An Open Reflection
By: Brian Vu, CAS ’22
Brian’s research presentation for his final evaluation meeting.
Hanoi University of Public Health – Vietnam
One week after the conclusion of my GRIP internship, my mornings now consist of snoozed alarms and sleeping in. What were once back-to-back meetings are now disorganized and boring days. Looking back at the past eight weeks, I didn’t even realize how quickly my internship flew by until I found myself at the final evaluation, where I presented my research to my supervisor and the host organization.
Working in academic research has immense rewards through one’s contribution to the global body of knowledge and citation privileges. Regarding my project, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to join the Hanoi University of Public Health team in conducting COVID-19 vaccine research in hopes of understanding vaccine hesitancy and informing public health officials on effective vaccination campaigns. For me, the most important benefit of being on this team is the opportunity to explore the current body of knowledge surrounding COVID-19 and learning about how my team’s research fits into the overall scheme of things. As a layperson, I previously only had the initiative to educate myself about COVID-19 through news and media outlets that cater to the general public; with this internship, I was able to immerse myself in the behind-the-scenes aspect of COVID-19 and was able to gain technical knowledge about coronaviruses and vaccine pathology, which served as introductory modules for my career interest in immunology.
Given that the benefits of academic research are plentiful and outshine its drawbacks, the drawbacks do exist, and this internship has helped me to identify some of these flaws that can be circumvented in my future career as a research clinician. One of the most obvious drawbacks in academic research is the tediousness of data collection– in this internship, my team spent a few weeks for data collection that contributed to a few instances of work stagnation and a waiting game for survey administration. By proactively identifying this inherent flaw in research, I am able to brainstorm various ideas that can be employed in my future to streamline and effectively navigate this challenge. For example, a simple solution to this issue would be to conduct the background research, data collection, and discussion stages in a parallel manner so as to reduce the study timeline. This way, team members are able to focus on multiple aspects of the project at one time, which is pertinent for a time-sensitive topic such as COVID-19.
Overall, my GRIP internship was a pleasant experience and allowed me to broaden my horizons regarding academic research. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to connect with such passionate individuals and to be one step closer to bridging the gap between my Vietnamese and American identities. I would like to thank the Penn Abroad, ABROADER, and HUPH teams for coordinating this internship and making my experience possible.
The Global Research and Internship Program (GRIP) provides outstanding undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to intern or conduct research abroad for 8 to 12 weeks over the summer. Participants gain career-enhancing experience and global exposure that is essential in a global workforce.