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Health Career Connection Paid Internship Guidelines
Posted by hcc-superadmin on Thursday, 1/7/10 at 3:35 pm

Applicant Eligibility

HCC’s internships are designed for undergraduate students and recent graduates interested in health care, health administration, community health, public health, nursing administration, and public health and administration aspects of clinical practice, as well as other health-related disciplines. Students interested in medicine, nursing and other clinical careers who are unsure about those fields or are open to combining them with HCC’s priority areas can apply and have had very good HCC experiences. Students from all majors can apply. Most HCC interns are college juniors, seniors or recent graduates. However, we also consider sophomores and freshman that demonstrate a commitment to healthcare, academic achievement, maturity and prior work experience. Increasingly, HCC applicants are part of a healthcare pipeline program beginning in high school and going through undergraduate and graduate degrees.

HCC also acknowledges a need to support graduate students and career changers to successfully discover and pursue healthcare career interests. However, we have prioritized our focus on undergraduates because they often lack the organized exposure, experience, and support to choose health career directions. Therefore, we typically do not place graduate students in our internships. You can find sources of opportunities at our Students Resources page.

Given HCC’s commitment to diversity in the health professions, we strongly encourage students of color to apply.

International students are also able to apply; however, HCC and its sponsoring organizations cannot provide any documentation or support for immigration-related purposes (such as sponsorship or for work-visas). It is the applicant’s responsibility to obtain appropriate permissions and fulfill any governmental requirements. An applicant’s visa status must allow them to legally work or receive an educational stipend from HCC or our host organization to be eligible.

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Mentors, Exposure and Projects

Interns are placed in health organizations under the guidance of a preceptor. The preceptor is an executive, manager, or professional who will provide the intern with opportunities to learn about the organization, attend meetings, and work on projects. The preceptor and other members of the organization serve as role models and mentors. HCC is based on the long standing apprenticeship model. Interns obtain exposure to the mission, structure, functions and decision-making processes of the organization. They gain exposure to the numerous roles people play in the organization so that interns can further their knowledge of what they want to do and how to get there.

The primary focus of HCC’s internship program is to provide students with exposure to healthcare administration, public health, community health, health education, health policy, health information technology, and health disparities. There are often opportunities for exposure to more clinically oriented projects (such as nursing administration). However, opportunities to solely shadow a clinician and/or perform clinical duties are not available through HCC (though it may be a small component of a more comprehensive internship experience).

Interns work on one or more projects that are assigned by their preceptor and contribute to the organization. Projects vary by organization. Students gain exposure to administrative functions including operations, finance, human resources, information systems, marketing, public relations, billing and compliance. Some placements are in specific clinical or administrative departments. Attempts are made to place students in organizations and on projects that suit the intern’s goals and interests; however final placement and project work is the decision of HCC and the host organization.

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Professional Development Workshops and Site Visits

In addition to the internship orientation, interns have the tremendous opportunity to attend dynamic HCC workshops which are intended to familiarize the intern with concepts of importance to public health practice (cultural competency, leadership, advocacy) as well as provide practical skills for further professional development (applying to graduate school, maximizing opportunities for career planning). Students are also expected to attend site visits at their fellow interns’ organizations to gain exposure to areas of health other than their own internship.

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Graduate School Test Preparation

HCC is working with leading providers of GRE, MCAT, GMAT and DAT test preparation services to arrange for HCC interns and alumni to have access to free or discounted courses and materials

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Summer School and Studying for Graduate School Tests

Because of the comprehensive nature of HCC’s Program and the numerous opportunities, taking summer school classes, studying for standardized tests (such as MCAT or GRE), or assuming any other paid or voluntary positions during the internship period is strongly discouraged. Please indicate if you are strongly considering or required to do this in your application.

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