Internships

Academic Year Internships

Chicago area institutions offer exceptional opportunities for diverse neuroscience related internships. Neuroscience students pursue research and internship opportunities in various areas such as neural plasticity, human memory, applied cognitive psychology, evolution of animal behavior, neurodegenerative disease, cellular physiology, and the genetics of organ development.
 Neuroscience students frequently pursue study in Chicago or with Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine. Students prepare for a wide-range of scientific professions through internships.

For natural science-oriented neuroscience academic year internships, please contact Dr. Lynn Westley (Biology Department).

For psychology oriented academic year internships, please contact Dr. Kathy Dohrmann (Psychology Department).

For more general information about internships at Lake Forest College, please visit the Internships page. 

Summer Research Fellows Program

Since 2009, Lake Forest College began a unique summer research training program for our science majors at the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFUMS), located just 10 minutes away from campus by car or train. Each summer, between 10-15 undergraduates (from first year to senior thesis students) conduct 10-12 weeks of paid research as LFC-RFUMS summer fellows.

To learn more about the LFC-RFUMS summer fellows program, click here.

Program Contact:

Dr. Shubhik DebBurman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology
Email: debburman@lakeforest.edu
Phone: 847-735-6040
Room 201, Johnson Science Center

 
Internship Testimonials:

imageKayla Ahlstrand ‘12
Neuroscience and Biology major

2012 Academic Year Internship

 

“During Fall 2012, I interned at Preiser Animal Hospital in Northbrook, IL.  I had recently decided to pursue a career in veterinary medicine but had little experience in the field.  At Preiser, I observed veterinarians and technicians in exam rooms and in surgery, learned and performed a variety of tests and blood work, administered fluids, antibiotics and pain medications, and prepared vaccinations for the doctors.  I also learned about common diseases, illnesses, and treatments for dogs and cats.  The doctors and techs were wonderful and very willing to teach me anything and everything I wanted to know.  After my internship, I applied to and accepted a job at Greenbay Animal Hospital in Wilmette, IL as a veterinary assistant.  My internship definitely played a role in securing this job, as I was more comfortable talking to the staff at Greenbay and I had a “leg up” on vet terminology, tasks, etc. Interning at Preiser also solidified my desire to pursue a career in vet medicine, something I had contemplated for a long time.”

imageKim Diah ‘13
Neuroscience and
Psychology major

2011-2012 Academic Year Internship

“With the goal of becoming a clinical neuropsychologist in mind I set out to gain experience in the field of mental illness, emotional disturbance and abnormal behavior. I wanted to see what clinical psychologists do and what the career was like. I participated in a semester long internship with an outpatient adolescence skills program at the VISTA medical center. It is a program for at-risk teens with behavioral problems; seeking to teach coping and survival skills in order to strengthen their abilities to manage emotional and behavioral difficulties in a supportive environment. While at this internship I was given the opportunity to lead group therapy sessions, observe and take group progress notes and learn about different issues such as confidentiality and ethics. I gained ‘real world’ skills and experiences that were a great addition to material I learned inside the classroom. This internship has also helped to confirm in my mind that this is the career path I want to pursue.”

 

imageAlexus Edmonds ‘13
Neuroscience major
Psychology & African-American Studies minors

2012 Academic Year Internship
2012 LFC-RFUMS Summer Research Fellow



“My experience this semester as an intern in Dr. Wilson’s psychology lab at RFUMS was both challenging and exciting. Over the course of the semester I developed the hands on skills needed to properly examine relationships within clinical psychiatry. Dr. Wilson’s work looks at various relationships between risk factors (e.g. sexual and physical abuse) and its effects on mental illness (e.g. depression, anxiety) and sexual illness (e.g. HIV/AIDS). Throughout the semester Dr. Wilson allowed me to get a closer look into some of her previous work as well as extended an amazing privilege to be published as a third author in her upcoming paper entitled, “Does Psychopathology Mediate the Pathway from Childhood Violence Exposure to Sexual Risk in Low-Income, Urban African American Girls?”.

Along with working on the new paper with Dr. Wilson, I have also been giving the opportunity to continue working alongside Dr. Wilson this summer on a new project that has just been granted approval.  This study focuses on dating violence in African American communities and its connection to riskier sexual practices. In this study, stress responses such as sweating will be monitored as neurological factors that may be triggered under certain environmental conditions. This summer I will be receiving training in both interviewing participants as well as analyzing the neurological samples. Overall I believe this internship has allowed me to apply knowledge obtained from my Neuroscience major and African American Studies minor and use the information in real life situations and research.  I am eager to continue working with Dr. Wilson, this summer and next school year.”