• Invite Health
  • Posts
  • How to Secure Paid Internships as a Life Sciences Student

How to Secure Paid Internships as a Life Sciences Student

Interview with Rubaina Farin: 4x Intern at SickKids, Mount Sinai, Canada Life, Acceleration Consortium; Incoming Master's in Biomedical Engineering at University of Toronto

Author

Sachi Chan
July 01, 2024

Welcome to Invite Health. If you’re aren’t already, please consider subscribing. You’ll never miss a newsletter, as all of them will be sent right to your inbox.

Invite Health is (and always will be) free. Your subscription goes a long way in showing that you enjoy and support Invite Health!

Message from Sachi

Hi friends,

Happy first of July! Last week’s interview with Anoushka marked 45 interviews published on Invite Health! I’m wondering how to celebrate when I reach 50 interviews…

I’ve had a few of you reach out about wanting to start your own newsletter! It’s inspiring me to start a sub-series where I talk about what I’ve learned from building Invite Health, and answer some FAQs about getting started with newsletters. Stay tuned 👀 

This week, I invited one of my friends, Rubaina Farin, to share her story. Rubaina reached out to me after seeing my call for interviews with students who have summer internships. So thank you for being so engaged ❤️ Today you’ll learn:

  • How Rubaina found and landed paid internships as a life sci student, in both science and non-science placements!

  • Rubaina’s advice for students who want to land internships, but don’t feel that they have “experience” yet

  • Rubaina’s decision and application journey to pursue a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering at University of Toronto (UofT)

Enjoy today’s read,

Sachi 💌 

How to Secure Paid Internships as a Life Sciences Student: Interview with Rubaina Farin

Rubaina at Graduation!

First off, tell us about your journey so far. Where do you study, what inspired you to pursue this, and what’s next? What else do you like to do outside of studying?

Hello readers! My name is Rubaina (she/her), and I’m a recent graduate of the University of Toronto (UofT). There, I pursued an undergraduate degree in Life Sciences with a double major in Fundamental Genetics and Cognitive Sciences (Computational). This fall, I am excited to start my Master's in Biomedical Engineering (MASc) at UofT, specifically in the lab of Dr. Atena Roshan Fekr at the KITE Institute. I am looking forward to delving deeper into the field and exploring the innovative solutions that biomedical engineering can offer to healthcare challenges.

Outside of my academic pursuits, I love to keep busy. I am a paddler for the University College Dragonboat Club (UCDBC), which not only keeps me physically active but also allows me to be part of a vibrant and supportive community. I am also the current co-managing director for UTBIOME (University of Toronto Biomedical Engineering Design Team). Music is another passion of mine, and I enjoy expressing myself through playing the guitar. Photography is another creative outlet that I love, as it allows me to capture and share my perspective of the world. Additionally, dance has been a significant part of my life for the past 16 years — I have been trained in traditional Bengali dance and Kathak, an Indian classical dance form. 

Paddling for UCDBC at a recent regatta

Me with my co-managing director, Luka, on UTBIOME

As for what’s next, I am open to the possibilities that life brings. I would love to work in the medical device space, more specifically in the fields of pediatrics or aging. These areas have a lot of work to be done, and I am excited about the prospect of contributing to the innovations that are emerging.

You have completed many internships at various companies including Acceleration Consortium, Canada Life, SickKids, and more. Can you tell us about each of your internships, including what you did, how you got the positions, if they were paid/unpaid, and some of your highlights?

For sure! I've been incredibly fortunate to attend a school with abundant resources right in the heart of downtown, making it easier to learn about and seize opportunities. Let me walk you through my internship journey, including some personal anecdotes and highlights:

  1. Mount Sinai Hospital  

My very first internship was with Dr. Michael Fralick at Mount Sinai, where I focused on data analysis. This was the summer after my second year, following a tough first year where I couldn’t secure any position. It was particularly challenging due to COVID, which limited opportunities to gain wet lab skills. Instead, I worked on my dry lab skills by taking computer science courses and working on smaller projects. This persistence paid off when I landed the internship with Dr. Fralick, who was a fantastic mentor, ensuring I developed the necessary skills. This paid internship was listed on the Mount Sinai job board. This experience was crucial, making it easier to find future positions. I remember feeling extremely underqualified at first, but Dr. Fralick's constant encouragement helped me develop confidence and competence in data analysis.

