Process and Timeline

Posted by hcc-superadmin on Thursday, 3/11/10 at 1:12 pm

Student Recruitment
Intern Applications
Host Organization Recruitment
1st Round Interviews
Placement Process
Intern Selection Criteria
Stipend Amount

Student Recruitment

HCC recruits nationally and within its regions for undergraduate students who are a good fit for the summer internships in our 7 regions. HCC promotes its internships via its website, social networks and extensive university and community contacts. HCC attracts talented, diverse students by undergraduate public health and health related majors and targeting pre-health and culturally-diverse student groups in its internet-based recruitment and in-person outreach strategies. HCC and its alums make on-campus presentations to universities and colleges within our regions to promote HCC and connect with target students. To request a campus visit or electronic information about HCC and its programs, please contact Trisha Lee Garcia at tlgarcia@healthcareers.org.

Intern Applications

Interested students apply to HCC through our web based application. To find out more about our application process or apply for HCC please visit the applicants section. The application due date is Monday, February 13, 2012, 11:59pm PST.

Host Organization Recruitment

Concurrent with intern recruitment, HCC recruits leading health organizations in our regions to serve as hosts for its many qualified applicants. HCC recruits health organizations from all health sectors. A key priority is that the organization provides a meaningful and practical educational experience for the interns. Over 95% of HCC host organizations repeat as intern sponsors so they have a proven track record of providing powerful internship experiences. In addition, HCC is able to recruit adds high quality sites each year. Most HCC host organizations provide the funding for intern stipends and to cover HCC’s program costs. HCC also has some funding from external sponsors that enable it to fund intern stipends in organizations that are serving underserved communities and are unable to pay. HCC’s goal is for students to gain the experience they want and make important contributions to communities. If you would like to support HCC by hosting or sponsoring an intern, please visit the support HCC section or enter a host organization application. The deadline for posting host application is March 15, 2012, though applications posted after the deadline may be consider subject to intern candidate and funding availability. You can also contact Trish Lee Garcia at tlgarcia@healthcareers.org if you have questions about or want to discuss being a host organization or sponsor.

1st Round Interviews

HCC reviews intern applications to evaluate the internship applicants’ fit with both the HCC Program and host organization opportunities in each region. After a careful review, selected applicants will have a first round interview with HCC staff, alumni, and other partners. Candidates who fit with HCC’s selection criteria and with the needs and opportunities of available host organizations will be selected for the placement round of the process. A key factor is the availability of host organization opportunities at the time of the 1st round interviews so that candidates can be selected for the number and type of internships in the region.

Placement Process

Selected candidates from the first round interviews will progress to the final placement process. This involves candidates being sent to interview directly with host organizations. Candidates typically interview with 2-4 host organizations that fit with their interests and capabilities. Host organizations and interns provide feedback to HCC regarding preferences and fit and HCC makes the final placement decision. Depending on the intern’s academic schedule, host organization preferences and the HCC region’s summer schedule, interns start the internship in early-to-mid June.

Intern Selection Criteria

HCC's founders and staff have been placing interns for 20 years. Based on our experience, we use a combination of factors to select interns. Some of the key factors are:

Demonstrated interest and commitment to a health care and/or public health career. Priority is given to candidates interested in pursuing careers in health management, health policy community health, health education, health disparities and other public health options.
Intern interest and qualification fit with host organization expectations and opportunities
Reason for interest in health care and/or public health and level of motivation
Personal statement content and quality
Project, writing, language, quantitative, computer and research skills
Overall grade point average (GPA) and GPA in health-related coursework, though GPA is just one factor.
Ability to work 10 consecutive weeks, full time during the internship
Diversity of the cohort- racial and ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, geographic, interests etc.
Interest in improving health for underserved populations; particularly those in the internship region. Knowledge and experience with communities in the region.
Past academic and/or professional experiences, including first in family to attend college
Geographic and transportation factors that enable interns to successfully complete the program

Host organization feedback after candidate interviews is the final determining factor. HCC only places interns that host organizations agree with be successful in the internship.

HCC strives for a diverse group of participants in terms of majors, schools, interests, ethnicity, experience, and ambitions. While HCC is open to all students, HCC has a commitment to diversity and a large percentage of interns are students of color or from disadvantaged backgrounds. We also have a commitment to supporting interns from the regions that HCC serves who want to give back to their communities.

Stipend Amount

HCC believes that it is important that interns be paid an educational stipend to help cover their educational and living expenses for participation in the program. HCC internships are in high cost of living regions and interns face increasing tuition, fees and other expenses. HCC strives hard to not have expense be a barrier to students participating in a “life and career changing” internship experience.

HCC intern stipends are determined each year based on host organization ability to pay, sponsorships and overall HCC funding. Typically, interns are paid between $3,000 and $4,500 for completing the ten (10) week, full-time continuous internship. HCC strives to pay stipends on the higher end but are limited by available funding. Stipends may also vary by the organization interns are placed in and the source of funding.

We encourage students to pursue work-study funds, if available, from their academic institution. Please see the questions on academic credit on the Students FAQs page for more details. The instructions for pursuing work-study are identical to those for academic credit. This will help organizations and HCC be able to fund more internships at better stipends.