The Art of Initiating an Internship at Arcadia 

As rewarding as internships can be, they also can be daunting when you don’t know where the pieces will fall. Approaching my junior year, I knew that this was the time to find an internship in scientific illustration. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I had a clear vision of what I wanted: something that would give me a chance to get a feel for scientific illustration, and something that could lead to another internship in the medical field. 

Getting started within Arcadia took a little bit of asking around, and I was lucky that my advisor Abbey Ryan was able to recommend me to the Physical Therapy department. With her help, I got in touch with Dr. Phil McClure, the department chair, to discuss the possibility of working with different professors on projects that would both benefit their teaching and provide me with experience. A partnership like this had not been done before, so Dr. McClure suggested that I attend a faculty meeting with the department to pitch my skills and what I could offer. 

I’ll be the first to say that I tend to be more reserved, so this was an intimidating task, but it was really exciting to have a chance to practice pitching myself. Scientific illustration isn’t always an established position to apply for but is sometimes a job that needs initiating since it isn’t widely known. Thankfully, I was able to work with multiple professors during my internship which eventually led to a work study position.  

During my internship, which lasted throughout the spring semester of 2023, I worked on various projects and utilized both graphic design and traditional media. In the beginning, I started by updating presentation slides to provide more clarity for teaching, and I also designed information flyers for the abroad programs offered in the Experiential Learning program. Later on, I took on a more extensive assignment working on a neuroanatomy project alongside two neuroscience professors. My work illustrated thirteen spinal tracts, providing a template they could use for teaching. I was provided some resources to research the tracts, figure out the layouts, and then finish the illustrations and submit them for corrections and approval.

Since this was an extensive project, once my internship had ended, I arranged to come back the 

following semester as a paid scientific illustrator to complete the neural tracts and continue to work with the department. This opportunity gave me a taste of what a career in scientific or medical illustration would be like, and how rewarding it is to have a hand in the education of others.

Initiating an internship with Arcadia didn’t come without work, but I would absolutely recommend looking into something like this for any student who wants to complete their internship while taking classes. You never know what doors could be opened here until you see for yourself.