Placement report
Internship at the Dutch Task Force Health Care
Name: Sterre Bergman Studentnumber: S3209822 Programme: MA International Relations - International Security Coordinator RUG: Mrs. Mascarell-Ordovas Visiting organization: Task Force Health Care Coordinator organization: Mrs. Schrage-van ‘t Veer Period: 14 September 2020 – 31 January 2020Content
Content 2
Introduction 3
Motivation 4
Preparation 5
Activities 7
Marketing and Communication 7
World of Health Care and Health~Holland Visitors Programme 2020 8
MEDICA 8
Digital Showcase Colombia 8
Digital Mission with Compensar Colombia 9
Market studies 9
Argentina 9 United States – California 9 Kenya 10 Health~Holland International Monitor 10
Additional Tasks 10
Personal development 11
Practicalities and tips 12
Expectations 13
Connection to the degree programme 14
Future career prospects 14
Conclusion 15
Introduction
In front of you, you find the placement report of my internship at the Dutch Task Force Health Care (TFHC), based in The Hague. The internship was conducted as part of the curriculum of the MA International Relations (International Security) at the University of Groningen. The internship coordinator at the University of Groningen was Mrs. Sonia Mascarell-Ordovas. The internship coordinator at the receiving organization was Mrs. Jennifer Schrage-van ‘T Veer. The placement period was 14 September 2020 until 31 January 2021. During the period 14 September until 9 October I worked 32 hours a week. As the TFHC organized an (online) event in November, the workload increased to 40 hours from 9 October to 27 of November. In December and January, I worked 32 hours a week again, leaving room to work on my MA thesis. Naturally, we agreed on this construction on forehand of the placement. I received a monthly reimbursement for my work at the organization. Due to COVID-19 measures, the placement was mostly carried out remote. Depending on the severity of the measures, I have could work in the office. In September and October, I have been able to work in the office for approximately 2 days a week. From November onwards, the rule was to work at home, unless you needed to meet with your colleagues and cooperate physically. The report will first shortly describe the organization and its nature, structure and the objectives it pursues. Thereafter, I will elaborate on my motivation to choose to conduct my placement at the Task Force Health Care. Next, I will provide an overview on how I prepared for my placement and the application procedure. I will comprehensively describe my tasks and activities during the placement and evaluate my working attitude, personal development and the supervision afterwards. Lastly, I will provide tips for future placement students and provide an overall reflection of the internship in relation to the degree programme, my expectations and my future career prospects. During my internship period, I have learned a lot and had an inspiring time at the organization. I gained professional experience in a hierarchical setting. The organization was focused at internationalizing organizations their activities and thus I learned a lot about international trade facilitation. Fortunately, I don’t have to leave the organization yet as I got offered a contract in a traineeship function for the next half year.Organization
The Task Force Health Care (TFHC) is a Dutch foundation that is committed to improving health care around the world with the help of Dutch solutions. The main activity of the organization is to help Dutch organizations to internationalize their activities and align those with health care challenges in the rest of the world. The organization is founded in 1996 as part of the Dutch Topsector Strategy. This strategy identified 9 sectors of business that the Netherlands stands out in. The strategy helps to empower Dutch organizations active in theidentified ‘topsectors’, mainly in the field of R&D and innovations. One of these ‘topsectors’ is Life Sciences and Health, for which the TFHC is operational in the internationalization strategy. Although the TFHC strongly works together with and gets assignments from Dutch government institutions such as the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, the Netherlands Business Support Offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and Health~Holland, the executive agency for the Topsector Life Sciences and Health, it is an independent organization. Thus, it can act in accordance with the demand of its partners. Yet, it still is an organization that is to a great extend working in public-private partnerships. The organization is a network that institutes can become a member of, a so-called ‘partner’. The network of partners is divers, there are mostly SMEs members of the platform. However, members also include knowledge institutes, care providers and facilities, (semi-) government organizations, regional clusters. NGOs and some multinationals. The platform is not-for-profit and has around 110 partners. The executive team is small, there are 13 people working at the TFHC. The TFHC is subdivided regional focusses in 6 platforms; Europe, Asia, Africa, South-America, Middle-East and North-America. The organization is active in over 30 countries and has identified certain focus areas of doing business is in its strategy. The Task Force follows 4 steps in helping organizations in their international journey: • Select: the TFHC helps setting goals for internationalizing activities and helps selecting focus markets. • Prepare: the TFHC helps preparing for barriers, recognizing right partners and positioning yourself internationally. • Connect: the broad network helps connecting you to future partners by missions and matchmaking trajectories. • Develop: the TFHC helps following up after contacts and activities to develop a sustainable partnership and international impact. There are 6 programme managers working at the TFHC who oversee the different platforms. There is a Marketing and Communications manager, an office manager, an employee for supporting events and two trainees supporting the programme managers. The managing director oversees the organization and it end-responsible. A non-executive board controls the organization. The TFHC not only helps Dutch organizations to internationalize, it also provides guidance to foreign stakeholders in the LSH sector that want to know more about the Dutch health system and its assets. Many different countries from all over the world look with a specific interest to the Dutch health care system, as it is very efficient and of a high-quality.
