Summer Internship Program

Since 2013, the Center for Health Humanities and Ethics has offered a summer internship program for rising 3^rd and 4^th year undergraduate students and recent graduates.  The program generally lasts seven weeks, starting in early June through the end of July.  The program is highly competitive and draws applicants from around the country and even the world.  For the summer of 2019, the Center received applications from students at 13 different universities or colleges.  See a list of our current and past interns here.

Interns have the opportunity to work closely with the Program’s multidisciplinary faculty on a wide range of topics in clinical, research, and health policy ethics. These include, but are not limited to neuroethics, clinical ethics consultation, interprofessional clinical ethics education, end-of-life decision making, rights to refuse medical treatment, reproductive ethics, and ethical issues in adolescence. Interns work directly with faculty mentors on projects of mutual interest or pre-established projects.

Additional opportunities such as weekly bioethics seminars, observation of clinical ethics consultations, and participation in weekly Ethics/Moral Distress Consult Service meetings are available and attendance is expected.

The internships are seven-weeks duration and students are expected to be present at the Center full-time (i.e., every day during regular work hours).  The program may be able to accommodate special scheduling requests for family and other pre-planned vacations.

The Summer Internship has historically provided stipends of $2,800 apiece for two students. Students who do not need financial support are also invited to apply. Housing, health care and transportation are not included in the internship.

 Applicants should be rising 3^rd or 4^th year undergraduates, or recently-graduated students with course work or related experience in health humanities and ethics. Applicants should demonstrate interest in health humanities and biomedical ethics through coursework, independent study, scholarship or clinical experience and should have concrete career goals to which the study of health humanities and ethics applies.

Applicants must submit: an application form, a letter of intent outlining their interest in the field of bioethics, a resume/curriculum vitae, a writing sample (e.g., a paper written for a course), a letter of recommendation from a former professor/mentor, and a current transcript. The letter of recommendation should be sent directly from the professor/mentor to Ms. Charlene Kaufman (CMK2B@hscmail.mcc.virginia.edu). The deadline for applications for the 2024 summer program is midnight, Monday February 12, 2024. Applicants will be chosen based on demonstrated interest in the fields of health humanities and ethics; scholarly aptitude based on course work and writing samples; recommendations by mentors/professors; and their ability to contribute to the intellectual community of the Center for Health Humanities and Ethics. Please specify in your application whether or not you would need a stipend.

Completed applications (click here for form)/documents should be sent to Charlene Kaufman at CMK2B@uvahealth.org

Questions? Contact Charlene Kaufman at CMK2B@uvahealth.org