Internship Report Guidelines

Every student is required to write an Internship Report upon completion of their internship.  This report is shared with the PSM program coordinator, your PSM program director, and the internship mentor.  Reports usually go through multiple rounds of revision in collaboration with the internship mentor and the PSM program coordinator or director.  This is to be a formal report that could be shared with others at the internship site or at GVSU.

The Internship Report serves multiple purposes:

·         Help the student develop written communication skills

·         Serve as an archival record of the internship experience

·         Give the student an opportunity to reflect on the professional aspects of the internship experience and the skills that were learned

·         Allow the student to describe the science content of the internship

·         Have the student to reflect on the initial goals of the internship and how they were (or were not) achieved during the internship

Each Internship Report will follow the format described on the next page.

Title Page

List the student name, the PSM program, the internship director, the internship site, and the semester of completion

Table of Contents

List of the contents of the internship report and where they can be found in the report

Learning Objectives/Internship Objectives

A single page that lists the original objectives of the internship

Introduction

The introduction should include a description of the internship site and the scope of the work completed during the internship.  It may include background information necessary to understand the work completed during the internship.  It is similar to the introduction section of a research paper.

Description of Work

This section contains a summary of the work completed during the internship and a discussion of the significance of the work.  It is similar to the results and discussion section of a research paper.  It is understood that in some cases students will be working on confidential projects that cannot be described in detail.  In those situations the student must work closely with the mentor to ensure that all information disclosed is approved.  It may be necessary in these situations to focus more on the techniques used and less on the results.

Internship Discussion

This section contains a discussion of the internship and should address the following points:

·         Were the objectives achieved?

·         What skills (scientific and professional) were learned during the internship?

·         Did the PSM coursework properly prepare the student for the scientific content of the internship?

·         Did the PSM coursework properly prepare the student for the professional content of the internship?

·         What challenges did you experience during the internship?

·         What is your overall evaluation of the internship experience?