Motivation
As I started looking for a placement in June 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it was hard to find good internship opportunities. Many organization and companies have limited theirinternship possibilities. One of my most desired places to do an internship, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stopped the influx of interns. As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was a favorable future workplace for me, I wanted to discover if my expectations were right. Although this was not possible, I believe my position at the TFHC gave me good insights in that expectation too, as the organization works a lot together with the Ministry and the Dutch representations all over the world. The situation of the pandemic in the Summer of 2020 and the outlook of the pandemic made it impossible and unadvised to do an internship abroad. As I would have loved to gain more international experience in another country, this was not an option at the time. However, I was committed to finding a challenging and interesting internship position in the Netherlands. I focused on internships at other organizations with a strong international focus. I sent motivation letters to several different institutes such as offices of Dutch MEPs, consultancy- and lobby firms with a focus on the EU and international research institutes such as the Atlantic Commission. I had several interviews, but sometimes I did not get the offer, and sometimes I doubted the challenging nature of the position after the first conversation. It took me approximately a month and a half to find a suitable position. I found the internship advertisement of the TFHC at LinkedIn. The offer got my attention, as I favored working in a small and close team, that the organization had to offer. Besides, the organization has a strong focus on internationalizing and doing business globally. Although all partners of the organization have a product or service that is LSH-related, the focus is not particularly on the content or specifications of the medical products or services. Knowledge of medical sciences was therefore not required, and most of the employees have a background in political sciences, international relations, entrepreneurship or international business. The organization is involved with the international business development, research and development and innovation. Building the connection between Dutch organizations and companies and international health care challenges was an appealing component to me. Although the focus of the organization is not that much in the content of Life Sciences and Health, it remains an important and vital part of its organization. It is key that you are able to understand the public or private health care systems of different countries for the process of doing business in the LSH sector. The LSH-component in the organization was although very interesting to me. During the IRIO Bachelor programme, I followed a Core Module in Global Health, Politics and Power. I wrote my thesis about the inclusion of mental health support for former child soldiers in conflict areas. The international focus of the organization and the global health component made that the nature of the TFHC aligned great with my interest and former experience in my BA and MA programme.
