Internship Resources

How Do I Begin To Set Up an Internship?

The broad goal of a congressional internship is to teach individuals how a congressional office runs through direct exposure to an experience in the national law-making process. Each congressional office selects and supervises its own interns. There are many individuals who come to Congress through many different avenues and various arrangements. Internships are generally set up directly through the representatives' offices. As a constituent, you'll have better luck contacting the offices of your home state US Representative or Senators, so try there first. To be connected, call the Capital Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask the operators for Representatives and Senators by name and state.

You can contact your federal legislators quickly and easily using the AMA in Washington Web page. Use the pictorial map to display a complete list of your delegation to Congress with phone numbers and e-mail addresses for those Representatives and Senators that have them.

You can inquire about internship opportunities in writing, although you may wish to follow- up any written correspondance with a phone call. Legislators receive an extensive amount of mail. When writing, the following addresses and salutations are suggested:

Some Congressional committees and special offices do their own intern selection, apart from the Representative/Senator's office, and some of these committees traditionally have health subcommittees. For example:

Students have served as interns at the following offices in the past:

U.S. Representatives
General contact:
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 224-3121

David McIntosh, IN (1998)
Thomas Davis, VA (1998)
Tom DeLay, TX (2001)
Peter Deutsch, FL (1998)
James Greenwood, PA (1999)
Amo Houghton, NY (1999)
Patsy Mink, HI (2000)
Karen Thurman, FL (2000)
Vic Snyder, AR (2001)

U.S. Senators
General contact:
United States Senate
Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-3121

Dianne Feinstein, CA (1998)
Jon Kyl, AZ (1999)
Tom Harkin, IA (1999)
Dick Durbin, IL (1999, 2000)
Bill Frist, TN / Senate Subcommittee on Public Health (1999)
Chuck Hagel, NE (2001)

Specialty Societies
American College of Surgeons (1998)
Dept. of Socioeconomic and Legislative Affairs
1640 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 337-2701

Amer. Soc. for Reproductive Medicine (1998)
Office of Government and Media Relations
409 12^th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20024-2188
(202) 863-2494
www.asrm.org
Contact: Sean Tipton 

Amer College of Emergency Physicians (2001)
1111 19^th Street, NW
Suite 650
Washington, DC 20036-3605
(202) 728-0610
www.acep.org

Amer. Soc of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (2001)
12500 Fair Lakes Circle, Suite 375
Fairfax, VA 22033-3882
(703) 227-0145
WWW.ASTRO.ORG
Contact: Nancy Riese Daly, MS, MPH
Nancyd@astro.org

Federal Agencies
Nat’l Highway Traffic Safety Admin (1999, 2000, 2001)
400 Seventh St, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-2564
Contact: Joan Harris

Dept. of Health and Human Services (2001)
Office of the Secretary
Washington, DC 20201
(202) 690-7431

DHHS Office of Women’s Health (2000)
Office of Public Health and Science
Washington, DC 20201
(301) 443-1383

Other
Children’s Defense Fund (2000)
25 E St, NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 628-8787
Herman Piper, Internship Coordinator

House Committee on Education and Workforce (1999)
(202) 224-3121

As a medical student, you may have a competitive edge at least in regard to health care issues. However, be careful about emphasizing a desire to work only on health care related issues. There is a wide range of work to do in most offices and you should appear enthusiastic about all of it.

You should try to make your contacts early, generally at least three months before you hope to begin your internship. Deadlines are usually sometime in March or early April. Internships are generally not paid. However, the AMA's summer Government Relations Internship Program (GRIP) provides a stipend for fifteen medical student members who hold internships in the Washington, DC area. This fact should be fully disclosed to any potential office where you might want to intern.

For more tips on setting up an internship, please contact Keith Voogd, MSS Policy Analyst, at (312) 464-4745,.

GRIP will enable medical students to gain exposure to issues and practices in the field of organized medicine and medical policy while participating in an internship of their own design. It is our firm belief that future physicians with a working knowledge of national policy formation will become both efficient leaders and stronger advocates for healthcare.

We hope to see you in DC this summer!