continued re-verification of the hospital's level one trauma center status."
Carver, who dreams of becoming a physician, highly values the time she has spent in the operating room and working with ER residents, anesthesiology attendings, inpatient pharmacists, psychiatric staff, and physical and occupational therapists. She is thankful to the ISU Career Center and the Gregory S. Fehribach program, which made it possible for her to spend the last two summers with the trauma team at Eskenazi Hospital.
The ISU Career Center maintains partnerships with various agencies such as The Gregory S. Fehribach Center to help place students for internships. The Gregory S. Fehribach Center facilitates paid internships for Indiana college students with physical disabilities and those internships take place in Indianapolis.
ISU Career Services Assistant Director Darby Scism said a total of five students have interned through this program since the collaboration with Fehribach began about three years ago. She says it is an incredible program for students with physical disabilities and encourages more students to apply. "As a hard-of-hearing student, learning that a program such as this one exists felt amazing," Carver said. "Over the last two summers, while interning with the trauma team, I have seen and learned so many things that give me a great advantage as I start preparing to apply for medical school."
"Trauma codes easily get loud and busy with many different healthcare professionals in the room. Communication can become difficult, especially for someone like me. I have learned various strategies that I will implement as a future physician to ensure that I can effectively communicate with staff as well as patients."
"The biggest takeaway from my time in this internship program was gaining the confidence to continue pursuing my dream career as a physician as well as how to handle the job as someone with a disability."
Carver graduated from ISU in May with a bachelor's degree in psychology. She is from Englewood, Ohio and is now a Terre Haute resident. While a student at ISU, this internship experience inspired her to create a student organization. "In the spring of 2021, I officially started the Alliance for Disability Awareness (ADA)," she said. "This organization allows students with similar experiences to get together for support, create awareness campaigns, and help promote disability inclusion through the Student Government Association as well as the administrative level of ISU. I am proud to say that I left that legacy on Indiana State's campus."
The Gregory S. Fehribach Center will be holding an information session for Summer 2023 internships on Monday, October 24 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Career Center. Students can stop by any time between those hours to speak with the director of the program about potential internship placements and the application process.