USP Summer Internship Program

Introduction

The USP Summer Internship Program offers chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences, and related science disciplines, the fulfilling opportunity to spend twelve weeks at USP working on a defined project that expands and enhances USP's core strategic initiatives with focus in the following areas:

Quality of Manufactured Medicines — Assist in developing and validating monograph procedures in USP's Applied Research and Development Laboratory.
Quality of Food Ingredients and Dietary Supplements — Develop analytical procedures for use in the standards in Food Chemicals Codex and / or USP-NF.
Global Public Health — Compare mini-lab technology to compendial procedures for the detection of substandard and counterfeit medicines.
Public Health Program — Work on substantive health program issues related to USP's standards-setting activities.

In addition to working on a defined project, you have the opportunity to meet with USP staff in various divisions to gain an understanding of the scope and importance of USP programs and services. You may attend USP Expert Committee meetings held at USP during your term, and have the opportunity to visit professional associations and federal government agencies in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

Eligibility

Undergraduate sophomores, juniors or seniors and graduate students majoring in chemistry, pharmacy, biology or biochemistry are eligible. In addition, graduate students in pharmaceutical sciences are also eligible. You must have completed basic chemistry courses, including organic chemistry and quantitative chemical analysis. International students must possess the appropriate visa.

General Requirements

You must exhibit:

self-motivation and independent work habits;
excellent oral and written communication skills;
computer competence; and
ability to apply your education and experience.

Objectives

General objectives:

enhance appreciation and understanding of USP's activities in standards-setting, core compendial activities, and global public health;
advance your scientific and/or practice knowledge; and
contribute to USP's research and standards knowledge base in a tangible way.

Duration & Pay

Your internship with USP is twelve weeks, beginning May 18, 2009 and concluding August 7, 2009. The work week is 37.5 hours. You will receive an hourly rate for each hour worked. You are responsible for your travel, housing and living expenses. USP is within walking distance of the Washington D.C. metro system, making commuting convenient from most locations in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

Application Procedures and Deadline

If you are interested, please submit the following:

resume,
transcript,
letter of recommendation, and
essay (no more than 300 words) describing your interest and aspirations in the pharmaceutical, food and dietary supplements laboratory sciences.

All application materials should be sent to Stephanie Goetsch (via email) no later than February 28, 2009. Candidate interviews will be scheduled shortly thereafter.

U.S. Pharmacopeia
Attn: Stephanie Goetsch
12601 Twinbrook Parkway
Rockville, MD 20852
SAG@usp.org

2008 Program

The Interns – Who's Here, What They're Doing

The six students listed below were chosen from an applicant pool of more than 100 students from around the world in a competitive selection process. Each receives a $10,000 stipend during their work at USP, which began on May 19, 2008.

Kamalika Datta: Pursuing a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Arizona
Project: Public Health Policy — creation of one or more legislative or health policy projects of substantial importance to key USP staff, Congress, and/or the practitioner community.

Alina Eisen: Pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Pharmacy
Project: Global Public Health — research to support development of a comprehensive database of drug quality information for anti–infective medicines in South East Asia and a separate project developing an online course about drug quality.

Lauren Girard: Pursuing a Master of Science degree at American University
Project: Quality of Manufactured Medicines — investigation of the qualitative and quantitative determinations of hazardous contaminants in pharmaceutical polyols like Glycerin.

Loren Madden Kirk: Pre–veterinary student at North Carolina State University
Project: Quality of Compounded Medicines — literature review to obtain data to be used in compounded preparation monographs for veterinary use.

Diana Kwan: Pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at Midwestern University
Project: Quality of Patient Care — research aimed at creating standardized concentrations for intravenous infusions used in pediatrics, neonates, and adults.

Jeanne Sun: Pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
Project: Quality of Compounded Medicines — literature review to obtain data for use in compounded preparation monographs to be submitted to the Pharmacopeial Forum.

Orientation and Field Trips

In addition to working on a defined project, the interns have met with USP staff to gain an understanding of the scope and importance of USP programs and services. They have also had the opportunity to meet interns from other pharmacy associations. They joined other interns to visit professional associations to discuss practice and policy issues and learn about career paths available in public health. They also visited Capitol Hill to observe a legislative hearing on public health issues.

Presentations

The students presented the results of their projects to USP staff at USP Headquarters in Rockville, MD on August 8, 2008.
USP Summer Interns' Presentations (3.7MB)