An "internship" is work experience directly related to a college major.  Eastern's Biology Department strongly recommends an internship for all its majors (and requires it for the BA Biological Studies major).  For many students, biology-related internships confirm their choice of career and provide useful contacts and training.  Occasionally an internship helps a student decide to change career directions, and that, too, is valuable.  For some, an internship has led directly to a job offer.

The final responsibility for arranging an internship is yours, but as a department, we try to help in the search process.  Individually, we'll be glad to talk through career goals with you one-on-one, and help with specific contacts whenever we can.

The Center for Career Development is another resource to learn more about internship opportunities at Eastern.

Greater Philadelphia has a large pharmaceutical industry, including GlaxoSmithKline, DuPont, Cephalon, AstraZeneca, Wyeth/Pfizer, Centocor, and many smaller firms.  Eastern University is within 30 minutes of major research and teaching hospitals such as Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Temple University Hospital.  We are within an hour of Fox Chase Cancer Center, Cooper University Hospital and Christiana Hospital, as well as numerous smaller hospitals and schools.  The “seven county” Philadelphia area has more than 90 colleges and universities which offer strong science and/or medical graduate programs close at hand for our graduates, while also providing research libraries which Eastern students can access.  The regional also has numerous research institutions such as the Wistar Institute, the Stroud Water Research Center, and the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.  These varied institutions provide diverse internship opportunities for our students.

Some examples of student internships include:

• Environmental educator at state park
• REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) at Duquesne University working on pain pathways in rats
• ER Medical scribe 
• Pre-Physician Assistant program intern
• Dental assistant 
• Philadelphia Zoo educator 
• Vet assistant 
• Water and stream analysis intern for Pennsylvania DEP
• Fisheries analysis intern in PA
• Medical office worker
• Homecare assistant
• Assistant for disabled
• Animal shelter volunteer
• REU in Kellogg Biological Station, Hickory Corners, Michigan, working on nitrogen cycle
• Chester County Conservation District volunteer
• Summer research at Ursinus on fetal alcohol syndrome and neural development
• Jenkins Arboretum intern
• Hospice volunteer
• Pacific Rim Institute- restoration management intern

For credit:

Biology 495:  Two to 12 credit hours/semester; up to five credit hours total can count toward elective requirements. 

Eastern University requires these conditions for an internship:

• Departmental approval of the internship and the preparation of the intern.
• The supervising faculty member must be able to contact an internship supervisor.
• A minimum of 40 hours on-the-job is required per credit hour.  For example, if a student worked eight hours/week (one full day/week or two full afternoons/week) for each of the 15 weeks of a semester, 120 hours of internship experience would thus be eligible for three credit hours.

In addition, our department requires a journal to be kept by the intern and a term paper summarizing the experience and discussing one issue in depth, with relevant references.