Name: Shir Carasso
Class Year: 2026
Major: Mathematics
Internship Organization: Berlin International University of Applied Sciences
Internship Title: Research Assistant
Location: Berlin, Germany
What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!
I am currently researching migrant access to healthcare and deathcare in Berlin. I do this mainly through literature reviews.
Why did you apply for this internship?
As a math major on a pre-health track, I am really passionate about using numbers and impact to bridge the gap in health disparities. The research I work on in Berlin looks at the quantitative and qualitative ways to do this. This internship was a way for me to look at health disparities from a global perspective.
Was there anything special about how you found this internship?
I applied through Bryn Mawr’s partnership with IES. It was easy and really impactful.
What has been your favorite part of this internship?
I love learning about the health disparities from a global perspective. It is really interesting to find and interpret qualitative and quantitative research. I find it to be really challenging but also really rewarding.
What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn’t expect?
I never knew how differently health disparities looked in Germany. In Germany, the gender and racial roles that people posses really dictate their access to healthcare. The space that people are able to occupy in life and in death is heavily dependent on where they come from.
Working remotely for the first time? What has that experience been like for you?
I never knew how differently health disparities looked in Germany. In Germany, the gender and racial roles that people posses really dictate their access to healthcare. The space that people are able to occupy in life and in death is heavily dependent on where they come from.
Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?
I am gaining research skills from all of the literature reviews that I have had to accomplish. I am learning a lot about myself and the way that I am able to accomplish my work. I am also gaining network and interpersonal skills that I plan on using in the future.
Can you give us three adjectives that describe your internship experience?
Interesting, challenging, inspiring
What is most rewarding about your internship?
I accomplished 18 literature reviews and worked on a statistics database to help find number to support the research we were doing. Being able to do so much was very rewarding for me.