Dan's Internship Story

Between July and October 2021, I was fortunate enough to undertake an internship at Kanna Health, working as a part of the team on various projects. As a final-year student at one of London’s medical schools, this was the first time I had done an internship - it gave me a window into a very different aspect of healthcare research. I learned a tremendous amount over the course of these months.

After being welcomed and introduced to the team members, I was brought up to speed on the various ongoing projects within the company and their progress. I was given two main projects during my time, both of which challenged me to integrate my clinical knowledge with both pharmacology and an understanding of different disease backgrounds. I was given guidance by my supervisor throughout the course of these projects, and the feedback I received has certainly helped me to improve my critical analysis and presentation skills.

Retrospectively, I feel a healthy balance was struck between the expectation to produce a consistent output of work, and flexibility with regard to working hours based on out-of-work commitments (in my case this was generally hospital placements). Kanna Health is incredibly dynamic in the sense that new avenues and insights are always being explored. In my opinion, the environment is especially suitable for those who are creative, scientific thinkers who enjoy working in a fast-paced and tightly-knit team.

As an intern, I felt wholly integrated into the team, and I was also welcome to attend meetings and discussions that were not directly related to the tasks I was working on. This meant I was often presented with new learning opportunities - not just from a scientific perspective, but also in my understanding of how medications can be created, as well as the subsequent, complex process of development and all of the steps that this entails.

I am able to apply much of what I have learned during my time at Kanna Health to my ongoing studies at medical school, and I am grateful to have spent these months working as a part of the team.