Over the course of my junior year and this past summer, I had the pleasure of participating in two internships: one on the clinical team at VANDA Pharmaceuticals in Washington, DC, and the other at Medtronic as a Regulatory Affairs Intern in the Diabetes Business Unit.
I completed my Medtronic internship remotely from my home in Oakfield, NY, as the company decided to shift all internships to a virtual setting due to COVID-19. At first, I was really upset and did not think I would be able to learn a lot and/or make an impact on the company in a remote setting. However, I was proven wrong.
As the only intern on the International Regulatory Affairs team, I was able to participate in a pilot phase project, where I completed a global submission summary submission document for a Class I device. The purpose of this new document/pilot was to encompass all supporting information/testing for the device to comply with EU regulatory requirements along with additional global requirements common across a variety of countries. Also, I gained exposure to the devices in the diabetes portfolio and got to learn about the different requirements/reports needed for regulatory submission, depending on the device class. I also was responsible for supporting local internal regulatory teams, such as Medtronic Russia and the United Arab Emirates, in their regulatory submissions in their respective countries.
I learned the importance of how to communicate effectively and network online, especially when working with others internationally. Overall, this internship expanded my knowledge of the importance of regulation within the medical device industry and proved that regulation is always changing and the professionals in the industry must continuously adapt to comply with these new regulations. One highlight of my internship was being able to present my work to a steering committee, staffed with upper management and vice presidents of the business responsible for making decisions on the implementation of the various transformation initiatives going on.
Although the internship was online, Medtronic did an amazing job of keeping interns connected. One of my favorite aspects of the internship was the weekly scavenger hunts/trivia sessions the company would put on for interns, where we got to be on a team with one another and compete. I felt connected with my fellow intern class and have developed virtual friendships across multiple universities as a result.