Taslemun Nahar

December 14th, 2016

Public Health Science Internship
Reflection Paper
Each person in this world lives a different life; they have their individual personalities, as
well as how they want to live. Many people just want to be classified, as normal, and then other
humans want to strive and be different than just your average Joe. In todays competitive society
and the world of business, the ones who can distinguish themselves as better than just normal are
the ones that most successful. A person with the ability to have full focus and patients to work
hard and self-motive to strive is to be highly successful.
As a child, I have always been different from the other children around me. I have
noticed that as I grew older, my way of living is very different than most of the people around
me. When I started college I noticed that I had not set my goals, because I had not found what I
loved to do. If you love what you do at work, you do not work a single day in your life. Other
people gave suggestions on what to do with my career, but I knew I was capable of more.
Coming from an immigrant family, I am the first generation in my family to get a college
education. My parents were not fortunate enough to get a college education, therefore sending
me to pursue my educational career has been such a great accomplishment for them as well as
mine. It is unbelievable how this opportunity has opened so many doors to my family. Attending
and being a part of a well-established university in Maryland is truly a dream come true for us,
and making me a role model for the younger generations in my family. Now that I am close to
achieving one part of my intended goal of getting an education, the next step is landing a job
with a well-known, successful organization where I will be helping save people's lives.

This summer and fall I had the greatest opportunity to be a student intern at a government
facility. For me, the ability to be ahead of the game and obtaining this opportunity before I
graduate is putting me one step closer to my dream.

I interned at the Food and Drug

Administrations (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicines (CVM) in Rockville, Maryland. I was
put in the Records and Information Management Team (RIM-Team) Document Control Unit
(DCU). This internship did not only help me academically, but it gave me a mental satisfaction
that provided me with the necessary experience for the upcoming real world situations after
graduation. As I said earlier, I was very confused about my life goals; this internship has helped
me find what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I want to help bring about world peace by
changing the public health in developing areas for the better. The only way to change and make
policies is working for the government and other NGOs to make the broader picture better.
Protecting human and animal health is the FDAs CVM mission statement. Following
the mission, they have several tasks they have to follow through. The center approves animal
drugs for pets such as dogs, cats, and horses and for food-producing animals such as cattle,
pigs, and chickens. In addition, they ensure that animal drugs are safe and efficient before
approving them for use. CVM, also confirms that the food products produced from the treated
animals such as milk, eggs, and meat are safe for human consumption. Not only are they
responsible for the safety of people, but also for the animals safety, as well. They are also in
charge of making sure the food for animals, which includes animal feed, pet food, and pet treats
is safe and made under proper sanitary conditions. CVM also monitors the adverse effects on the
animals and public health in humans due to the food and drug that is being given to the animals.
Due to confidentiality, I will not be able to talk about a particular drug and event relating to
animals or humans. But I can say that in general, the public may report incidents concerning

contamination of pet food. Microbes found in the contaminated pet food, such as salmonella,
can be transmitted to humans, affecting public health. CVMs duty is to backtrack the train of
infectious disease to the source, so the public does not get sicker. As an intern in such a large
division, I was assisting the DCU in ensuring that there are safe and effective drugs available to
the animals consumed as food by humans and for companion animals to humans. (FDA, 2016)
During my time at the FDA CVM, I learned many different aspects of the governments
process to approve drugs. My responsibilities as an intern varied in multiple tasks throughout the
day with the process of animal drug submissions to our division at the DCU. We received,
distributed and filed regulatory paperwork for the scientist that reviews it to ensure compliance
with the use and labeling conditions contained in the original approval. We also helped maintain
a database that monitored adverse events for veterinary drugs. Additionally, we had to watch out
for changes in the drug's ingredients and making sure that the company is holding up to the
standards provided to the FDA and the public. There were a series of the steps to approve those
submissions from the various drug companies. Since we are also in the process of turning the
whole division digital and away from the physical paperwork, we were still accepting paper
submissions by mail. However, we are currently pushing the drug companies to email us the
submission, so it is a shorter process. But for the companies who fail to sent it electronically, we
had to process their request into the database, print and take the review sheets to the scanner, and
then send it to a group designated to reviewing the submissions so that every aspect of that
submission is correct. Finally, then we filed away that submission into the particular drug jacket
with the rest of the papers that contain information regarding that specific drug. This is the most
crucial part of the job, keeping the particular drug documents in the correct jacket. By chance, if
a drug submission is not in the correct jacket and a reviewer or veterinarian needs it to verify an

issue, they have to go through all the jackets to find that paper or the drug company can sue the
government for not requiring and having the correct paperwork before they approved a drug. It
gets complicated and messy, so the office had to be neat, clean and efficient to get things done
efficiently. We are working slowly, but surely because the government has to keep every single
paper regarding any drug. These are government papers and property and cannot be destroyed; it
has to get stored by the government and kept with them. The RIM-Team works as the backbone
and foundation for the center because it holds all the information.
My supervisor was Elizabeth Canter; she has a major role in the whole center. Mrs.
Canter is the Center for Veterinary Medicines Records Officer.

