International Internships

Research Internship Opportunities for International Students in Pharmacy and Related Sciences

CPSP

The University of Florida College of Pharmacy has a long-standing history in providing internship experiences to international students in pharmacy and related sciences. Students have visited from around the world, but the largest and most sustained program has been with German pharmacy students who can spent six months of their practical experiences that are required for licensure in a research setting. More than 400 students have completed internships with faculty at our main campus in Gainesville, and more recently, at our sister campus in Orlando. Detail on the types of research experiences are available below. You may also want to watch the overview presented in this video. Alumni of the UF College of Pharmacy convene every two years at the Global Gator Meeting and reports of experiences by German students are made available by the Bavarian Chamber of Pharmacy (Orlando link).

Students or pharmacists who would like to apply for an internship should contact:

For the Gainesville campus:

Almut G. Winterstein, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor & Chair
Pharmaceutical Outcomes & Policy
UF College of Pharmacy
almut@ufl.edu

For the Orlando campus:

Stephan Schmidt, B. Pharm., Ph.D., F.C.P.
Certara Professor
Professor and Director
Center for Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology
Department of Pharmaceutics, Lake Nona (Orlando)
UF College of Pharmacy
sschmidt@cop.ufl.edu

 

For general questions about the application process or other administrative issues, please contact:

Milena Ozimek
Administrative Assistant
UF College of Pharmacy
mozimek@cop.ufl.edu

 


Application Process

Admitted interns have typically completed all course work related to their pharmacy training and are planning to spend a portion of their practical experience at UF. The usual duration of an internship is 6 months and applications for less than 3 months are not considered.

To apply, please submit your curriculum vitae, one letter of support from a professor in your pharmacy school and documentation of financial support during your stay in the US (e.g., a bank statement). Documentation of financial support is required for your visa and is currently $1,500 per months. For updated information on this requirement refer to the UF International Center. We also require a statement of purpose, i.e., a brief statement in which you describe your motivation and expectations for this internship and which research areas or research groups would be of most interest to you.


Financial Support

Internships are not supported by the college, but interns have been successful in receiving scholarships to support their studies. Some scholarship resources include:

Prospective interns are advised to start thinking about applying for a scholarship very early.

Because UF has consistently had international interns on campus, there is a fairly good support infrastructure that is handed down from one cohort of interns to the next.


Research Internship Opportunities – Gainesville

The UF College of Pharmacy has five departments, each with one or more active research programs that include graduate students, interns and fellows and visiting scholars. In addition, the college is part of the UF Health academic health center, which also offers research internships. UF Health operates several hospitals within the health system.

Winterstein SliderInternships in UF College of Pharmacy Departments

These internships will occur with faculty in one of the UF College of Pharmacy departments. The links below provide a description of the research programs of each.

Internship at UF Health Shands Hospital

This internship will be focused on project-based work with clinical pharmacy specialists in areas such as medication safety or health informatics. Interns will also have the opportunity to shadow clinical pharmacists when rounding with medical teams or attend clinical committees that address pharmacy-related issues. (Note that regulations do not permit international visitors active participation in any patient care activities. Thus, clinical internships are not offered and the focus of the internship must be on research.)

Internship at UF Health Physicians/Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy

The internship comprises hands-on, project-based work that focuses on population health / medication safety for the outpatient clinics of UF Health, which includes pediatrics, primary care, obstetrics/gynecology, ophthalmology, and geriatrics clinics. Interns will also have the opportunity to shadow clinical pharmacists in the inpatient and outpatient setting and attend clinical committees that address pharmacy-related issues. (Note that regulations do not permit international visitors active participation in any patient care activities). The internship will also focus on projects in the area of health services and policy research that may directly or indirectly impact medication prescribing or utilization in UF Health Outpatient Clinics and in the outpatient arena in general.​

Internships at the UF Center for Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology (CPSP)  – Lake Nona (Orlando)

CPSPThis internship at the UF Center for Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology will emphasize on providing training in population pharmacokinetic concepts as well as hands-on application using various software tools, such as NONMEM, Phoenix and Monolix. Interns will be provided with an opportunity to be trained in physiologically-based pharmacokinetics (PBPK) concepts and software applications, such as Simcyp and GastroPlus. In addition, interns will have opportunity to work on projects focused on translational systems PK/PD in oncology and infectious diseases both experimental and computational analyses.