Good afternoon on June sixth from Dublin, Ireland! I am so excited to have arrived in country! I have settled into my accommodations in the Merville residence with new flatmates who are quickly becoming some of my best friends. I could not have imagined better company to be with for the next several weeks! Along with learning the bus system, we’ve gone sightseeing. Dublin is a beautiful and welcoming city, and I’m just getting started to knowing it better. I have been to several fun pubs, including Temple bar and The Hairy Lemon. I have also taken a tour of the Guinness warehouse, which was fascinating to learn how the beer is brewed and all of the science involved, especially as I don’t even like beer! Also, thanks to coordination by EUSA, I visited an old monastery and then Powerscourt Gardens, which is one of the top 10 most beautiful gardens in the entire world. I had a phenomenal time!

As discussed in my last blog post, I will be working at patientMpower, a medical technology company. Specifically, my company created an app to monitor patient-specific needs. They developed software that works with their app to keep doctors updated so the patient does not have to stay in the hospital, or have as many frequent checkups, and just can be alerted or come in as needed. Their specific sector of the medical industry is lung and kidney disease, however, this technology have been used to monitor Covid symptoms for severe cases over the past few months. This internship is a combination of two large industries; medical and technical. To be prepared for this the medical aspect of this internship, I need to research and have solid insight into both kidney and lung disease, as well as a high-level understanding of treatment options. I will also need to learn and continue to learn about both the United States healthcare system, Ireland’s healthcare system, and the United Kingdom‘s healthcare system. I do not believe with this internship I will have a lot of exposure to clients but some basic key necessities when working with people, especially those who are not feeling well or to be patient, kind, and constantly receptive to feedback. I plan on familiarizing myself with their equipment and how to use their technology so I may assist with questions if asked by a patient or in a sales meeting. 

On the other spectrum, I will also be in the technology industry. Again, as noted in my previous blog post, I am a double major of Marketing and Information Systems. This means I have a base foundation in the technology field before going into this internship. I know the industry can be very competitive and difficult, especially when working within hard deadlines. Technology is also constantly changing so even if I could get accustomed to a certain way or I was taught in school to do coding or projects in a certain manner, the way patientMpower may code could be completely different. I have been taught in two languages of code and they may operate and a completely different one which would be a large learning curve for me. It’s exciting to think about the opportunity to grow my working knowledge in a real life application! I am hoping to learn how my company plans to continue their technological advances, and add input where possible.

In addition to integrating with a whole new industry and being exposed to international business practices, there are several abroad learning curves that I am excited to tackle. For example, patientMpower operates between the three main offices, including different time zones, which will impact my learning, when I learn, and who I learn from. My main manager operates out of the United States so I will not be able to work with him until midafternoon. On one hand this is exciting because I will be able to dip my toes in many different aspects of an industry, but on the other, it makes me very nervous because I’m worried I will get overwhelmed with the amount of projects I may be asked to complete as I ramp up. I am just starting to learn the bus system which I have never used before. I have visited cities but I’ve always had a car and never relied on public transportation. This is a whole new experience for me as I attempt to properly get to work on time. I’ve also learned that timing is very intricate with Ireland. They do not expect you to show up 15 to 30 minutes early and prefer that you show up right on time. This should be no problem because I am a very punctual person but it’s still an adjustment and extra added anxiety for the very first day and first week of my internship. I am so excited to learn as it is one of my passions and I’m ready to see what this internship has to offer!