Category Archives: Sport and Health Sciences

Student Case Study: Oxford Heartbeat

Name of Student:  Zain Ahmad

Degree Subject:  Medicine BMBS

Job Title: PR & Comms Intern

Company Name:  Oxford Heartbeat

Type of Internship: Access to Internships (A2I) 

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

– producing written material for company website, including blogs, and articles
– interviewed staff for a “Day in the Life” series on the website
– produced long form social media posts for LinkedIn and Twitter
– conducted market research for medical devices in the US and EU

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

I produced a market research report on stenting across the UK and US markets

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?

Challenge was adapting to a non-healthcare environment and developing my commercial understanding

Skills Learnt: 

  • Teamwork and Collaboration
  • Communication
  • Focus on Goals and Outcomes

Attributes Developed:

  • Commercial Awareness
  • Confidence
  • Initiative
  • Professionalism

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector?

Working for Oxford Heartbeat was an amazing experience and I am grateful that I was able to work with such a great start-up team. I was impressed at how qualified the staff were, and for me this created lots of opportunities to learn. I’d be speaking to the business development manager with a Biomedical PhD background in one moment, and then talk to a developer with a PhD in Machine Learning!

I learnt a lot about commercialising Medical Device products in the NHS, and this is a perspective I would not have gained in my normal degree programme. I’d encourage anyone interested in healthcare and tech to pursue a start-up internship. My only complaint was that I could only work for one month!

 

Student Case Study: Exeter Chiefs

Name of Student:  Daniel Johnstone

Degree Subject:  Exercise and sport sciences with professional placement year

Job Title: Strength and Conditioning Intern

Company Name:  Exeter Chiefs

Type of Internship:  Graduate Business Partnership (GBP)

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Supplementation management
GPS monitoring
Gym and exercise assistance
Setting up equipment for rugby training and beach sessions

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

Working in an Elite sport team, preparing them for in season!

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?

Yes there was, but taking time to relax and think before rushing into anything. Think logically and using initiative is what I’ve learnt.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Persuasion
  • Enterprise
  • Focus on Goals and Outcomes

Attributes Developed:

  • Commercial Awareness
  • Confidence
  • Motivation

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector?

An incredible experience at Exeter Chiefs, exploring the world of elite rugby and the processes which help build and construct the spirit behind the mighty Exe men, both physically and mentally. A world of great preseason trips to the marine base of Lympstone where the lads and myself were pushed to our limits. Some trips which enhance team bonding were incredible to be apart of and goes to show why these are so important in elite rugby and other team sports. I have learnt many different approaches to gym work and loading related processes which help sport clubs tick to enhance recovery but also aid the brute force needed in prime condition for match fit purposes. Also it was great expanding my network and building great relationships the staff, and some world class athletes. I was offered an extension and will be remaining in the internship until end of season, then returning to university as 3rd year undergrad.

Student Case Study: The Children’s Health and Exercise Research Centre

Name of Student:  Izzy Bradshaw

Degree Subject: BSc Sport and Exercise Medical Sciences

Job Title: Research Intern

Company Name:  The Children’s Health and Exercise Research Centre

Description of Company: The Children’s Health and Exercise Research Centre initiates research in paediatric exercise science to enhance our understanding of exercise, physical activity and sport that determines health and well-being. We are interested in optimising exercise, physical activity, and sport across a range of different paediatric groups, including healthy school aged children, children with chronic diseases and talented young athletes.

Type of Internship: Student Campus Partnerships (SCPs)  

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Developing testing protocol for the England Athletics Youth Talent Programme athlete profiling days. Developing infographics to be given to athletes on the YTP.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?  

Outputs= a presentation enclosing all testings to be used on the profiling days.

Outcomes= a battery of tests has been produced ad confirmed.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Problem Solving
  • Teamwork and Collaboration
  • Persuasion
  • Researching
  • Time and Work Load Management

Attributes Developed:

  • Logical thinking
  • Confidence
  • Initiative
  • Independence

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector?