Preparation
As I believed the placement at the TFHC aligned with my interests and capacities, I wrote a motivation letter to the organization. Besides, I had to send my CV along. Before I sent in my motivation letter and CV, I approached the institution by giving them a call. I asked more about the position and their desired candidate, and aligned my motivation letter with thisinformation. The telephone conversation with one of the employees was already very positive, and therefore I felt even more confident sending in my materials. During earlier attempts in finding an internship, I got in touch with a professional that offered to help me looking for internships positions. The consultant read my motivation letters and helped me to improve them. Besides, he checked my CV. I also made use of the Career Services of the RUG to improve my CV. I believe this really helped me in professionalizing my representation. For example, I took into account the advice to state my personal goals per month in the motivation letter. Quite fast after I had sent my letter and CV, I got a call in which I was invited for an online interview. I prepared the interview by thoroughly analyzing the TFHCs website and supporting documents setting out the structure and activities of the organization. I also read the internship advertisement again. I wrote down the competencies the organization was looking for in their next intern, and elaborated on why I hold these competencies. I identified several occasions in which these competencies showed off. Also, I once again went over my motivation letter and CV and made sure that I could elaborated on the personal qualities and capabilities that I highlighted in the materials. Besides, I prepared some questions that you normally can expected during a first job interview, such as: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What are your weaknesses? And what can you add to the organization? I also prepared a few questions that I wanted to pose to the employees, some about the practicalities of the internship and others about the nature of the organization. In the first interview, I spoke to two employees of the organization. The interview went very smooth and I had a positive feeling about the position and the organization. The employees were relaxed, but determined and excited about the TFHC. I believed that the placement would be challenging enough and that the tasks aligned with my interests, such as organizing events that facilitate trade and international cooperation, and doing market research. In the second interview, I had an online meeting with another employee, my possible placement coordinator, and with the director of the organization. The second interview was again very positive and the description of the tasks and organization gave me a good energy and feeling. I felt that they were positive about me too. After 2 days, I got a call that I could start in the position 3 weeks later. In the first week to two weeks, my activities were still quite preparatory. I went over a lot of materials explaining the nature and the structure of the organization, the establishment of the organization and explanations of the Dutch ‘Topsector’ policy. Besides, I learned a lot about the health care structure of the Netherlands from an international perspective and in relation to other (European) countries. I also learned in-depth about the long-term missions of the Topsector, such as the goal that all inhabitants of the Netherlands live 5 years longer in 2040. I got 5 workshops of employees of the TFHC, highlighting the different aspects in the organization, ranging from account management to the international LSH playing field. Besides, I had an informal introductory conversation with all employees to get to know each other better.
My expectations of the internship were that I would work in a close, young and vivid team with a great determination to the goals of the organization. I knew that most employees had a background in political sciences, and thus I believed I should not be worried that I had somewhat little knowledge of the ‘health’ aspect of the organization. As I knew that I would work from home half of the time, I expected that I had to be independent and that it would take a bit more courage to reach out to colleagues with any questions. Normally, in a position at TFHC you were required to travel a lot to assist in outgoing trade missions. Also, in normal situations you would welcome and meet several international delegations to the Netherlands. As the pandemic was still going on, I did not expect that travelling abroad would be possible during the placement, unfortunately. Regarding the activities and tasks; I expected, and we agreed upon, that I would work on a few different projects with various programme managers. These were supporting Marketing and Communication for the WoHC-event, assisting in an elderly care partnership with the Chinese NDRC and supporting Dutch organizations attending the biggest medical fair of Europe; the MEDICA in Düsseldorf. Next to these core projects, I would receive some additional tasks on an irregular basis. The breakdown of the workload would be approximately 40% doing executive tasks and 60% working on content, such as doing research, writing country notes etc. During the internship, we would agree on new core projects for my portfolio as the former once were finished. We also agreed that I would support the Marketing and Communications department, especially for the upcoming events. Although this task did not so much align with my study background, I felt that I would manage due to working together with the responsible employee. At the start of the internship, I was expected to work in the office 2 days a week. As I lived in Groningen and the commute to The Hague was long, I moved closer to the organization and found a relatively cheap room in The Hague. As I got a monthly reimbursement of the organization, I did not meet any financial issues.
