Student receives Centers for Disease Control and Prevention virtual internship

Penn State student Alexandra Wagner wants to make an impact in reducing public health threats. She has already earned a bachelor's degree in biobehavioral health and is currently working on a master's degree in public health at Penn State College of Medicine. Now her virtual internship with the CDC is helping her reach her goal.

Internships are a valuable experience for many students who are bridging the gap between their classroom studies and their eventual careers, working alongside professionals, embedded in a work environment.

But one Penn State student will experience something different in her upcoming internship experience. She’ll be interning… virtually.

Alexandra Wagner is participating in an integrated undergraduate-graduate degree program, which allows students to earn an undergraduate and graduate degree in five years. She’s already earned a bachelor’s degree in biobehavioral health in 2019 and is currently working on the graduate component of the program — a master’s degree in public health (MPH) — at Penn State College of Medicine. Learn more about the accelerated integrated program here.

Wagner was offered an internship in the Emergency Public Health Preparedness department of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the highly competitive Virtual Student Federal Service Internship program. She was selected as awardee for the internship out of a pool of 135 applicants.

Throughout the internship, Wagner will be assisting the department of Emergency Public Health Preparedness with various emergency public-health preparedness drills, along with helping to create educational materials. She will then partake in the assessment of the impact of specific drills, educational events and materials.

“I am incredibly excited to have the chance to explore the public-health emergency preparedness field alongside CDC experts and global leaders. I am especially looking forward to gaining a deeper understanding of the breadth of the field, specifically how local entities, states and the federal government come together to address public health threats ranging from the flu to natural disasters,” said Wagner.

Learn more about Wagner’s internship in this Penn State News article.

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