  1. SickKids Hospital  

Last summer, I interned at SickKids (paid) under the Chief of Research, Dr. Stephen Scherer. This one, I found this on the SickKids job board after a friend of mine told me he found his SickKids position through the job board and not just through their summer research program (SSURE), which is also an amazing program. My role involved creating a dashboard connected to a scientific publication application program interface (API), using Python to extract and analyze publication data from the last two decades. Beyond the technical work, the emphasis on networking and attending workshops was invaluable. One highlight was meeting Dr. Devin Singh, who turned out to be one of the coolest people I've ever met. Dr. Scherer and his executive assistant, Allison Gignac, made my summer amazing, ensuring I had plenty of opportunities to learn and grow. I still go and visit Allison from time to time just to say hello!

  1. Canada Life  

After SickKids, I interned at Canada Life (paid), an insurance and financial services company, a role that was quite different from my background. This one I found by accident —sometimes you get lucky! I became addicted to LinkedIn and would look at jobs and found the posting for the Data Enablement position and applied on a whim! As a Data Enablement Intern, I created dashboards to better present information to stakeholders and other members across the company. Interestingly, the dashboard skills I developed at SickKids were directly applicable here, demonstrating how transferable skills can be. I did this internship during my final semester of studies, which definitely made it a bit difficult. But I had clear communication with my supervisors, Amanda Ashton and Pam Haley, and they were extremely accommodating and very encouraging. I got very lucky with having such great support systems and it was a great internship experience. 

  1. Acceleration Consortium  

This summer, I’m interning at the Acceleration Consortium (paid), working in one of their self-driving labs. I found this after someone in my network liked a post from the Acceleration Consortium LinkedIn account, and it showed up in my feed. My first project involves database development, a new area for me. It's been a fascinating learning experience, and I’m excited to present my project at their conference in BC this August. This role has pushed me to learn new coding skills and dive into areas I hadn't explored before.

Summer student cohort at the Acceleration Consortium

Each of these roles has taught me so much, and I’m grateful for the opportunities to learn and grow in such diverse settings. The support from mentors and the chance to work on meaningful projects have been incredibly rewarding.

What advice do you have for students (especially high school + undergrads) who want to get internships, especially if they don’t have any experience yet?

First, it's essential to leverage your school’s resources. Universities often have career centers and job boards with partnerships offering internship opportunities. Specialized sites like Riipen, and Extern offer project-based internships and externships that provide practical experience. They’re free, easy to do, and give you something great to add to your resume/profile. 

When applying, tailor your resume and cover letter for each position, highlighting relevant skills and experiences. Even if you lack direct experience, showcase transferable skills from volunteer work, school projects, or part-time jobs. Using keywords from the job description can help your application get past automated filters. Prepare for interviews by researching common questions and practicing your answers, being ready to discuss your coursework and any projects you’ve worked on.

For learning technical skills, I highly recommend FreeCodeCamp, which offers free, interactive modules on various programming languages and technical skills. Matlab has excellent self-guided modules for learning data analysis and technical computing. As a UofT student, I have access to courses via Coursera for free, which is a great way to learn new skills and earn certifications. The Toronto Public Library also offers some great courses; it's super easy to get a library card. 

Constantly building your skills is key. Joining clubs and organizations helps develop both technical and soft skills. Platforms like Riipen allow you to work on small projects that provide practical experience and often come with honorariums. I also did certifications through Extern (formerly Paragone One), which offers remote externships with practical skills in various fields and is affiliated with companies like HP Tech Ventures and Beats By Dre. Forage works similarly and offers shorter projects that are very interesting.

Networking is something that's often underrated in life sciences but is incredibly valuable. It’s not just for business students! Networking builds connections, and you never know who you might meet. For example, in my second year, I met a recruiter at a career fair who connected me with the president of a medical imaging company. Although they didn’t have any positions at the time, I gave him my resume, and a few months later, he offered me a new student position. Unfortunately, I had to pass on the opportunity, but it goes to show how effective networking can be. Optimize your LinkedIn profile, attend career fairs, and go to student talks – they all help.