“Throughout June, I was fortunate enough to complete at 4-week internship at the Children’s Health and Exercise Research Centre (CHERC), in partnership with England Athletics. Over the 4 weeks, I worked alongside another intern developing testing protocols for the England Athletics Youth Talent Programme (YTP) athlete profiling days. The battery of tests developed will be used to aid the athlete selection process. I am grateful to have worked on such an exciting project and I am wishing the best of luck to all young athletes applying to he YTP. The 4-week internship also involved the production of infographics that will be given to athletes enrolling on the YTP. The infographics covered social media use, time management and communication within the YTP. I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 weeks working with the CHERC group and England Athletics and I am looking forward to assisting on the athlete profiling days in September!”

Employer Case Study – University of Exeter CLES

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter CLES

Description of Organisation: With over 4,100 students including over 280 international students from around the world, the College of Life and Environmental Sciences prides itself in being a vibrant community supported by excellent research and teaching across a number of related disciplines. Our areas of expertise span Biosciences, Geography, Psychology, and Sport and Health Sciences.

Name of Employer: Alan Barker

Job Title: Associate Professor in Paediatric Physiology and Health

Internship Scheme used:  Student Campus Partnerships (SCPs) ,  CLES Research Internship

Feedback:

“The interns worked on research related projects with an external partner, England Athletics. Their key outputs included three, two hour workshops with over 20 stakeholders to discuss the development of an injury prevention tool. As well as, producing six infographics to be used as part of the Youth Talent Programme run by England Athletics. They also were developing a testing battery to be used as part of the recruitment process for the Youth Talent Programme and then wrote up their findings and produced this into a written document. On their internship work they also presented an oral presentation about their findings to their research group.

The interns were excellent across the piece and formed an important part of our research group team. They were able to complete tasks in a timely and effective manner and were confident to use their initiative to solve problems and make decisions. Importantly, they also had excellent inter-personal skills, and fitted straight into the research team. We will miss having the interns working with us. Overall, the internship was a huge success.”

Student Case Study:  Educational Intern   

Name of Student: Olivia Elliott

Degree Subject: BSC Sport and Exercise Medical Sciences 

Job Title: Education Intern

Company Name: The Rock Pool Project

Type of Internship: Student Campus Partnerships (SCPs)

Description of Company: We are a social enterprise that encourages people of all ages to discover the incredible marine life found around our beautiful coast. Our expert marine biologists offer bespoke private rockpool safaris, educational group field trips and public beach events.

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

  • Build website
  • Grow social media
  • Education resource development

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employers?

I completed the website as well as, the resources needed for all years. I also learnt how to use Hootsuite and build relationships with schools.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

The website development and school voucher giveaway which increased media reach by 2,000.

What did not go so well on your internship? How did you overcome any challenges?

 Help from interns faded as lockdown eased and summer started.

Skills Learnt 

  • Organisation
  • Leadership
  • Communication
  • Problem solving
  • Strategic planning

Attributes Developed 

  • Professionalism
  • Personal awareness
  • Confidence
  • Perseverance
  • Motivation

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector? 

“It was an amazing opportunity and something I would not have the chance to do in my sector.”

Designability Charity Limited – Employer Case Study

 

Name of Organisation: Designability Charity Limited

Description of Organisation: We are an independent charity with a mission to create and provide products that enable disabled people to live with greater independence. We aim to draw on the expertise and resources of designers, engineers and occupational therapists to ensure our products make a positive impact in people’s lives.

Name of Employer: Rob Hanson

Job Title: Mechanical Design Engineer

Internship Scheme used:  A2I Employer subsidies (A2I) – Employment Services – University of Exeter

 Feedback:

Our intern worked with us in the user-engagement and requirements gathering for a purpose-designed ‘saddle’ as part of our ongoing development of dynamic seating for children with dystonic cerebral palsy. As a charity, the team’s time and resources are very limited, so the student’s contribution of scoping and defining the product requirements, translating user-engagement to concept ideas, and shaping an early product definition has been useful in moving this part of the project forward.

This contribution of furthering thinking and understanding in this area is extremely valuable in itself.  As a researcher she was extremely thorough in her scoping, thinking and documentation. She has been a pleasure to work with; quiet, considerate and kind.

We feel that the internship scheme is a great way to get students (either undergrad or graduate) industry connected. Our intern joined us for a short internship, bringing fresh thinking and an open mind. Willing to learn, keen to contribute, and driven to make a positive impact with the engineering skills she developed at university, I am glad she could spend some time with us.