Activities
In the section hereafter, I will highlight the projects that I worked on particularly. After a description of the content of the project and my tasks within it, I will reflect on what I learned from the task. Besides, I will describe the additional tasks that I got and that did not fall under the different projects. Marketing and Communication The organization had a manager for its Marketing and Communication, which I assisted around the projects. We designed a social media strategy and developed an agenda in which we determined posts for our LinkedIn and Twitter channels. I created most of the content in different programmes, such as Canva. I mainly supported in the marketing around the World of Health Care event, but also created and posted content for different digital meet-ups or webinars. Besides, I helped in managing the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system of the organization. I helped organizing the system to make reaching out to contacts easier and more efficient. Although assisting in MarCom seemed not to be the most challenging task for me regarding my study background, I am satisfied that I learned moreabout CRM, marketing and communication in a broad sense. I believe that this is part of many positions, especially in a small organization with little room for marketing employees. World of Health Care and Health~Holland Visitors Programme 2020 The World of Health Care (WoHC) and the Health~Holland Vistors Programme (HVP) were events organized by the TFHC that were held in mid-November. At the events, stakeholders in health care from the whole world met to discuss their challenges in health care. International delegates could meet with Dutch stakeholder such as NGOs, UMC and SMEs at the event. The event was subdivided into three topic/tracks: digital transformation, elderly care and network care and had a focus on the worldwide developments in health care due to COVID. I helped with setting up the program and maintaining contact with the speakers. Besides, I helped to create content for the three tracks. As the events were fully digitalized, I assisted with the technical parts of the platform and helped visitors find their way. The 3-day events were a great opportunity to network with stakeholders in health care from many different countries. Besides, I gained a lot of knowledge about the health care challenges in countries abroad. MEDICA The MEDICA is the world’s largest trade fair for medical equipment. It was held at the end of November in Düsseldorf. Every year, the TFHC has its own booth, but during the pandemic the events was held entirely online. The TFHC has a ‘virtual stand’ that was opened online for three days, and a small network event. I helped setting up an informative website that gave visitors of our virtual booth more information of the health system in the Netherlands, our partners and the Dutch strengths in the LSH sector. Although I believe our marketing and communication materials were satisfactory, the trade fair was quite disappointing. The platform of the MEDICA was set-up very easily and was not interactive at all. Visitors could merely visit your website, but not interact directly during the three days. Luckily, we organized the network event ourselves, which was still visited by a few foreign delegates. The project gave me an insight in the practice of international trade events and I learned more about networking and connected with many stakeholders during the network session. Digital Showcase Colombia At the end of November, the TFHC organized a 4-day digital showcase to Colombia. Different Dutch companies presented their solution to a public of Colombian stakeholders in health care. I helped to maintain the contact with the speakers that were going to present their solutions. I helped them finding interactive content for the session and made sure this content was translated to Spanish. Besides, I worked on a digital booth/website that presented all solutions and that Colombian participants could visit. I made the notes during the sessions and wrote reports of the sessions and the main takeaways of them afterwards. I also did a fair amount of evaluation of the showcase by making a report of the visits and inputs we had on our digital booth. I learned more about project management during this project and about the attraction of different participants for your events. Besides, as we wanted the presentations to be interactive and challenging, I learned new methods for achieving this.
Digital Mission with Compensar Colombia In December, the TFHC organized a tailor-made incoming for a delegation of the Colombian insurance provider ‘Compensar’. Compensar was interested in the ‘good practices’ that the Netherlands has on elderly care. We produced a 5-day online programme with speakers from several different Dutch elderly care organisations, insurances or care providers. There were around 30 Colombian delegates present. I was responsible for covering the programme and producing the content (with Spanish translation) for the event. Together with a colleague, we collected video fragments of the different solutions and care institutions that would boost the interactivity in the session. I also evaluated the mission by providing an evaluation form for the participants. Eventually, I worked out the results of the evaluation and, together with the project manager, referred these back to the visiting insurer. I learned about hosting a (digital) event, how to keep your public engaged and, most importantly, how to fill a programme with speakers and keep the connection with them. Besides, I learned about the selection strategy of different speakers for your target audience. I also learned on how to evaluate activities and how to present this to the ‘costumer’ or ‘payer’ in this case. Market studies The TFHC got several assignments for writing market studies and reports. The assignments were given by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, the Netherlands Business Support Offices and several Dutch embassies in the target countries. I helped writing market studies for Argentina, the USA and Kenya. The target countries were all different in their health system their openness to international trade and their level of development, which made the tasks increasingly interesting. Argentina I helped writing a market report on opportunities for the Dutch LSH sector in Argentina. As I did know little about the country, the economy and the health system, I needed to get into the materials at the beginning. We worked together with a local consultant that helped us to plan interviews with Argentinian parties. Besides, I interviewed Dutch companies that were interested in doing business in the country or that were already present there. I spoke to a lot of interesting different stakeholders, mostly in the private health care sector. The interviews were very informative and I found it super interesting to interview the top-class in the country’s health system. United States – California For the United States, we wrote a market study focused on opportunities in eHealth, Biopharma, Medical Devices and Mobility and Vitality. The instructing party putted quite some wait on the project, and therefore we worked on it with three colleagues. As we worked with three employees on this study instead of the regular two, I had to take a little more initiative in taking tasks upon me. However, it got to do the interviews with the persons that I wanted to speak to most. For this report as well, I could interview a lot of interesting people with great knowledge of the health care sector in the USA.I also learned more about start-ups, scale-ups and the investments in these companies, such as venture capital investments, and the strategies to find investors. As in California, there are many possibilities in the vey well-developed health care sector, and therefore I needed to make choices and weigh several opportunities.