Lastly, share opportunities with each other. In a hyper-competitive environment, helping one another builds community, provides a great support system, and creates a better collaborative environment. Please don't gatekeep; share! This advice, combined with resources like FreeCodeCamp, Matlab modules, and Coursera, will help you build a broad skillset and become a flexible and attractive candidate for internships.

You’re about to start grad school at UofT! Can you tell us about your aspirations for pursuing grad school, what the application timeline was like, why you chose this program, and if you applied to any other grad schools? 

For me, grad school was always inevitable. When you pursue an undergraduate degree in the Life Sciences, you almost always need to pursue some sort of post-graduate degree, whether that’s grad school, a post-graduation certificate, professional school, etc. Additionally, I had always wanted to go into Biomedical Engineering and didn’t get that opportunity in my undergrad due to a number of uncontrollable factors, so I was always motivated to end up studying it at the post-undergraduate level. COVID was a huge factor in me not being able to pursue my initial dream of Biomedical Engineering and so, it was my motivating factor to get to grad school for it. 

For BME at UofT, the deadline was around the end of February however, I started the process of my application all the way back in October. Arguably, even sooner if you count on researching the program. I began my grad school research way back in the first year, but I believe the bulk of it was really in the third year when I knew I had to start applying once I got into it in fourth year. Contrary to many others, I genuinely enjoyed my time at UofT and thought it would be nice to do grad school here thus, I began looking at programs. I was well versed in the Biomedical Engineering program at UofT but ended up looking at some other programs too. For example, the Medical Biophysics program has a medical devices sector that looked really interesting. I was also very interested in the Master of Science in Applied Computing (MScA ) program, as it had a healthcare section in it. Regardless of where I ended up, I knew I wanted to do something that combined healthcare and technology while also giving me the chance to integrate AI. 

At the end of the day, I only ended up applying to the UofT’s BME programs in MASc and MEng, both of which I am lucky to have gotten into. I will be honest, a huge reason why I ended up not applying to more was cost and labour. Each application costs $125 at UofT — not cheap. Additionally, for each application, you were asked for essays and references. I felt guilty potentially having to ask the same references for multiple of them. But looking back, I probably should have applied to more. However, deep down inside, I guess I knew my heart was always in BME. 

For the MEng program, which is course-based, it was simply just apply to the program and wait. I had a great mentor which I met through CUBE (Club for Undergraduates in Biomedical Engineering) at UofT, who gave me a lot of guidance for my application and what to expect. For my MASc application, I was lucky I had a few PhD and MASc friends in the program who gave me some good tips. The best one was that if you can secure a supervisor, you are essentially guaranteed acceptance. With this in mind, I began cold-emailing professors back in November before anyone else did. 

I went on the UofT BME website, went to the clinical engineering stream and read every single profile. I aimed to reach at least 5 profiles a day to see if it matched my interest.  From there, I curated a list on a table I made on Notion. Simultaneously, I was also crafting up cold-email templates to start sending. Then when November came by, I aimed to send at least 2-3 emails per day. I believe I ended up emailing 60 PIs, got 10 interviews, and accepted 1 position. In my case, I got very lucky — my PI was looking for someone to commit early on while the other PIs still wanted a chance to meet more students. I was ready to say yes — I loved the project, really loved the PI, and our work styles were similar. It was a match made in heaven, and I was so grateful. She verbally gave me a yes, and about 2 weeks later, I was given an acceptance by the University. Funny enough, on April 1st (yes, April fools), I got my MEng acceptance! I was very happy (and shocked) but, I was still very happy with my MASc choice. 

Overall, for grad school, do your research, talk to people, and start ahead. Because your last semester can be the most pressure, you want to ensure that you are ahead of the game and plan ahead.

What types of experiential learning opportunities did you have in undergrad that you think were the most pivotal in getting you to where you are today?

Experiential learning is so underrated that I truly believe more students need to consider it whenever possible. From Work-study programs at UofT to taking courses specifically geared towards experiential learning (shout out to Dr. Naomi Levy Strumpf !), the experiences are beneficial not only academically but also personally. 

