
Whenever I need stories that do not portray people living with chronic conditions as ‘patients’ or ‘sufferers,’ but as people that face their illness with courage, strength, and hope, I give Karina a call and reserve the front page.
Raoul Mazhar – Editor-in-chief Austrian Ärzte Woche
Education
September 2002 – June 2006
Three year standardized education as medical assistant and permanent position in medical offices:
Dr. Bauer/ Ehrengut/ Wonka in Neumarkt, Germany
Final grade: 1.33 (resembles grade A)
Exam: 1.7 (resembles grade B)
Main focus:
- Care for complex, mostly chronically ill patients
- Guidance and examination of diabetic patients
- Diagnostic testing such as ECG, geriatric diagnostics, vital parameters, cancer screening
- Assistance during outpatient surgeries
- Phlebotomy, injections
- Responsible for office hygiene
September 2006 – July 2009
Three year standardized study as laboratory technician at the Staatliche Berufsfachschule B8 in Nürnberg, Germany
Final grade: 1.04 (resembles 21 subjects with grade A, one subject with grade B)
Exam: 1.3 (grade A)
Resulted in admission to a program that supports students with extraordinary talents
August 2009 – December 2012
Department Biology, Chair of Biotechnology, University of Erlangen Prof. Yves Muller
Researching bacterial effector proteins, in particular SiiE from Salmonella
Main focus:
- Chromatography
- Cultivation of bacterial expression systems
- Protein biochemistry and crystallography
- Lectures and presentations
- Lab management
- Support for students
- Documentation and review of results in scientific publications
2013 – today
Disabled due to illness
Freelance journalist and award-winning filmmaker
My work centers around medicine, science, chronic illness and disability with a focus on the accurate representation of people with disabilities.
January 2018 – 2020
Edinburgh Napier University; Masters of Arts with distinction in international journalism for media professionals
Winner of the class medal for outstanding journalistic and academic work
Internships
August 2018 (5 weeks) – Belo Cipriani
Creating visual content for Belo Cipriani’s YouTube channel:
“Firsts” is a mini documentary series about several authors contributing to the book “Firsts – Coming of Age Stories by People with Disabilities” by Belo Cipriani.
September/October 2018 (5 weeks) – The Mighty
Working with the video department
Editing articles of The Mighty contributors & creating original content
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome newsletter
Courses and qualification
Distance study – Journalism SGD (Studiengemeinschaft Darmstadt) (grade 1; resembles A)
Languages
German (native speaker)
English: TOEFL Score 119/120 (2017)
Skills
MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point)
Apple Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iMovie
Basic HTML
FileZilla, OsiriX, Scrivener
WordPress, Social Media, YouTube
Video production including filming & editing; closed captions & descriptive audio
Podcasting
Blogging, SEO
Editing
Academic writing
Copywriting
Content creation
Creative writing
Storytelling