Kenya For Kenya, we wrote an update of a market study from 2016. The update was on two specific sectors; Medical Devices and eHealth. We also worked together with a local consultant in Nairobi for the update. I learned a lot about the Kenyan (health care) market, which changed my perspective on the developing economy. I did not expect that the country is so open to new technologies, but that rigid older processes of implementing new technologies make it hard to enter and change the system. Besides, I learned about the difficulties and hurdles to enter the market and the bureaucracy and sometimes corruption that come with this process in the country. During all the market reports, I learned how to move away from academic writing. The target audience for the reports were SMEs, NGOs, health care providers and knowledge institutions; a different audience than the one I have been writing academic papers for so far. I learned a lot about market enter strategies and how to spot interesting opportunities in foreign (health care) markets. Besides, I got a good overview of the landscape that there is for organizations that want to internationalize their activities, in foreign countries and in the Netherlands itself. Working with local consultants in three different countries also taught me about the different work ethics that these colleagues had. With some consultants, we could be direct in approaching them or asking them to do various tasks, and with others we had to be a bit more indirect in the communication. Besides, I learned more about how to conduct interviews. As I wrote a substantial part of the studies, I knew what information was still needed for the report and was able to ask targeted questions on these topics. I believe that my capacity to conduct in-depth interviews has profoundly increased during the market reports. Health~Holland International Monitor As part of the international strategy of the Topsector Life Sciences and Health, the TFHC got the assignment to publish ‘country notes’ that describe the opportunities and activities in the LSH sector on various countries. The strategy of the Task Force and the Topsector defined priority countries that had most abundant changes for the LSH sector. For these countries, country notes updating the situation were written. I had to bundle all the individual notes and combine them in one international LSH ‘monitor’. Besides, I had to collect input from different parties on the document; the different Dutch embassies and consulates in the priority countries, the Business Development Coaches of the countries/regions at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, and the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency. The project taught me how to communicate with internally, with the project managers, as well as externally, with all the relevant parties that needed to give their input on the document. In this assignment, I also realized that the different (governmental) institutions wanted to have a say in the process, although these opinions did not always align with each other. I had to find the best compromise that satisfied all parties. Additional Tasks Next to the bigger projects, I got several additional tasks at the organization. These depended on how busy the programme managers were and which type of support they needed.
I helped creating content for webinars on re-connecting with the health care markets in India, Colombia and the USA after the first wave of the pandemic. Is also assisted in the technical set-up of these webinars. For example, briefing the speakers on forehand about the programme and the usage of the digital programme, and managing incoming questions during the webinars. I was asked to make notes of the several high-level meetings, for example of the Dutch LSH topsector international meetings. Although the action of making notes is not specifically challenging, it was a great opportunity to meet high-level decision makers in health care in the Netherlands. It was interesting to hear their perspective on internationalizing the sector and pushing the process forward. I also have been active in the activities committee of the organization, with two other employees. We organized several (online) informal meetings with our colleagues to catch-up with each other. Although the activities for this committee were informal, it increased my sense of belonging to the team of the organization.
