What It's Like to Intern at PHLP

My name is Isabelle Breier. I am a senior at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in Health and Societies and Medical Anthropology. I have been an intern at PHLP for over two years and have come to feel so at home in PHLP’s incredibly welcoming community.

As an undergraduate interested in pursuing a career in health law, PHLP is the ideal place to learn about the field. I have been so fortunate to have a wide range of experiences and opportunities during my internship. My work has ranged from delving into PHLP’s history to editing current newsletters; from research to communications; and from working with the VOCA program to writing PHLP’s diversity statement. In collaborating with many of the attorneys and staff members, I have learned not just about Medicaid and Medicare in Pennsylvania, but about the nonprofit legal aid field as a whole.

Living through the COVID-19 pandemic has been a unique experience, especially as a student of public health and the history of medicine. No one could have predicted that my studies would culminate in a real-life experience, but here we are. The pandemic has thrust the fields I study into the spotlight, and work like PHLP’s has never been more vital. I have had the unprecedented opportunity to see firsthand the problems that the pandemic creates for low-income patients- and to see how PHLP is working to address and surmount those problems.

PHLP is such an amazing place to work. I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had in both observing and helping skilled lawyers and dedicated staff fight for Pennsylvanians’ access to healthcare.