The HACU Internship Program has been a wonderful and rewarding experience for me. I graduated in May 2007 from Texas A&M Health Science Center-School of Rural Public Health with a Masters in Public Health. I learned about the HNIP program while I was in undergrad at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas when a representative came to our career fair. I never applied for any internships until my last semester in my graduate program where I was selected to work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. I was responsible for evaluating social marketing campaigns for HIV/AIDS prevention and also helped the planning of the 2007 National HIV Prevention Conference. I loved my first HNIP experience so much that I applied for another term the next semester. This time I was selected to work at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in Rockville, Maryland where I worked in the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. At HRSA, I was involved in the data analysis for the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. Both of these agencies are in the Department of Health and Human Services. Through these internships, I was able to meet so many wonderful people that were willing to share their success stories and help you achieve success. I really felt like part of a team because the supervisors and staff treated you like a co-worker, and not just like an intern. I was also able to gain credit from my university for doing these internships. Networking was another valuable tool that I gained by being in HACU.

Not only is this internship a valuable professional experience but it also allows you to grow socially as well. I met many wonderful and exciting individuals that were just as hardworking and determined as myself. I know that these individuals will the future leaders of tomorrow and that is what HACU prides itself in doing.

HACU really does stand for its motto, “opening the doors of opportunity” and I am grateful to them for allowing me to be a part of this great organization. I was asked by my supervisor at the CDC to return after my summer internship for a two-year fellowship in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. This opportunity will benefit me not only professionally but also academically in that I will learn and work on projects to improve the prevention efforts for HIV/AIDS Prevention. I encourage any student to apply for these internships to see what doors can open for them.

Pamela De La Cerda
Internship at DHHS - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
From 1/11/2007 to 4/27/2007

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