UWA Master of Information Technology student Sanchia Recson Lakkarvi applied her technical skills to make meaningful community impact during her McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship with the Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS) at Perth Children’s Hospital.
Sanchia said she was drawn to the McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship program because she wanted her skills to extend beyond university assessments and contribute to something real. As an international student, she was especially motivated to connect with the Western Australian community in a way that felt purposeful.
During her internship, Sanchia worked as the WA Newborn Hearing Loss Database Intern, supporting the development of a new database used to track infants diagnosed with hearing loss across Western Australia. Her role involved working with REDCap, transferring and configuring data fields, and carefully cleaning, validating and reconciling hundreds of sensitive screening records. She also test‑ran the database, identified and fixed bugs, and documented processes to ensure the system could be used efficiently into the future.
Her supervisor at CAHS highlighted the significance of Sanchia’s contribution.
“Despite the project being very much outside of her domain of expertise, Sanchia efficiently cleaned up data sets, test ran the database, fixed bugs along the way and ensured the project was completed to a high standard,” she said. “Without Sanchia’s efficient work, this project would not be complete in the foreseeable future given the clinical workload of the team.”
Although the work was highly technical, Sanchia quickly recognised its broader significance. Each dataset represented a newborn child whose early hearing outcomes could influence their development, education and wellbeing. Ensuring the accuracy and reliability of this data was critical to supporting early intervention and ensuring no child was missed.
Reflecting on her experience, Sanchia said the most rewarding aspect was understanding how much clinicians rely on robust data systems to deliver timely, effective care.
“Knowing that a correction I made or a pattern I picked up could help a baby receive early support made every hour feel purposeful,” she said.
The most challenging aspect of the internship was stepping into a clinical environment with unfamiliar terminology, complex datasets and a high level of responsibility. Sanchia said this challenge pushed her to grow quickly, strengthening her attention to detail, communication skills and confidence in addressing complex problems.
Her supervisor praised these qualities, noting Sanchia’s professionalism and collaborative approach.
“Sanchia was enthusiastic, creative and asked thoughtful questions throughout the placement,” she said. “She demonstrated a close eye for detail, communicated clearly each week, and worked closely with a clinical placement student to resolve clinical questions, which was a valuable experience for both students.”
The experience also shifted Sanchia’s career perspective, sparking a new interest in health informatics.
“I realised how powerful good data management can be in improving health outcomes, and how much work happens quietly behind the scenes in healthcare,” she said.
Sanchia believes her work will allow clinicians to spend less time navigating administrative issues and more time focusing on families and early intervention. The database she helped deliver will enable the audiology team to analyse outcomes, support quality improvement and report more easily against international best practice—creating lasting benefits for the WA community.
She strongly recommends a McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship to other students.
“It gives you the chance to grow while contributing to something that truly matters,” she said. “For me, it created a sense of belonging, purpose and pride, and shaped the kind of professional I want to become.”