Each year, the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health hosts a number of students enrolled in its undergraduate internship module, providing an opportunity for those interested to experience public health in practice.
The School encourages a cross-disciplinary approach, bringing together different perspectives to address the public health challenges of today and tomorrow. Our interns come from a diverse range of undergraduate programmes: from Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, to Political Science, Sociology and even Linguistics.
“Internships here are a helpful opportunity to experience the development of research and policy in public health and to explore public health as a career. The interns become valued team members during their time with us, supporting projects and bringing fresh thought and insights, as well as making useful connections for the future.”
— Associate Professor Jason Yap, Vice Dean (Practice) and Director (Public Health Translation)
In May 2020, 19 students started their internships at the School for a 12-week period. They were attached to the Public Health Translational Team (PHTT) to learn more about research and policy development, and worked under the supervision of faculty members like Assistant Professor Yvette van der Eijk and Associate Professor Natasha Howard.
We asked this group of interns to share some reflections of their time with us. This feature gives an overview of the value of internships, the projects available to work on, and experiences that interns have had.
Why did you choose to do your internship at SSHSPH?
“When I was looking for a summer internship opportunity, I came across the listing on NUS Talent Connect and when I read through the details about this internship, I thought it would be meaningful and interesting to help with public health projects especially during a pandemic. I applied with the aim of learning more about how public health works in Singapore and expanding my experiences and knowledge in public health.”
Eugene Kuek Jun Rong, Chemistry undergraduate
“Having learned about the science behind health and diseases, I wanted to see how research is being translated into public health practices in the real world. As such, PHTT was a great platform for me to learn through experience.”
Nathaniel Chia Wei Zhi, Life Sciences undergraduate
“I chose to do my internship with the Public Health Translational Team at the School because of the opportunity to gain a much deeper insight into the public health practice in the real-world setting. It is an invaluable experience to be part of the evidence generation process and to witness how evidence is used to guide public health policies and campaigns.”
Chua Wee Meng, Life Sciences undergraduate
“My interest in public health grew after taking several public health modules as electives. I remember feeling surprised by the number of key players involved in policymaking during a lesson on health systems and policies, and through our debates in class I found it challenging yet rewarding to come up with policies that are effective in improving the population well-being.
Stemming from my interest in public health, I was prompted to do an internship at SSHSPH for a hands-on learning experience as I believe that the skills acquired through real-world application would be far more enriching.”
Veronica Lim, Life Sciences undergraduate
Examples of intern projects
“During my time with the wonderful PHTT team, we worked on reports on pandemic readiness in Singapore and the issue of COVID-19 within the local migrant worker community. Our team also contributed to the Country Journeys science report, and I’ve had the opportunity to cover COVID-19 responses of governments in a wide array of territories, such as US, Australia and South Korea.”
Tan Kit Yung, Life Sciences undergraduate
“The work I undertook revolved around the COVID-19 situation, and I enjoyed it very much since it is extremely relevant. The team I worked with focuses on how various countries plan their exit strategies, i.e., how they are reopening their country from lockdown one step at a time. We had to find out when and how institutes like schools, places of worship and sports facilities would resume normal activities, and what precautionary measures were put in place.
Through this work, I’ve been kept up to date with current affairs more than I normally would. It has also been interesting to see the different approaches countries take to reopen — some are more cautious, while others provide clear guidelines for institutes and businesses to adhere to.”
Lim Jing Yi, Life Sciences undergraduate
“I helped the team with COVID-19 projects pertaining to global health. It involved examining the projected disease severity, analysing the impact of different response options and even proposing possible interventions for COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries like Syria, Libya and Yemen. The key deliverables of my role in this project included using surveillance data to assess population at risk in various countries, using projected modelling reports to assess the impact of different response options, and constructing policy briefs specific to the different countries involved.”
Ayshath Zaseela, Biomedical Engineering undergraduate
“For the first two weeks of my internship, I worked on a research project examining the mental health of the elderly during uncertain times, such as the evolving COVID-19 situation in Singapore. I did a literature scan to better understand the risk factors that predispose seniors to psychosocial issues and evaluated current interventions put in place to support them. New ideas and recommendations to improve present schemes were also made.”
Jillian Too Hui, Sociology undergraduate
“I worked on a research project focusing on the impact of product placement in movies. It involved sieving through past literatures on tobacco placement in movies as well as data collection — watching movies and coding duration of product placement occurrences.
I learned how tobacco placements in movies serve as a strategy for tobacco industry to promote their product, circumventing policies that prevent their overt promotion. According to some literature, tobacco placements have a dose-related effect on youth initiation to smoking as well. Going forward, I don’t think I can watch a movie without noticing the product placements planted by producers!”
Charlotte Yeow, Linguistics undergraduate
“The work I did with PHTT mainly focused on reviewing the marketing tactics of the sugar-sweetened beverage industry globally, as well as the public health policies in place and how to bring those into Singapore’s context.”
