Coe alum steps up to deliver impactful psychology student internship
Coe College students have access to a notable advantage: Coe’s powerful alumni network. In fact, The Princeton Review ranks Coe 20th in the nation for Best Alumni Network among private colleges. The Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Corridor alone is home to over 4,000 alumni with thousands more around the world providing students internship, networking, mentorship and employment opportunities. It might sound too good to be true, but this creates real impact for students like Caroline Strauel '22.
Caroline was a psychology intern with Dr. Benjamin Tallman '04 in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at UnityPoint Health - St. Luke’s Hospital across the street from campus over the summer, and will continue to work with Dr. Tallman this fall in a research-based internship. She was first introduced to Dr. Tallman nearly two years ago when he visited Coe for a presentation. Dr. Tallman is a psychologist working with acute and chronic pain patients and individuals adjusting to traumatic medical conditions such as brain or spinal cord injury.
Visiting alumni professionals like Dr. Tallman are common in the classroom for Coe psychology students, as are research and internship opportunities. In the past, other Coe psychology students gained hands-on experience with notable organizations such as Collins Aerospace, HyVee, Waypoint and United Way.
As Caroline sought out a hands-on learning opportunity to match her interests, she received guidance from her professors as they encouraged her to reach out to Dr. Tallman because of her interest in health psychology. She followed their advice and emailed Dr. Tallman which resulted in an internship position.
“A lot of my experience is observing Dr. Tallman’s interactions with patients and his coworkers. I also help him facilitate his research by previewing current literature on clinical hypnosis and physiological mechanisms of virtual reality,” she said.
Caroline took the lead on several projects during her internship. She created a website for Dr. Tallman’s pain support group to facilitate patient access to group materials and set up headsets within the hospital for a new program using therapeutic virtual reality that is in the works.
The senior has her eyes set on graduate school to pursue a PhD in health or counseling psychology, but she will need to choose between a clinical practice or research-based track. Thankfully, in addition to her internship with Dr. Tallman, she conducted research in a Coe lab with Associate Professor of Biology Paul Storer.
“My two experiences this summer provide me a realistic outlook on both areas and will make me a better, more informed applicant,” she said.
Caroline spent three full days in the lab on campus and split two days a week between the lab and hospital with mornings at UnityPoint Health - St. Luke’s.
“We used sterile cell culture and various drugs to activate glial cells’ immune systems, mimicking the body’s reaction during autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis and identify if specific immune system markers increase or decrease following estrogen dosage,” she said.
Her research on autoimmune disorder treatments with Dr. Storer will be presented at conferences this fall and potentially used for a future publication while her research with Dr. Tallman will be presented in Des Moines this fall.
“These opportunities are going to be valuable research and clinical experiences that will help guide me in identifying a graduate program that best suits my interests and future career. I am learning so much already about healthcare, pain psychology, the immune system and research that will only help me as I continue my academic career,” she said. “I really enjoyed being in a collaborative lab environment for research this summer and the opportunity to work independently. I appreciate the autonomy I was given for both my internship and research.”
Caroline’s hard work speaks for itself and with her mentors and Dr. Tallman by her side, she will no doubt have success in any health psychology field. This is the power of Coe’s alumni network. It makes anything possible for fellow Kohawks.