I believe the author of "Internship courses raise controversy" (Jan. 28) brings up important ques-tions about: 1) The role of internships (paid and unpaid) in students' academic and pro-fessional development, 2) If and how universities should award academic credit for unpaid internships and 3) The overall quality of instruction in all university courses, not just internship courses.

However, I am concerned that the author failed to present a more subtle and balanced picture of the "internship experience"-at least at Brandeis. As internship instructor for the Health: Science, Society and Policy program-one of the largest majors at Brandeis that oversees 70 to 80 percent of its students as they undertake internships each year-I believe it is important to present a more nuanced view of the internship experience.

Regarding points one and two, the author has the legal issue partly (but significantly) wrong. The real issue is about unpaid internships at for-profit enterprises, not unpaid internships in general-an important distinction. Within the HSSP program, the lion's share of our students intern at nonprofit organizations, many of which operate on a shoestring budget. When students intern at a well-known organization in good (or great) financial health, it is not safe to assume that the financial health of all departments within the organization reflects that of the overall organization. For example, within hospitals' research arms, most of the funding is a patchwork quilt as well as grant-based-so-called "soft money."

Beyond the financial component, it's not clear to me that organizations are exploiting academic credit as a vehicle for compensating their interns. In fact, in my conversations with potential internship organizations, I can't think of one that hasn't been surprised that students can receive academic credit-and has thought about how to make the internship all the more meaningful as a result. My impression is these organizations really would like to provide the students with something substantial to grapple with both during the internship itself and during their coursework. 

Additionally, experience has shown me that internship organizations are impressed that the HSSP program has the level of supervision it does over its students during their internships. Neither the internship organizations nor the HSSP program treat the internship experience as "just another box to check."

Regarding point three, I think of the internship course as an opportunity to slow students' thinking down-perhaps the only time in most of their adult lives they'll have the opportunity to be this deliberate-and to get them to really consider where this experience fits in their academic, professional and personal development. 

Last time I checked, staff development was at least on the list of priorities in most workplaces. I understand not all students may be enthusiastic about that sort of reflection, but I strongly believe it's important for all professionals-young, mid-career and seasoned-to take a step back every now and then and see if they can make sense of the bigger picture and make adjustments as necessary. 

In one-on-one conversations with a number of resolute premed students, I've seen their eyes light up when they realize that being a physician isn't the only (or best) way to approach medicine, health care or human welfare. I believe such profound moments of self-awareness are a direct result of the opportunities HSSP students are exposed to-both on and off campus.

Not all internship experiences are created equal. That the author of the original Justice article begins from the premise that they are is a disservice to the many, many organi-zations that care deeply about their interns' intellectual and professional development, to the academic programs that invest substantial time and energy in complementing internships with deliberate reflection and to the students who deserve a pragmatic and fair discourse about the role of internships and internship courses during their time at institutions of higher learning.

-Andrew Hart is a Lecturer and internship instructor in the Health: Science, Society and Policy program, and a Ph.D. Candidate at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management.