Skin in the game: Social Sciences student Emily Pascazi’s internship with AI skin condition detection app

Pascazi’s social sciences background brings a ‘completely different perspective’ to meaningful work in the healthcare industry.

Watching plastic surgery might not seem like a typical day for a Social Sciences internship student, but for Emily Pascazi, that was just one of the experiences she took part in during her time with Skinopathy, a healthcare company that uses AI to screen for skin conditions.

But not only is Pascazi seeing firsthand how the medical industry works, she’s also learning how her social sciences degree can be a valuable addition to the healthcare workplace.

A dream come true

“Growing up, I always wanted to work in the healthcare industry, and help to solve some of the societal issues in the

field, like the lack of access to medical services in some part of Canada,” said Pascazi.

That led her to apply to the Health and Society I entry pathway, and later, enrolment in the health and society program. And for Pascazi, this program is the best of both worlds.

“I’ve always loved healthcare, but I also loved the social sciences and learning about how healthcare impacted various aspects of society,” she said. “I feel that, through this program, I can bring something to the healthcare field that not many other people can.”

Eager to gain hands-on experience, Pascazi started her search for internships, and discovered a position at Skinopathy; an organization that focuses on creating AI tools for physicians, nurses, and patients to pre-screen for skin cancers.

In a short space of time, Pascazi has worked in a variety of different roles across the company, gaining insight into what goes into creating a successful healthcare tool like this one.

At various points, she has helped engineer the app, promoting it at conferences and even helping to author a research paper looking at mole mapping along colleagues from Skinopathy, with the aim of being published later this year.

Social Sciences in healthcare 

And along the way, Pascazi discovered how her social sciences background fits in the healthcare industry, both through the soft skills she’s developed, and the academic focus of the faculty.

“The skills that I learnt in Social Sciences mean that I bring a different perspective and set of skills to the internship that complement my work with students that are in health sciences, biology or

computer science,” she said. “I feel like I bring strong communication and teamwork skills, and my academic work helps me to look at the work of Skinopathy through a societal lens.”

Harkening back to Pascazi’s concern that some members of society aren’t able to access healthcare, she said that, since Skinopathy is app-based, it can provide services to patients in remote communities that might otherwise find it difficult to get prompt medical care for their skin condition. And for Pascazi, that’s just what effective healthcare is all about.

“At the end of the day, healthcare is not just the medical science: it’s the way it impacts every part of our lives and society,” she said.

Support along the way

All the while, Pascazi’s journey was supported by staff on the faculty’s Careers and Experiential Education team.

In particular, she learned a lot about the job application process through SOCSCI 2EL0 Career Preparation in the Social Sciences, which is becoming a credit-bearing course in the Fall of 2025.

“It prepared me for every aspect of the job-application process,” she said. “It helped me set up an effective LinkedIn profile, a proper resume and gave me useful tips on the interview process. It’s how I landed my internship!”

Having undertaken the internship and gained valuable experience in the field, Pascazi is now even more committed to working in the medical field. While she’s not sure exactly where that path will take her, she knows one thing for sure.

“Having my social sciences degree will definitely make me stand out,” she said.