Last summer, 20 interns became part of various teams across Population Data Science through our Summer Internship Programme. Recently, we got in touch with our interns to learn more about their career journeys since their time with us.
In this blog series, our interns share the lessons and skills they’ve learned, their goals for the future, and their advice for future interns.
Rafael Cappabianca
Project: A review of literature on the barriers and facilitators to self-harm/suicide support and intervention in primary care.
Looking back on your time with us, what are the key lessons and/or skills you have learned?
Given my internship, getting to grips with specific literature review tools, such as Prospero and EndNote, are skills that I think will prove incredibly useful for my future research in the coming years.
Is there a specific accomplishment/moment from your internship you are especially proud of?
My final draft of the systematic review is my proudest accomplishment. The possibility that this document may become not only a published paper, but something that may be used in the future to help individuals suffering from self-harm to get the help from primary care they need, is quite amazing to me.
How has your understanding of Population Data Science changed during/following your internship?
I now realise how broad Population Data Science can be. I originally thought of it as mainly census data, but seeing the scope of all these internships has opened my eyes.
In what ways, if any, has this internship influenced your career plans?
This has increased my employability within research spaces, which will hopefully help me with getting a competitive place on the Specialised Foundation Programme after I graduate.
What advice would you give to others thinking of applying to the internship programme?
I wholeheartedly recommend it. Not only is there a broad scope of interest for almost anyone, but the training you receive as part of it is fantastic.
Sakshi-Sunil Dhavale
Project: Risk Prediction of Prostate Cancer using Electronic Healthcare Records.
Looking back on your time with us, what are the key lessons and/or skills you have learned?
During this internship, I significantly improved my SQL skills and gained hands-on experience working with real-world health data. This exposure deepened my interest in understanding how population health data is structured, managed, and analysed. I also learned how to manage my workload more effectively, prioritising tasks, planning timelines, and communicating clearly within a team.
Is there a specific accomplishment/moment from your internship you are especially proud of?
I’m particularly proud of how I progressed in using SQL to extract and explore large data independently. At the beginning, navigating real-world data felt challenging, but I soon learned to structure queries, clean data, and generate useful summaries for the project.
How has your understanding of Population Data Science changed during/following your internship?
My understanding of Population Data Science has grown considerably. I realised it is not just about analysing data but understanding how real-world health records are linked, stored, and interpreted. Working directly with live population-level data gave me insight into data quality, coding variations, and clinical context.
In what ways, if any, has this internship influenced your career plans?
This internship has strengthened my ambition to pursue health data science, especially within prediction modelling. Working with real health data showed me how powerful analytics can be in understanding disease patterns and supporting early risk identification. It sparked a genuine interest in exploring advanced predictive approaches in the future. I now feel much more motivated to build expertise in modelling, data engineering, and population-level research as part of my career path.
What advice would you give to others thinking of applying to the internship programme?
I would encourage future applicants to approach the internship with curiosity and openness to learning. You don’t need to know everything beforehand, especially with SQL or large data, but the willingness to ask questions, practise, and collaborate makes a huge difference. Staying organised, managing your time well, and communicating clearly will help you get the most from the experience.
Samyuktha Babuganesh
Project: Understanding risk of youth homelessness in Wales: Applying data science techniques to third sector (Upstream Cymru) data.
Looking back on your time with us, what are the key lessons and/or skills you have learned?
Reflecting on my time with Swansea University, I have grown both professionally and personally. I learned R programming and applied analytical methods, including Multiple Correspondence Analysis, Cluster Analysis, Hypothesis Testing, and dashboard creation, to large-scale social care data. Additionally, I strengthened my knowledge of Data Governance, ethics and GDPR, which has shaped my approach to responsible data handling.
Is there a specific accomplishment/moment from your internship you are especially proud of?
One of the highlights of my internship was presenting our findings at the University’s showcase event. This experience challenged me to communicate complex analysis clearly and confidently. Being recognised with the Best Research Project Award was an honour and a proud moment that reinforced my confidence and strengthened my passion for data-driven research.
How has your understanding of Population Data Science changed during/following your internship?
Before this internship, I had experience in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, but had never applied these skills to health and social care. This experience gave me hands-on exposure to Population Data Science, helping me develop new technical skills while appreciating the human stories behind the data. I saw firsthand how research can drive insights, meaningfully inform policy, and improve outcomes, deepening my understanding of the field’s real-world impact.
In what ways, if any, has this internship influenced your career plans?
I found that I really enjoyed research and gained an understanding of the positive impact Data Science can have on health and social care. It has encouraged me to pursue roles in research and at the intersection of Data Science, AI, health and social care. Seeing how ethical and clearly communicated analysis can drive interventions that improve lives has been incredibly motivating and has influenced the direction I hope to pursue.
What advice would you give to others thinking of applying to the internship programme?
I would encourage anyone interested in trying something new or exploring Population Data Science to apply. The internship offers such a unique range of experiences and opportunities you won’t find elsewhere. With supportive teams, mentors and colleagues, it’s an incredible chance to learn from experts in the field and gain firsthand insights into projects that are making a real impact and improving lives.
If you’re interested in applying for this year’s summer internship programme, visit: https://popdatasci.swan.ac.uk/about-us/summer-internship-programme/