Atifa Hoque is a longtime veteran of the DME Internship, spending two years as a social media intern in her first year and executive leadership team intern for social media in her second year. Atifa had originally selected three other internships to apply to before receiving an email from Dom Ramirez, the program head manager of the DME Internship, to join the social media team with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Leadership has changed over the years since Atifa had started the DME Internship in the Summer of 2018, like the new leadership positions that opened up and the large number of new interns that joined in her second year. Atifa was later offered the leadership position of Social Media ELT and said that her new transition involved overseeing and managing metrics, training new interns, signing forms, as well as drafting and scheduling social media posts.
The VA’s Social Media posts are primarily concerned with reaching out to veterans and their families to provide them with information that can help them in everyday life. The VA’s medical and health care centers offer such help and support to veterans. Atifa said that social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are used to spread Veteran resources and social media posts like the #VeteranOfTheDay posts, Anniversary/Remembrance posts and daily VA Blog Posts.