Sarah Chew, Life Sciences undergraduate
“We were tasked to create a model of dental care for the elderly and special needs community in Singapore. The work consisted of firstly defining what we mean by a model of care and thereafter researching on the models of dental care in other countries. From our research, we then picked the policies that are relevant to Singapore’s context and evaluated if they can be integrated into Singapore’s general healthcare system.”
Aaron Tan Yan Xi, Political Science undergraduate
“I worked on the project titled ‘Infant Formula Marketing’, where I did research on the different marketing techniques adopted by infant formula companies all around the world and looked into the effects of these marketing practices on breastfeeding initiation, duration and exclusivity.
Additionally, I also did research on the breastfeeding scene in Singapore, looking into the prevalence among the different ethnic groups, trends in Singapore across the years, as well as policies and programmes to encourage breastfeeding practices in Singapore.”
Kelly Tan, Life Sciences undergraduate
“The projects I worked on include using modelled projections of different interventions in the Middle East to come up with policy briefs for each country, as well as data collection on the diversity of workforces in global health organisations.
From this internship, I have learnt a lot about the teamwork and communication that comes into play for public health research and policymaking. The policy briefs project for Middle Eastern and North African countries involved working with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine for statistical reports, Department for International Development for funding, and the respective countries in the region with regard to policy implementation. I was involved in drafting the templates of the policy briefs, data extraction from the modelling reports, as well as the content that went into the policy briefs.”
Nafeesah Ibrahim, Chemistry undergraduate
What did you learn from the internship?
“The internship has provided me with a rare chance to observe the practice of public health in the real world, and at the same time hone my research skills in evidence gathering as well as communication skills through presentations. This has allowed me to foster my sense of critical awareness on the public health policies that other countries are implementing as well as to develop the wisdom, skills and attitudes that will help me excel in my future career.”
Neo Jialing, Life Sciences undergraduate
“I am now much more comfortable with comprehending scientific articles and reports, with some exposure to modelling studies. I have also acquired skills in searching for scientific articles on databases more accurately and efficiently.”
Loh Xin Sheng, Life Sciences undergraduate
“My biggest takeaway is that education is really important and that we need to educate ourselves on what’s best for us and our bodies. This is when public health policies are crucial in shaping up a healthy community as not all of us have the same access to education.”
Tan Huining Samantha, Biomedical Engineering undergraduate
“Through this internship, I have a much better idea of what kind of work is done in the Public Health field and I was also able to hone various skills that I had learnt in school such as writing reports, case studies, etc.
In addition to that, working on the COVID-19 reports allowed me to better understand the COVID-19 situation, not only in Singapore but also in other parts of the world. It gave me a chance to look at the situation from various perspectives and allowed me to compare and analyse how different countries handled the COVID-19 situation.”
Natalie Goh Huay Kim, Life Sciences undergraduate
What was your overall experience of working with the School, particularly the work-from-home requirement due to the pandemic?
“Overall, my experience of working from home has been an eye-opening one. Initially, I felt distant from my team members and supervisors as I did not have the chance to physically meet up with them. However, my worries were unfounded as my supervisors proactively made an effort to reach out to us from time to time. My teammates and I also bridged this gap by chatting on our group chat often, which was very heart-warming. I felt comfortable raising issues and sounding out my concerns to my supervisors and group mates, as well as to approach them for help should I face any difficulties in the project.”
Neo Jialing, Life Sciences undergraduate
“I worked with the Public Health Translational Team, where they support the Ministry of Health and other agencies by providing dedicated translational expertise and generating evidence for policy formulation. I did my internship while the COVID-19 pandemic was still ongoing and we had to work from home. Despite so, our supervisors created a relaxed and productive atmosphere where we always felt appreciated and welcome.”
Lim Yee Cheong, Joel, Life Sciences undergraduate
Do you intend to pursue a career in Public Health in future?
“I do intend to pursue a career in Public Health, and this internship has affirmed that conviction.”
Lim Jing Yi, Life Sciences undergraduate
“This internship with the PHTT has shown me the possible career paths I may take such as research and policy analysis. It has offered a fascinating insight into public health systems and widened my knowledge on how healthcare works outside of just the clinical setting. It has also offered me a chance to do something to benefit society, which is a core element of what I want in my future career, and this has made me more willing to pursue a career in public health in the future.”
Alastair Chan Chun Fai, Life Sciences undergraduate
“I definitely look forward to a career that merges my education in engineering and computer science with my passion for public health.”
Tan Huining Samantha, Biomedical Engineering undergraduate
- Aaron Tan Yan Xi
- Alastair Chan Chun Fai
- Ayshath Zaseela
- Charlotte Yeow
- Chua Wee Meng
- Eugene Kuek Jun Rong
- Jillian Too Hui Li
- Kelly Tan
- Lim Jing Yi
- Lim Yee Cheong, Joel
- Loh Xin Sheng
- Nafeesah Ibrahim
- Natalie Goh Huay Kim
- Nathaniel Chia Wei Zhi
- Neo Jialing
- Sarah Chew
- Tan Huining Samantha
- Tan Kit Yung
- Veronica Lim