Crystal Bruns joined the Alaska Native Epidemiology Center (ANEC) in August 2019 as a Biostatistics Intern, where she completed internship duties at both ANEC and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Arctic Investigations Program. Initially, her internship was scheduled for 3 months, but was soon extended to 6 months due to the skills and enthusiasm she brought to her work. Her willingness to learn anything and everything she could, and her ability to quickly learn and apply new skills led to an offer of a permanent position at ANEC. In February 2020, Crystal officially accepted the position of Associate Health Statistician, making her ANEC’s newest team member!

 

Q: Why did you apply to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium ANEC Intern position?
A: I knew I wanted a career in statistics and vocalized this with my statistics professor during my last semester at University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). My professor was aware of ANEC’s biostatistics internship and highly recommended I pursue it, so I did.

Q: What are the top 3 things you feel you learned or contributed to ANEC and CDC from this internship opportunity?
A: I expanded my knowledge and capabilities with R Programming, advanced my statistical knowledge and abilities, and I created tools for ANEC and CDC to complete future analysis.

Q: Why did you apply to work at ANEC in a full-time capacity?
A: During my internship, I discovered studying health data was fun and interesting. I also found it rewarding to be a part of a team working to improve people’s lives. I looked forward to contributing to ANEC’s goal every day and wanted to keep being a part of that team.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience working at ANEC?
A: This experience has produced a new awareness in understanding data collection, team collaboration, development of health policies and strategies, and more. I also want to share the people that are a part of ANEC’s team made my experience incredible. Thank you for letting me join the team.