Personal development
I believe that I have significantly improved my professional competences during the period of the placement. I have grown into the position of an intern over the time and I was able to take more difficult tasks upon me in the internship. My responsibility and ownership of the projects grew until the end of the period and I believe this showed I was able to keep developing during the placement. The tasks were challenging enough, and if they were not, I could ask for different activities. I will reflect on this matter a bit more in the ‘reflection’ chapter. The general competences that I have improved during the placement are; working with a planning and deadlines, co-working on different tasks with colleagues and networking. During the projects, I improved more specific professional skills, including conducting interviews, writing practical reports for a non-academic audience and setting-up a programme for (online) events and streamlining this programme. Also, I learned more about the creation of content for programmes and presentations. I also increased my capacity to work with programmes such as Outlook, Excel and Canva. Besides, I acquired new competences that I had not been familiar with before, and that I believe are important to possess for entering the job market. I believe that, now that I have half a year of experience in the practical field of International Relations, I am better prepared for finding a future job in the field. I found the placement a great addition to the curriculum of the master programme. As this was my first experience in a professional organization with a hierarchical structure, I learned a lot about how to function in such an environment. I learned about the formal and informal norms of conduct in an organization and learned more on how to approach colleagues or my boss. I believe that, over the course of the placement, I have developed myself in addressing colleagues and became less introvert and hesitant. I also have learned to ask them questions if something was unclear, or to provide more background information when I needed it. I have not only learned about communication, but also learned more about co-working on different projects. As I cooperated a lot, I got a new perspective on how to efficiently divide tasks. I learned how to work together in a more professional way with colleagues andbecame more of a team-player. I believe I fitted well into the team. The internship also taught me a lot about project management, as I have been involved in several projects from the initiation to their completion. Besides, I was taught how to say ‘no’ to new assignments during the periods that I already had too much work to do. I learned how to mark my boundaries in terms of working capacity and time. I now know how to be more assertive in the situations and believe that the works also benefits from taking more time to do it and declining tasks whenever they do not fit in your schedule anymore. Other skills and insights that I obtained were in the field of Marketing and Communication, including on how to identify your target audience and what the best way is to communicate with them. I learned how to use CRM systems properly and efficient. I have learned a lot about the way in which the Dutch governments facilitates international trade for Dutch companies and other organizations. I know a lot about the instruments used to facilitate trade, such as incoming and outgoing trade missions, matchmaking trajectories and trade fairs and events. I believe that I acquired a great amount of information on how these instruments are used and organized. Besides, the organization worked on some consultancy projects for specific companies, and I was taught more about how this consultancy trajectories worked. I have learned a lot about international business development and what the best channels and ways are to internationalize business. Also, I acquired a lot of knowledge on health care systems and challenges around the world.
Practicalities and tips
As the placement was conducted in the Netherlands, I did not have to move abroad. Besides, I hold the Dutch nationality and therefore it did not have to arrange any working permit or other administrative requirements. I moved from Groningen to The Hague, but although housing prices are a bit higher in the West of the Netherlands and rooms scarcer, I had little trouble finding a room. My costs of living aligned with the costs of living you expect to have in Groningen. In the Hague, there are some bigger housing corporations that own student flats in which you can find housing with roommates and be eligible for a rent subsidy. They are often located in the center. The office of TFHC was located near the center, so my commute only took 20 minutes by bike or tram. For future students who want to do an internship at the TFHC, I would advise to check the website and the LinkedIn page of the organization. There are internship positions in ‘International Business’ and ‘Marketing and Communication’. The Task Force evaluates open applications whole year round, although they normally do not have two interns simultaneously. Most of the time, there is room for an intern for a period of 5 months, starting in September and February. You do not per se need to have knowledge of global or public health, yet it is important to have an entrepreneurial mindset and to take the initiative. Also, being able to network easily is an advantage.Reflection
