Week 5 Takes On Georgetown: Real-World Healthcare, Global Impact, and the Journey Begins!

And just like that, week 5 of the Advanced Medical and Public Health Internship has begun! We are thrilled to welcome this new cohort of interns to Georgetown, and are looking forward to the wonderful week ahead.

This morning, interns flooded the lobby of LXR Hall for check-in and registration, with exclaims of excitement filling the room. As flights landed and suitcases were carried to rooms, several groups got a head start on exploring the beautiful city during our Georgetown Explorations led by staff members. 

After getting their keys, meeting new roommates, and checking out the lounges, interns put on their program shirts and headed over to the historic Gaston Hall. We hit the ground running with an electrifying kickoff session, as Executive Director Marshall Bailly welcomed our cohort and set the stage for an action-packed week! 

The Advanced Medical & Public Health Internship is an entirely unique, first-of-its-kind experience pairing ambitious high school students directly with world-class healthcare leaders! With a goal to ignite the next generation of medical trailblazers through an action-packed week, interns team up to engineer sustainable, real-world public health campaigns. 

The stakes are as high as they are rewarding: to cap off the week, teams pitch their solutions to the very doctors who taught them, with distinct campaigns being directly implemented in communities in Bauchi, Nigeria. Plus, students step right into the shoes of a practicing physician to diagnose real patients in Bauchi via a live video call on Friday. Because Leadership Initiatives funds 100% of the patient treatment costs, these interns aren't just gaining extraordinary clinical experience—they are actively saving lives!

A major highlight of the afternoon came when our incredible partner physicians—Dr. Aminu, Dr. Aisha, and Dr. Zainab—took the stage straight from Bauchi State, Nigeria, to introduce themselves. Dr. Aminu then delivered an unforgettable keynote message. They’ll be guiding our interns through deep dives into four critical health challenges in northern Nigeria: malaria, typhoid fever, acute respiratory infections (ARIs), and nutritional anemia. 

Following this fascinating look into Nigerian healthcare, the interns officially met with their Team Leads and peer groups before capping off an incredible first day over a lively group dinner!