 

Quote from Intern:

“My time included home visits to a child who would be using the saddle seat – this improved my skills in user-centered design and helped me understand the complex requirements of seating for dystonic cerebral palsy children. I improved my teamworking skills, in consulting other engineers/occupational therapists on my design. I became more confident in putting forward my ideas, as well as understanding criticisms.”

Travel Behaviour Analyst – Devon Country Council

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

  1. Completion of survey with shared path users and other contacts via email and social media including promotion by Devon County Council.
  2.  Research into other share this space guidance/information.
  3. Report and presentation recommending how project could develop, awareness

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My biggest achievement has been having the confidence to approach strangers and persuade them to pause their walk/cycle to talk to me about the shared space provisions across Exeter and Devon. Then, as I was representing the DCC, fielding questions about unrelated complaints which the public had. I have also had to create a report and deliver a presentation on my findings from this week in front of a large group of industry experts, which tested my presentational skills.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

The feedback on the Exe Estuary Trail that we collected provided valuable evidence that the initiative is working, and that people understand the message. We highlighted key areas for improvement, whether physically along the trail, or with the existing signage. This sort of data hasn’t been collected yet, as the council couldn’t spare staff members for it, and so they are exceedingly grateful to have had us working on it this week- even if it was only for a few days.

 What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Problem solving, customer service, assessing and managing risk

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Motivation, logical thinking, work ethic

Physical Education/ School Games Assistant – St Luke’s School

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

Roles included teaching and leading a variety of primary school P.E lessons and assisting two big sports activity days and St Luke’s Science and Sport College

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

Improved my skills to communicate to children and fellow work colleagues. I improved my ability to perform under pressure when teachers from schools were watching me teach Physical Education.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

The employer had extra needed help to run a sports activity day for 500 primary school children. The employer increased his networking through the University.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Problem solving, leadership, decision making

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Confidence, motivation, work ethic

Research Assistant – University of Exeter

Full Frame Shot of Abstract Pattern

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I was tasked with exploring a model of single hair follicle dynamics with focus on hair growth and its primary factors. This role had a number of central goals:

– To verify previous results in the MATLAB software package Matcont, seeking accuracy and precise conclusions.

– To write code that enables results to be easily repeatable.

– To further explore the model parameters and develop insight into how they relate to future refinement of the model, and what it reveals about hair follicle dynamics

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I greatly developed my familiarity with MATLAB – something I’ve only really used at a surface level before. Spending extensive time debugging code written by myself and others has helped me to improve my ability to write functional scripts. I also gained a greater insight into the day-to-day reality of research. I am now more familiar with the process of learning and building towards a defined, specific output. With this has come a greater appreciation for the unpredictable ebb and flow of progress when trying to breakthrough a barrier in understanding.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I hope that my verification of past results is a useful resource, one that strengthens confidence in the assumptions upon which the model is founded. With this done, in a repeatable piece of code, it supports further divergence from the prototypic case to a more advance and detailed model (or a model with a different focus). New results regarding the parameters of the model provide a more complete picture of how the model may react to change/stimulus. With these in hand, conclusions can be drawn about which parameters are key influences, those in which change elicits dramatic variation in model dynamics.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Teamwork and collaboration, focus on goals and outcomes, degree specific – coding for dynamic modelling

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Perseverance, logical thinking, independence

Assistant Games Manager – SportInspired

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

  • Supporting with the organisation of SportInspired Games programmes
  • Carrying out and compiling research on community need in the areas in which SportInspired Work
  • Exploring new business opportunities for SportInspired by researching and identifying potential partners
  • Administrative tasks such as putting together and printing essential documents for SportInspired Games
  • Supporting internship recruitment programme
  • Supporting the Event Director to run the SportInspired Games festivals

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I learnt lots of information regarding children wellbeing and mental health which as worrying as it was, was informative and gave me reassurance that what I want to do with my life is still the same.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I gave them an insight into their well-being programme from a psychology perspective. I also, using my knowledge of statistics from my course, was able to provide the company with a free, more detailed and efficient way to analyse their data which saves them time and money needed for a data analysis software.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Teamwork and collaboration, research, degree specific

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Cultural awareness, logical thinking, creative thinking