August 6-Boehringer Ingelheim Canada

After only a week into my Shad internship, this experience has already opened my eyes to the world of pharmaceutical research and work ethics in general. Boehringer Ingelheim Canada, my new employer, treated me the same as any other potential researcher from my very first day of work. To begin with, I had a two-part selection interview. At my age, I can count the number of interviews I have had on one hand – with a few extra fingers! Even if I hadn’t been selected for the internship, I would still have gained that useful professional experience. But, fortunately, I was selected and got the job. So, for the past week, I have been getting up early, leaving home, and heading out on the highway to my job.

Every day I get to meet someone new in a different section of the laboratories. And each researcher has taught me something new, whether it be some scientific facts, how to find valuable data on different websites that I had never heard of before, or simply how to be patient as you wait for a robot to pour various substances into test tubes. I feel extremely lucky that Shad provided me with this opportunity and for the next two weeks I will do my best to take full advantage of this experience.

Claire Coulombe
Hometown: Montreal, QC