From Intern to Impact

How Two HealthLinks Team Members Found Their Fit

A year ago, HealthLinks Marketing launched an internship program with one goal: give new graduates a real way into medical marketing, not busy work, but genuine hands-on experience and mentorship toward a role that actually fits.

Kat Monk and Katharine McConnell both started without a defined niche. They came in willing to try whatever landed on their desk, and with a team that let them take on challenges before they’d proven themselves, both found where they fit. Ask either one how it happened, and the answer is the same: try everything in front of you.

Kat Monk, HealthLinks Intern

Kat started as a biology major at Belmont Abbey College and worked as a medical assistant at a podiatry clinic. The clinical side didn’t stick, but healthcare did, so she shifted into healthcare administration and marketing.

“I knew I wanted to do something medical,” Kat said. “But then I found out I was good at marketing and talking to people.”

She graduated early in 2024 and landed a HealthLinks internship after interviewing with Chief Strategy Officer Hunter Kerrison. As an intern, there was no script to follow, so when the team mentioned needing more in-person referral outreach, she raised her hand. That’s where things clicked. She liked the variety: new people, new conversations, a different client every day. It carried her from intern to Marketing Assistant to her current role as Referral & Media Specialist.

One milestone stands out: she found a sales lead, booked the meeting, and gave the pitch herself while CEO Cullen Murray-Kemp let her run the room. The client signed before the meeting ended.

“I proved it to myself,” she said. “Being uncomfortable, you’re going to grow more.”

Kat credits Marketing Director Ciara Iorio, Hunter, and Cullen for mentoring her through it. She hopes to help expand HealthLinks across South Carolina, and she’s curious how AI could support referral work without losing the personal touch.

Her advice: “Shadow everyone and say yes to everything, because you don’t actually know what you’re good at yet.”

Katharine McConnell’s Growth at HealthLinks

Katharine switched her major from elementary education to advertising at Oakland University, then freelanced in graphic design in Charleston before landing at HealthLinks that October, expecting mostly design work. Her first strategy meeting changed that. She picked up the vocabulary of healthcare marketing and ended up with a hand in everything: design, the CRM, client deliverables.

A few months in, that range turned into a full-time offer as Marketing Assistant. She’s now a Junior Account Executive managing six clients directly.

“I love the full-service aspect of my role,” she said. “When the clients have a win, it’s a collective win for all of us.”

She calls Ciara her biggest mentor since the two shared an office. On AI, she describes it as the underpai

nting of a painting: it sets a base layer but doesn’t finish the work.

“It’s not going to replace jobs, but the people who do use AI are going to succeed and go forward,” she says.

Her advice: “Say yes to everything that comes your way, and take anything somebody tells you as something you can pull an action from.”

Kat and Katharine landed in different roles, but they arrived at the same advice: try everything, and trust the people backing you.

Looking Ahead

This summer, HealthLinks welcomed two interns: a rising Junior at Washington & Lee University studying Biology with a minor in Communications, and a rising Senior at the College of Charleston majoring in Marketing with a minor in Spanish. 

Written by interns themselves, these stories reflect HealthLinks’ continued commitment to investing in the next generation and the lasting impact the internship program has on both participants and the company’s growth.