  1. Work-Study Programs and Riipen Projects  

During the school year, I engaged in work-study programs, focusing on computational tasks to keep my skills sharp. Additionally, I completed projects via Riipen, an experiential learning platform. I found out about Riipen through my time at the Student Life Network, another great resource for scholarships and student deals! One of my projects was as a Grant Writer for a Wellness Tech Start-Up, where I learned how to write grants and locate funding sources, which is super crucial for anyone in research. Another project was as a Health Data Scientist at a Biomedical Engineering startup called iKinesia. These projects, which offered honorariums, were pivotal in boosting my resume and provided valuable experience, especially for interviews with PIs for my master’s. My time at iKinesia was particularly impactful and often came up during interviews.

  1. Leynek Medical via HMB491  

While taking the HMB491: Intro to Biotech course at UofT, I partnered with Leynek Medical, an Ottawa-based startup focusing on patient-centred primary care devices. Working with CEO William Jones and CTO Thomas Fletcher, I gained essential skills like market research while balancing my school commitments. One memorable moment was practicing my pitch for a career fair with Will, who is an incredible mentor. This experience, facilitated by Dr. Naomi Levy Strumpf, was immensely rewarding. Dr. Strumpf’s courses were filled with experiential learning opportunities that greatly enhanced my resume.

My HMB491 class cohort!

  1. Experiential Learning Courses  

In my second year, I took Dr. Levy Strumpf’s HMB201 course, producing a report for Wellspring to support cancer patients and their families. The following year, in HMB301, I worked with a team at ebb&flo, a startup improving care for endometriosis patients, creating a pharmacogenetic database for a genetic testing kit. These courses provided hands-on experiences that significantly boosted my resume and skill set. Dr. Strumpf’s dedication to experiential learning truly made a difference in my educational journey.

Where can students go if they want to learn more about your experiences?

I absolutely love talking about my experiences and helping others when I can! The best place to reach me is LinkedIn, at linkedin.com/in/rubaina-farin. 

I can also be reached by email at [email protected]

Because I love talking about this kind of such and had such an enlightening conversation with Sachi, I may or may not be starting my own newsletter soon so keep an eye out for that 👀

Is there any final advice or resources that you would like to share with Invite Health readers?

There are always so many hidden gems around us; it’s just about figuring out how to look for them. Please help each other out, do your research and there is no doubt you can get to wherever you want to go. Especially if you are studying in Canada, you are extremely lucky to be surrounded by so many opportunities. If you are able to, take full advantage of them!

Jobs, Opportunities & Resources 💻️ 

Most of these resources are reposted on Invite Health’s LinkedIn page

About Invite Health 💌 

I started Invite Health for my younger self who was trying to figure out what to do with my health sci degree that wasn’t a career in medicine.

Today, I’d say this quote is the primary reason I continue to build Invite Health:

“Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not”

The mission of Invite Health is to close this talent-opportunity gap for students in the life and health sciences.

Since 2022, we’re the leading resource for students figuring out what to do with a life sci / health sci degree. I interview students pursuing diverse careers in healthcare, and how they got there - no gatekeeping here. Every newsletter is rich with resources and insights.

Our main channel is this newsletter, and I occasionally share resources on social media (LinkedIn and Instagram).

You can read more about why I built Invite Health here

How to get the most out of Invite Health 🫶

  1. Connect with the interviewees: At the end of every newsletter, the interviewees leave their contact information for you to contact them. In your message, mention that you learned about their journey through Invite Health, and that you’re curious to learn more!

  2. Share the word: Share Invite Health with your friends and networks. Start a conversation about something you learned- an opportunity, a piece of advice, or a recommendation that an interviewee made.

  3. Bet on yourself: Apply to the opportunities that are shared in the newsletters. You have nothing to lose, and so much to gain. Circling back to point #1 - always reach out to the interviewees if you want advice!

You 🤝 Invite Health

Enjoyed this newsletter? Forward it to a friend, and let me know by commenting on our social media posts

Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Subscribe to Invite Health for free

Have feedback? Reply to this email, or fill out this feedback form

Want to advertise a job or event in Invite Health? Reply to this email or connect with me on LinkedIn

Read all of Invite Health’s past interviews

Made with 💝 & 🍵 by Sachi

Reply

or to participate.