“At the start of my internship, I had no idea what really went into a research project,” said Nikhil. “This was my first solo attempt, and the first few days were overwhelming. However, the USEA experts were very patient in teaching me about operational research. I quickly found out that developing a topic, collecting and analysing data and producing a report in six weeks was unfeasible. Under the staff’s guidance, I developed a research project topic that was personally and professionally interesting, and I re-adjusted my goal to produce a solid, workable protocol that could be implemented in the future.”

Nikhil’s eventual study will gauge patient knowledge of TB throughout various stages of treatment to see if there is a correlation between poor knowledge and the number of missed doses during treatment.

Nikhil is interested in international public health and is considering specialising in infectious diseases. According to him, the internship was immensely satisfying and will support his future plans in medicine and his research capabilities.

The part of his experience that he enjoyed the most was the time spent with doctors. He had the opportunity to see firsthand how TB is diagnosed and treated, and he learned about pathological lung conditions and how to read chest x-rays, among other things. This experience has given him a head start when he returns for his second year of medical school this autumn.

Internship opportunities in the USEA are limited, but interested applicants may write to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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