Expectations My expectations of the internship were in a broad sense all fulfilled in a positive way. Overall, I have been very satisfied with the position and believe I have learned a lot. I have developed myself professionally and personally and acquired a great deal of skills that are needed for a young professional entering the job market. As I expected, I had to be more forward towards colleagues in the situation of remotely working. Asking questions did cost me a bit more courage, as all contacts were via mail or phone. In the third week of my internship, my supervisor had two weeks of because of her holiday. In this period, I felt that I struggled a bit staying connected with the team because of the distance and her absence. Besides, I was still going through the process of getting started. I reached out to her to ask about more moments to connect with each other. After her holidays, me and my supervisor scheduled a half an hour check-in every Monday and Wednesday, which really helped to get over this feeling and to stay more connected. Besides, it gave me an opportunity to ask for more or different work and to reflect on the tasks that I had been given. At the start of the internship, we agreed that my workload would be divided according to a 40/60 principle; 40% of my time would be devoted to executive tasks, and 60% working on content, writing reports and studies. In the first 1,5 to 2 months of the internship, I concluded mostly executive tasks. I missed going in-depth into the materials a bit, and I made clear that I would like to do more work which I could gain a more knowledge. I was eager to produce more materials myself. The director and my supervisor helped me to overcome this, and I got assigned more tasks such as the market studies and the country notes/papers. I believe that overall, we achieved the 40/60 division, although the balance was different in certain periods of the placement. Although I expected that travelling and networking at physical events would be very restricted during the pandemic, I was a bit disappointed that physical meetings were entirely impossible during my placement due to the COVID-measures. I would have found it exiting to travel abroad and to get the experience of a trade mission, or to physically meet all stakeholders in the field. I believe that I would also have learned a significant more deal about networking if those events were possible. I believe I was not able to extent my professional network as far as I would have done if COVID-restrictions were not there. Of course, these limitations are entirely out of the power of the receiving organization. Although, in my opinion, the digital construction of meetings restricted networking, I believe I tried to get the most out of the possibilities by trying to be attentive and present in appointments. Besides, I think it is an asset that I learn how to host digital trade events, as they might possibly still be used in period after-COVID as well. Sometimes I felt that my colleagues would revise or control the work that I had been doing a bit too often. As I believe that I made little mistakes in the function, or they did not notify me of them, I sometimes found it a bit unfair that there were checks done on my work. Alsoin several reflections, everyone was very positive about the work that I had delivered. Sometimes I therefore found this way of working a bit counterproductive and would have liked a bit more autonomy in the tasks. This was not the case for all my colleagues, and when I notified my internal coordinator of the matter, she told me that some of the colleagues were perfectionists and felt more secure by double-checking work. Therefore, I did not take it personal and knew that I should not worry too much about the matter. Besides, I would ask my colleagues why they made revises, if they did, and what I could do better next time. Connection to the degree programme During my masters, I learned in the Research Seminar ‘Dutch Foreign Policy’ how important Dutch representation in other countries is for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Besides, facilitating trade is one of its core activities and a key area of interests for its employees. A lot of what I had learned in the seminar, I could bring into practice in the placement. For example, knowledge about the Dutch representation in foreign countries, as well as knowledge about the provision of Dutch development aid to achieve health care goals. This component of the TFHC taught me a lot about the facilitation of international trade for Dutch organizations, which is useful knowledge to bring intro practice in a possible future career at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which I desire. I also got to know interesting employees of the government institution, which broadened my network. I worked together with several (smaller) international organizations and it was useful to see these in practice. As I had learned about those institutions in the BA and MA programme, seeing them at work broadened my perspective on their activities. Working together with different Dutch representatives, I could see the work of diplomats and ambassadors in practice, which was very applicable to what I had learned during the MA programme. Although not being part of my Masters, I followed a Core Module in Power, Politics and Global Health during my BA in IRIO at the RUG. The dynamics in global health that I learned during this course, came back in the work at the TFHC. More generally, I was able to bring into practice certain research methodologies and other skills during the market reports that I wrote. The research skills that I acquired during the BA and MA programme could be brought into practice in these projects. Future career prospects In terms of future career prospects, the internship has been very successful for me. The TFHC offered me a trainee position for at least half a year. It has been three weeks that I work at the TFHC as a trainee, and I got a lot more ownership and responsibility in the tasks that I am doing. I believe that this is a great start to enter the job market in the field. I can gain work experience for another half year, which I believe is useful. The internship has reaffirmed my interest in Global Health. I am considering to do another master after the MA programme in Groningen and my traineeship in this field. The field of Global Health is definitely the one that I want to pursue and therefore it is appealing to do a second degree. The internship combined my interests in international relations and health provision, and thus was a good fit. Besides, I believe that I acquired professional and personal skills and competences that will help me further in my future career. The network that I build up during the placement is also of a great value for the future.
