2023 Intern Wrap Up

Reflecting on our Amwell Internship Program

It is hard to believe that summer is coming to a close, marking the end of Amwell’s third annual Healthcare Delivery Intern Program. We were so fortunate to have such a talented, diverse group of interns this year. During their 10 weeks at Amwell, our interns were exposed to various departments and leaders, and were integral parts of our teams.

At the start of our internship program, we asked our interns what they were most excited about regarding the program. You can view their responses and learn more about the program itself in my earlier post here.

Now, as the program wraps, we’ve gone back to our interns and asked them to share their learnings and top takeaways from their time with us. Here’s what they had to say:

Pamela Caguana, Hunter College Grad, Hack.Diversity Fellow – Pamela who joined the Engineering team said, “The Core Services team manages many of the key processes that take place when new tenants onboard with Amwell. I’ve never worked in a company of this size, so seeing the steps that are involved in the process was very valuable. One of my team’s regular meetings was called Code Together. My teammates shared their screen as they worked on different tickets. This was one of my favorite meetings, because I learned a great deal from my teammates’ problem-solving process. This experience helped me solidify my understanding of how to work in a collaborative coding environment. I learned something new every day from my project or from following issues on Teams, so thank you all for asking great questions.”

Puneet Cheema, Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management – Puneet who joined the Clinical Services team said, “I enjoyed learning more about Amwell's services within clinical virtual care. As I hoped at the beginning of my internship, I have learned more about how Amwell can empower healthcare delivery through partnerships and other potential avenues.”

Lauren Duhl, Harvard Chan School of Public Health, MPH in Health Management – Lauren who joined the Operations and Analytics team said, “Amwell is an incredible organization that continues to grow and evolve daily. This summer I had a unique opportunity to learn the business from the inside out and gain exposure to a variety of different areas, operations, and processes across Amwell. I have learned that each team plays a specific role within the broader Amwell ecosystem and works towards the goal of delivering coordinated, high-quality care. The digital health world is ever evolving, and it is clear that Amwell is working hard to employ tangible and transformative advancements to our product offerings that will have lasting impact on the industry.

Nathan (Zhongyu) Gao, Emory University Goizueta Business School, MBA – Nathan who joined the Marketing team said, “During my internship, I had the privilege to evaluate the media performance of Amwell and several of its major competitors using great software. This experience made me realize the significance of these news stories on brand image. Meeting with analyst firms and PR agencies deepened my understanding of the critical role played by the external communications team. I am very grateful for the various events organized by the company, which provided me with valuable career advice and allowed me to better understand the company and the industry.”

Pedro Gutierrez-Rincon, Northern Essex Community College, Hack.Diversity Fellow – Pedro who joined Engineering team said, “Here at Amwell I learned a lot about how real-world applications of great value to the world are made; they are made by a ton of talented people all over the world and got to see firsthand how everything is organized and how people collaborate to tackle what would otherwise be an insurmountable effort. I also learned that being out of your depth should be taken as an opportunity to learn new skills and it should never deter from trying to get something done.”

Khadar Heban, Emmanuel College: B.A. in Economics, Finance Concentration – Khadar who joined the Business Insights team said, “For the past 10 weeks, I have gained valuable experience in the telehealth industry. I also was granted the opportunity to work on exciting and challenging projects that allowed me to learn new skills in data analytics and user research. The one major takeaway that I felt was important was the importance of understanding the needs of the user when implementing healthcare solutions/products. I also learned how telehealth can increase access to care and the strategies companies use to drive utilization.”

Liban Osman, Bay State College, Hack.Diversity Fellow – Liban who joined the Engineer team said,“My time here at Amwell has been incredibly enriching. Collaborating with seasoned engineers during sprints provided me with remarkable learning opportunities, broadening my perspective and further enhanced my skills and problem-solving abilities. Engaging in daily standups, sharing our current, upcoming and achievements for tasks. Friday dev support sessions, focused on addressing task challenges or anything that could be blocking the completion of a task.”

Jonathan Pimentel, University of Mass Boston, Computer Science, Hack.Diversity Fellow – Jonathan who joined the Engineering team said, “I was surprised in the amount of effort and focus on how the work-life balance and the culture is at Amwell. Although my experience was fully remote, I felt that I was never alone and had the resources to have reach out to others. I was so focused on technical skills, and it surprised me the importance of soft skills and the value of communication on an engineering team and how many people of different teams have useful ideas and influence on what we do, and how the company is a coordinated machine working in conjunction with itself. In short, I feel very spoiled having Amwell as my first real internship and I now hold a higher standard for other companies because of how Amwell does so much for their customers and employees.

Meichen Wei, Georgia Institute of Technology, Master of Human Computer Interaction – Meichen who joined the Experience & Visual Design team said, “I learned to design using a relatively mature design system. This was my first time doing so, and I’m amazed by the flexibility and time saved by using readily available components to construct design. I also learned that design needs to balance business needs, technical resource, and user experience, but designers need to be strong advocate for users- I’m excited to have kept doing what I love, advocating for users, while considering other factors that can influence the design. Most importantly, I learned to keep aiming for the best level of user experience even if it is for somewhere down the road, thanks to the support and encouragement from my colleagues. Lastly, I furthered my understanding of the importance of making clear and concise presentation and documentation, keeping the audience in mind.

Chloe Yang, Yale School of Management, MBA/MPH – Chloe joined the Product Management team and said, “These past ten weeks have truly flown by, and I can confidently say that I’ve learned so much as a Product Manager and as a healthcare professional. Through my internship and Amwell, I will be taking away a few fundamental concepts:

·?????? A health-tech company comprises of equally important teams, from Operations to Product to Marketing and Development. As we continue to expand our products/services and increase health access, it’s all the more important that we internally engage & collaborate with one another across the firm consistently and early-on so that we can create ideal and sustainable solutions for our consumers.

·?????? Product Management involves a lot of learning. I learn to better understand the client’s needs, I learn to better support our client-facing teams with their engagement with clients. I learn to manage and prioritize certain features and requirements as to not strain our technical teams’ resources, while sustaining and pushing our products to be better and better. I learn that with each development, we can also continue to improve our existing systems and processes!

·?????? The culture at Amwell is truly supportive, understanding, and I am so grateful to have experienced this type of work environment I am so grateful and honored to have been able to join Amwell in their mission to increase patient access through digital health. This is my first Product Management role, and I truly am so thankful for this pivotal career opportunity as I continue to further my healthcare leadership journey.

It’s important that we take time each year to reflect on our program so that we can continue to build and improve it for our future interns as well as our leaders and those at Amwell who help to make the program a success.

We are already starting to work on our 2024 Summer Intern Program and will start virtual campus and program visits in just a few weeks! If you’re interested in interning at Amwell – let’s connect!

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