She oversees the records

management program for the entire center as well as supervises the Records, and Information
Management Team. Her background knowledge is on managing documents for a center in a
broader aspect. She is a Certified Records Manager, as well as a key exam writer for the CRM
exam. Throughout my time at the CVM, I had multiple classes, which were lead by Mrs. Canter
herself. The classes were about records management and how it is an important and critical area
for the government. These classes were very educational to me, because I was receiving them
first hand from a person who dealt with document management for the past 25 years. I was
unaware of most of the information on how government helps in matters related to public health,
but there is another whole world that the public has no idea about. The government has to verify
and get all the information to let the public know about an issue. Moreover, they have to take in
the account how the public will react to the information, so they have to accommodate the
information that way. To complete all those tasks, there are sets of steps and jobs that people
have to review before it can go to the public.

Getting into the Public Health Science program has been one of my best choices. I have
learned about many different aspects of public health and how it works to make people healthier.
I believe that the foundation of the medical field is public health the research behind making the
public health better. The course that has been very useful throughout my internship is Public
Health Biology. There was a mandatory presentation for the student intern that I had to present
in front of the division. The assignment was to tie in my education major coursework with what
I was learning at the CVM. My topic was feline diabetes since feline diabetes has been rising in
the recent years, and how diabetes in humans is a constant public health issue. This class
particularly emphasized the topic of diabetes occurrence, treatments, and prevention methods.
Using this knowledge, I was able to apply my skills and expand my research abilities to
understand and present a research on my topic of feline diabetes. As an intern at the FDA
internship program, I was assigned to present a subject that is related to a public health issue.
This biology course came in handy when I needed to understand what sort of things I needed to
look at to explain a certain disease thoroughly. This includes the actual cause of feline diabetes,
how it is prevented, and what the treatments are there for this particular disease. It was very
helpful to have a public health biology background when it came time to apply my knowledge to
a real world project.
This internship has opened my eyes in many different ways. I have a lot of prior medical
health experience in the clinical field, but I was not exposed to the office setting. I have the
experience of helping patients doing hands on, but I wanted to expand my contributions to the
larger community. I can make a bigger difference in the world by helping larger populations
from behind the curtains instead of working one-on-one such as a doctor's work. What I have
learned from the CVM is what happens behind the policy making in the drug industry's

perspective. Also, I have found the type of career that I would want to work in. I enjoy the
office aspect of the medical field because I know that I am making a change in the world as a
whole. Before I interned for the government, I did not know how important the people in the
back were. Now I understand that the health policy makers and regulators behind the health
system are vital to keep the public safe. It has made me think of the broader aspect of public
health. However, my learning experience has not halted there. Not only did I learn more about
how the government works with information before it gets to the public, but also personal
characteristics. I got exposed to real world professionalism from the dress code all the way to
getting the work done. A person who keeps their word, demonstrates loyalty, and exceeds
expectations is demonstrating professionalism. Also acting in a fair manner in all of my personal
and work activities, which is perceived as a symbol of self-confidence and maturity. As an
intern, I was able to meet new faces every day with different qualifications. I mainly observed
the way people interacted with each other. It gave me a chance to expand my knowledge and
observe how I should treat them and how I should carry myself. Also, it gave me the opportunity
to learn from them so I can use it in the future. I tried my best to work beyond the limits they
gave me and challenged myself by stepping out of my comfort box so I can also learn the tasks
in the office. Adaptability is another skill that I am glad I can add to my resume. Adapting to
different environments is an essential characteristic that most jobs want while looking for a
candidate. Adapting is a skill that deals with openness to new ideas and concepts, to working
independently or as part of a team, and to carry out multiple tasks or projects. Interning in a
government facility was very overwhelming with all the information I was given, but with time I
am glad I was able to adapt to the workflow and gain that as a resume builder and personal skill.
There were many different specific jobs in the daily office work, and they were very different

from each other. I was able to successfully shift my work from one task to another without
getting confused and making a mistake.
There are a couple of things that I do feel I lack the confidence and skill to perform, and
that is what I hope to gain from more real work experience. I am not as scared as I used to be at
the beginning of this year due to this internship. It has given me a boost in my self-esteem and
confidence. But I know I have to work harder and better to succeed. By facing real issues in the
public health department, I was able to recognize my strengths and weaknesses, which helped me
develop ideas to expand my communication skills and become a more skilled and proficient
person. I plan to be an effective employee by further educating myself and obtaining an MPH
and practicing my communication skills such as verbal, nonverbal, and active listening skills
that I learned in my time at the FDA's CVM.