Summer Internship

Summer internships are a common milestone in many college students’ experiences. Summer internships give students an opportunity to learn and grow in one’s field of choice. My summer internship was with Mercy Health - St. Rita’s Medical Center. My official title was Marketing and Public Relations Intern.

I had many different responsibilities as the only intern in the marketing department. One of my responsibilities was being in charge of all the paid media. I was in charge of setting up all our media interviews. We had media spots on radio, television and the local newspaper. I had to be really organized to be able to make sure we had someone at each media spot each week. I had a calendar to help me setup each interview. Another one of my responsibilities was to write press releases for our events throughout the summer. Events that occurred during the summer included our Red Door Gala. The Red Door Gala was a celebration for Mercy Health - St. Rita’s Medical Center’s centennial anniversary in the Lima community. The celebration of the 100 years of healing was inspired by “The Door of Mercy,” a poem written by one of the St. Rita’s founding sisters, which commemorates and honors the Mercy Health mission of mercy. All the proceeds from the event went to support the Mercy Health Foundation Greater Lima’s Legacy Fund. The foundation's goal is to fight the opioid epidemic. Recognizing the need to battle this epidemic, Mercy Health strategized with their teams on how to facilitate improved outcomes and reduce the overall risk for patients susceptible to opioid addiction. One of the programs that evolved include the Brief Intervention and Referral for Treatment (SBIRT) program in the St. Rita’s Emergency Room. The program is designed to reduce morbidity and mortality of alcohol and other drug use through early intervention and the integration of medical and behavioral health approaches. Individuals are screened while being seen in the emergency department at St. Rita’s Medical Center. The Red Door Gala also had a suprise guest singer! LeAnn Rimes sang for the crowd of about 300 guests, including an encore of Amazing Grace. The event ended up rasing $270,000 for the Mercy Health Foundation Greater Lima’s Legacy Fund.

The summer flew by, but well worth the experiences I got during my summer internship. With this being my first real public relations experience, I know I have learned a lot and still have plenty more to learn!