The Summer Equity Internship Program presents an exciting opportunity for underrepresented minority students to spend eight weeks working with OHSU faculty, scientists, and graduate students in a research setting. Equity interns learn new research skills and gain hands-on lab experience in a variety of laboratory settings. This year, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences faculty Dr. Amanda McCullough, participated as a science mentor to Jose Esquivel. The internship ended with a poster session in which all the interns presented the results from their eight week laboratory experience.

Jose described his experience this way: “If I were to describe these last 8 weeks, I would use the words growth and opportunity. Working in Dr. McCullough’s lab allowed me the opportunity to better understand myself on several levels. I feel that as a lab intern, I have learned a lot about my style of learning and in doing so it has given me a new outlook and appreciation for science and what being a “scientist” really entails. Lab techniques in general were a skill that I did not possess, but I feel that I gained so much more than lab techniques, I have now developed a new mode of thinking. This mode of thinking is invaluable in life, for to really think about what you’re doing, and why you are doing something is to fully understand what may be next. I would highly recommend this experience to anyone who wants to grow and learn about, not only their project, but about themselves. “