Instead of going on weeks-long holidays this summer, several UAE students opted to work, with some even doing full 9-to-5 jobs for their internships. For them, it was an opportunity to learn new skills, test their knowledge, and, above all, get a glimpse of what life could be like after school.
After a two-week internship at a hospital in Kathmandu, 17-year-old Lexy Crawford was convinced that she was on the right track. “Now I am sure I want to be a paediatric surgeon,” she said.
Crawford said the experience helped her better understand what it was truly like to be a doctor. “We were allowed in the operating room and watched multiple surgeries, helped triage patients in the ER, and even went to a local school and conducted health checks on children,” she said.
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Crawford also interned at a local clinic during the school year to get a better understanding of her field of choice, balancing school, studies and other activities along with it. “I interned at Cornerstone Clinic for over two weeks for about 10 hours,” she said. “Observing healthcare professionals at every level engaging with diverse groups of people taught me how to keep an open mind and be empathetic with every patient.”
“When I’m doing something I love, it feels easy, not like a chore,” she said.
Another Dubai student Leah Thorin also completed a doctor-shadowing programme at Zulekha Hospital this summer. The Year 10 student at English College did the internship as part of her school curriculum.
“It was a requirement for my school. We had to do five days of work experience, preferably in a field we potentially might pursue,” she said. “I have always been interested in medicine therefore I opted to work in a hospital so I can learn about the different areas in the medical field.”
Learning new skills
Not all students chose to do internships in fields they wanted to pursue a career in. Rohan Nihalani, Year 12 student of the Cambridge International School, Dubai will be doing a stint with The Hive, a local company that trains children to perform stage theatre shows and musicals.
“I will be an intern and help the backstage team create props and stage decorations,” he said. “It is something I have done in previous summers and I enjoy it a lot.”
Rohan, however, said this is not a field he would want to pursue in his future. “I want to get into the field of sports or psychology,” he said. “The internship helps me immensely to build communication skills. Every day, I interact with people of various ages and nationality and I learn to work with them as a team. I have also learnt to multitask and have become confident with public speaking.”
Sanaa Agrawal, a Year 11 student at GEMS Metropole School, just completed her internship at marketing agency Drip Media and said it gave her insight into an industry she was interested in. “I have always been curious about social media marketing and this internship was a good way to understand more about it,” she said. “I am still exploring different fields and have not zeroed in on a career I want to pursue.”
During the internship, she worked full 9-to-5 days for two weeks. “In the morning we would do office work and towards the second half of the day, we would go to the studio downstairs and make content,” she said. “It was a very relaxed environment and I learnt a lot about what goes into creating content on a daily basis.”