Name: Mackenzie Keesor
Class Year: 2025
Major: Psychology
Minor: Literatures in English
Hometown: Chapel Hill, NC
Internship Organization: Concussion Alliance
Job Title: Science Writing Intern
Location: Remote
What's happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!
My experience as a science writing intern has been incredibly positive! My largest project throughout this internship has been creating a webpage with another intern in the treatments section of the Concussion Alliance website. The webpage is on occupational therapy, specifically for concussion patients. We have completed research on many aspects of the field of occupational therapy, and our webpage will include easily accessible information on topics such as what occupational therapy is, which symptoms resulting from concussion can be addressed in appointments with an occupational therapist (OT), how to access occupational therapy, and more. As a science writing intern for this non-profit organization, I have also created synopses in the Concussion Alliance newsletter, which goes out to patients, families, and researchers and goes on the website for the general public. For each synopsis I have created, I have read through meta-analyses and empirical articles and done research to explain concepts in accessible language for patients and the public. Additionally, I have also had the opportunity to learn from an assortment of expert guest speakers in their fields and speak to them about our own research. These contacts and resources have been incredibly beneficial. Everyone we heard speak has been so kind and responsive in meeting one-on-one with us and explaining their topics further in-depth when we ask questions. Learning about how to take all of our research and turn it into accessible science writing has been so enlightening and rewarding!
Why did you apply for this internship?
It was very important to me that the internship I was a part of this summer combined research with advocacy. I am very passionate about patient advocacy in psychology and neuroscience and knew I wanted to be able to learn practical skills in advocacy work in addition to completing research in the field. I came across this internship back in the Fall when I reached out to a Peer Mentor, and asked advice for steps to start looking for a summer internship. She was an intern for Concussion Alliance the previous summer, and helped me locate the position on Handshake. I was and am so grateful to have been led to the application, and I am so happy I could spend the summer working to help concussion patients receive better access to care.
Working remotely for the first time? What has that experience been like for you?
Doing a completely remote internship has been a wonderful experience. Firstly, the internship program, since it is virtual, is able to have students from all over the United States and Canada working together. This has allowed me to learn from and work with so many bright minds that I never would have otherwise met. Working remotely has also taught me so much about communication, from its importance to effective and ineffective ways of doing so. I have learned about my own working styles and how they are different from others. It is so vital to learn how to communicate with others who have different working styles from you, which has become super apparent with the creation of our occupational therapy webpage. We are currently putting all of the content for the webpage together and using a website builder to manually create and code the page. However, only one of us can edit the page at a time. This requires us to be in constant communication because if both of us edit the page without sharing it with the other, both of our work will be deleted. This is just one example of how lacking communication can have real consequences, and this internship has prepared me for future school and career-related projects and assignments where communication is crucial.
What is most rewarding about your internship?
The most rewarding part of this internship program has been seeing how people with concussions are affected by receiving care, especially if they have suffered from post-concussive symptoms, which can last years. The personal and intimate stories shared with our program regarding how being able to finally find resources and care (as well as understand their condition) has helped them after dealing with painful and debilitating symptoms for years has enlightened me on how worthwhile and essential this organization, and others focused on patient advocacy are.
Visit the Summer Internship Stories page to read more about student internship experiences.