FLINT, Mich. – This summer, Nate Peterson and Neel Sikand interned for the Flint Registry. Both are passionate about public health and plan to pursue their passion within their careers.
Peterson, 21, is a student at Michigan State University studying interdisciplinary studies. His primary role at the Registry is standardizing data, making sure the data is easy to analyze reports and use for public outreach. He also does referrals to the Neurodevelopmental Center of Excellence (NCE) to get children to access to help with neurological diagnoses.
He was inspired to join the Flint Registry team when he learned about the work being done by Dr. Mona and the Registry.
“I heard about Dr. Mona through national news, and I was like, ‘wow, she seems like a really cool person,‘ and I was kind of inspired because it was at a time when I was trying to reevaluate what I wanted to do with my major… Once I saw all the things she was doing, I was like, ‘I think this is what I want to do.‘ So, I reached out, and everything started clicking, and from then on, it’s been awesome,” he said.
He has a passion for helping others, which lead him to pursue public health and is another reason he wanted to work with the Flint Registry.
“Whenever I see somebody that needs help, I help them immediately in any way that I can, and it inspires me when I see other people do the same. It makes me want to join their team… That’s one of the main reasons I applied for the internship at the Flint Registry, is to see how I could help the community of Flint,” Peterson said.
Once he began his internship, Peterson said he was all in; he tried to learn as much as he could from those around him, attending as many meetings as possible and interacting with coworkers during virtual team social events.
“I love the inclusion and how everyone is so kind to one another. The first day I joined in, everyone recognized that I was new and introduced themselves and was super polite, asking me if I needed any resources,” he said.
Being all virtual and lacking every day social interaction in an office setting was a bit of a challenge, he said.
“That was probably one of the biggest challenges I had during the whole thing. The social events helped out a lot, but if I could’ve been in that office, that would’ve been amazing,” Peterson said.
Sikand, 28, is pursuing a Master’s in Health Administration at the University of Michigan. The internship at the Flint Registry fits in well with his goals, as he wants to have a career in hospital administration.
“It was a nice example of public health in its essence,” he said.
He is passionate about patient safety, infection control, and quality. His role at the Flint Registry is to provide quality assurance for the thank-you checks sent out to survey participants, and he is also part of the data team.
“We mail out several hundreds of thousands of checks. There’s a data component to that too, which is the quality assurance and just making sure that things are in line,” Sikand said.
So far, he has enjoyed his time at the Flint Registry and working with his team and staff.
“I enjoy being a part of the team, and also enjoy being able to provide data support and support to the other staff members,” he said.
Working from home has had its challenging for Sikand as well, but he said he got lots of support from his supervisor.
“Working remotely has been challenging in terms of getting to know all of the staff and onboarding. My supervisor Jacqueline has been great. I feel like I missed that aspect of meeting everyone in a communal office and that in-person interaction. You can’t just quickly ask someone a question because you’re not with them,” he said.
Both Peterson and Sikand advise future Flint Registry interns to be as involved as possible to get the best experience.
“Do as much as you can. Try to learn as much as you can and reach out as much as you can so you get the best overall experience that you can get,” Peterson said.
Sikand added, “Don’t be afraid just to try different things, be open to new ideas and experiences.”
Both plan to continue their healthcare goals after their summer internships. Sikand will stay on to assist the data team as he continues his master’s program.
After graduating, Peterson said he plans to stay in the Flint area to work for non-profit organizations and, “keep on doing good in the community.”
“As a result of the internship and just seeing how we interact with each other and with the community, it just strengthened my passion to continue towards those goals,” Peterson said.