“All these experiences have been influential in exposing me to what research means and how it can be used to influence medicine and our community” – Aubrey Gower, Undergraduate Research Intern
What does a typical day for a SMAHRTie look like, you may ask? Good question! Not only do our team members work on various research studies, but they also fly around the country to present work at conferences, participate at community outreach events and assist in the planning of our annual programs. As our staff work diligently on these projects, our interns are treated no differently. Along with being an instrumental part of the research happening at SMAHRT, they are also encouraged to conduct their own independent project. They are not simply “interns,” but a dynamic part of the team that have a rare opportunity to contribute to and spearhead work to advance the understanding of the correlation between social media and adolescent health.
Just ask Aubrey Gower, a senior at the University of Washington and one of our fantastic undergraduate research interns. Gower is a Biology and Psychology double major, with a minor in Greek and Roman Classics, and has been with SMAHRT for a little over two years. Gower entered the team wanting to pursue clinical medicine with a focus in pediatrics, but interning at SMAHRT has broadened her original plan to include research in her future. Through contributing to different projects, such as the five-year cohort study investigating Facebook profiles and health behaviors among college students, and other experiences like shadowing physicians in adolescent medicine, Gower has been exposed to all the possibilities research holds. Ultimately, she hopes to work with underserved youth populations as a physician with an emphasis on research and intervention, to be able to better understand and better treat these communities.
As stated earlier, SMAHRT interns have the opportunity to conduct their own independent research project, and Gower has completed two of her own projects and has presented both at the Undergraduate Research Symposium at the University of Washington. Her first project was a content analysis looking at college Twitter pages that promote college lifestyles and their negative health behavior content. This was followed by her second project, a survey of college students aimed at understanding drinking behaviors and alcohol references seen over the social media app Snapchat. Gower is currently in the midst of conducting her third independent project with the hope of expanding this into a larger scale project, a pilot cohort investigating app use and problematic internet use among incoming college freshman.
Other than joking around with other members of the team, Gower’s favorite part of being on the SMAHRT team is the weekly team meetings. She loves how almost the entire team is able to come together and discuss current topics relevant in the field of technology and adolescent health, while it also being a time to give updates and simply just engage with one another. As you have probably noticed, Aubrey Gower is not only extremely driven, but extremely busy as well. How does she make it through her chaotic day? Green tea, which makes it possible for her to tackle her day, regardless of what big projects lay ahead.
