At the beginning of the program, my main goal was to get real world experience working on a real product, not just school projects. I wanted to understand how a system is built and maintained when real users depend on it. I also wanted to improve in reading a large codebase, debugging problems, and working in a team environment. Another small goal I had was to feel more confident contributing to code that is actually used, because before this I mostly only did assignments.
During my internship at Surgery AI, my duties included helping build and maintain
features for the surgery scheduling system, debugging frontend and backend issues,
and supporting the product during deployment. Since the company is a small startup, I
also had the chance to work on different parts of the product instead of only one area. I
worked closely with the CTO and founding engineers, which helped me learn much
faster because I could ask questions directly and see how experienced engineers
approach problems.
One of the main projects I worked on was implementing real time updates for the
scheduling system using AWS AppSync. Before this internship, I had never worked with real time systems before, so at first it was confusing for me. I spent a lot of time trying to understand how subscriptions and backend events work together. Another project I worked on was improving the surgery calendar UI using Bryntum. I helped make the interface easier for hospital staff to view and update schedules. I also helped debug issues where the backend data did not match what was shown on the UI, which sometimes caused scheduling information to appear incorrectly.
Another project I worked on near the end of the internship was helping redesign and
build the company marketing website. I worked from a designer’s mockup and helped
turn it into a working site. This was different from my other engineering tasks because it focused more on communication and how the company presents its product to
customers. It helped me understand that software engineering is not only about coding
features, but also about helping users and customers understand the value of the
product.
One moment that was very meaningful for me is when the product went live for the first customer in London in March. During that time, I helped fix bugs and support the
system. It made me realize that even small bugs can have big impact, especially in
healthcare. For example, if scheduling information updates incorrectly or too slowly, it
can affect doctors, nurses, and patients. I also saw that the system helped improve
surgery room usage, which made the work feel more real and important. This is
something I did not experience before in school projects.
Through this internship, I learned many technical skills. I improved a lot in React
frontend development, backend debugging, and working with APIs. I also learned new
tools and technologies such as AWS AppSync and Bryntum. Besides technical skills, I
also improved soft skills like asking questions, communicating with teammates, and
managing tasks when priorities change quickly. At the beginning, I was sometimes
scared to ask questions because I thought I should know everything already, but later I
realized communication is very important in engineering teams.
There were also many challenges. At the beginning, I struggled a lot with understanding the codebase. It is much bigger and more complex than anything I worked on before. Sometimes I would spend hours trying to understand one small bug. I also felt unsure sometimes and had to ask many questions. Another challenge is working in a startup where things move fast and priorities change often. I had to switch between tasks like backend, frontend, and even marketing website. At first it felt messy, but over time I got more used to it.
This internship also made me think more about ethical issues in technology. Since the
product is used in healthcare, reliability and accuracy are very important. I realized that
engineers need to think carefully about how bugs or bad design can affect real people.
For example, hospital staff depend on the scheduling system to organize surgeries, so
mistakes could create stress or delays for patients. I also learned that when working
with healthcare related systems, privacy and handling data carefully are very important responsibilities. This made me think more seriously about the impact software can have on people’s lives.
My goals also changed during the internship. At first I was mostly focused on technical
skills, but later I realized that understanding users and product is also very important.
After launch, I saw how important reliability and user experience are for hospital staff
who are already very busy. This experience made me more interested in product
thinking, not just coding.
In terms of future plans, this experience changed how I think. Before, I just wanted to be a good engineer technically. Now I also want to work on products that have real impact and maybe continue in startup environment. I like the feeling of having ownership and seeing the full picture. At the same time, I also realized I still need to improve a lot, especially in system design and building more scalable systems.
Written By: Ryan Nguyen
UC Berkeley Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Undergraduate