Student Experiential Learning: Meet Carson Snyder

The College of Health’s Carson Snyder ’23 interned this past summer with the Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) in Philadelphia, a non-profit provider of public health resources including funding, real estate and staffing. Snyder is the first recipient of the Linda M. and D. Brooks Zug ’67 Community Health Student Internship Fund. This $1 million endowed fund provides support to students who take on unpaid internships in the health field. 

As a population health major with minors in communications and entrepreneurship, Snyder’s skills were immediately put to use. She helped with the allocation of a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant that was dedicated to addressing vaccine hesitancy in Philadelphia and Delaware. 

Each day looked different for Snyder, who worked under the Head of Strategy. On her first day of work she had the chance to write a speech for her supervisor, which was very well received. She interviewed the heads of different non-profits, helped to create marketing campaigns to further address vaccine hesitancy, and worked with the strategy team to address any issues that were associated with the grant.

 “A key takeaway for me after the summer was being able to see the translation and relationship between everything I’ve learned in the classroom to the real world,” she said. Having the chance to see hurdles that she’d heard in the classroom play out in one of the most important cities in the U.S. was a big “aha” moment, opening her eyes to many of the health disparities that are prominent in society.

The Zug fund will support 10-12 COH students each summer with stipends to help with education, travel, or living expenses for unpaid internships in the health sector. “The interns will learn from their experiences in the community and bring that knowledge back to their classrooms,” Linda Zug said. “It’s a wonderful loop.”

And that’s exactly what happened for Snyder.