Internship Experience

Health Care Management Internship Experience Labovitz School of Business and Economics University of Minnesota Duluth Description of the Program The purpose of the internship program is to provide juniors and seniors with an opportunity to enhance and apply what they learn in their academic program while working in a health service organization. Students are pursuing a degree in business administration and are majoring in health care management.Those that enroll in the Labovitz School of Business and Economics (LSBE) Health Care Management Internship Program will need to accumulate a minimum of 200 hours of work experience over the course of an academic semester or during the summer. The intent of the program is to provide relevant organizational experience to students who otherwise would not have the opportunity to work before completing a degree. Employers are encouraged to participate in the cooperative education internship program.The basic requirements include a clear agreement regarding program requirements, the type of experience being provided, and a line of communication between the student’s mentor/supervisor and the faculty advisor. Internship Objectives The Health Care Management Internship Program enables students to gain added knowledge and skills through structured work experience. Opportunities are available to the student through an internship that cannot be achieved in the classroom. The primary goal of this endeavor is student learning.The specific objectives are to enable students to learn more about health care management; inform the health care community of student abilities and career preparation; give students the opportunity to develop a sense of responsibility for their continued learning by working independently and collaboratively within the parameters of an internship experience; familiarize students with the experiences related to the process of seeking employment; and strengthen ties between LSBE and the health care communi ty by seeking advice from health care leaders concerning curriculum planning, tudent recruitment, and graduate placement. The internship should be designed to provide the student a hands-on experience in a health service organization. It should provide a first hand look at day-to-day operations of a facility and provide the student an opportunity to observe and assist employees in various departments, if possible. It should provide the student an opportunity to observe and be actively involved in management activities using basic management skills of communication, problem solving, management of relationships, and analysis of information. Roles and Responsibilities of the PartiesEmployers of student interns are an integral part of the work experience program. It is important that employers understand that the internship is an educational program integrated with practical work experience. This requires the employer to give careful thought to the utilization of students who will be em ployed. During the internship the student is not a volunteer or an additional staff member but a trainee working to fulfill his/her learning needs in as active a manner as possible with the capability to make positive contributions to the achievement of organizational goals.The following items are basic responsibilities of the employer, mentor, faculty advisor, and student. Employer: 1. Interview students who apply for an internship with your organization to provide them with the added benefit of going through an interview and to help you decide which student best meets your employment needs. 2. Review and discuss student learning objectives during the interview or at the start of the internship, in order to identify means by which they will be accomplished during the employment period. 3.Plan work assignments progressively so that the student will advance from routine activities at the beginning of the internship to more job variety and complexity as needed knowledge and skills are gained. 4. Evaluate student work performance. As a role model and supervisor of students, employers are in a position to provide interns a thorough performance evaluation. The LSBE Internship Office will provide evaluation forms; or you may want to use your organization’s standard appraisal form to assess the intern’s performance and provide feedback. . Provide liability coverage for student intern. The University of Minnesota Duluth Worker’s Compensation and Liability coverage does not extend to student interns. Employers may be concerned about injuries to students on-the-job or problems that could arise due to student inexperience. We recommend that concerns of this nature be addressed to your legal counsel. Your existing worker’s compensation covers paid employees and could possibly be extended to volunteers for a nominal fee if this work arrangement is established. 6.Abide by the University of Minnesota employment policies regarding the treatment of employees, including prevention of sexual harassment in the work place. Detailed descriptions of these policies can be found in the UMD Employer Handbook. 7. Contact Jennifer Schultz, Director of the Health Care Management Program, at 218-726-6695 should problems arise. Mentor/Supervisor: 1. Serve as a model, coach, mentor, and tutor to the student. 2. Assist the student in identification of learning outcomes and activities to achieve them. 3.Assign the student specific and significant duties and projects that contribute to the student’s education but are also beneficial to the operations of the organization. 4. Ensure that opportunity is provided to permit the student to achieve agreed upon learning outcomes within the allotted time. 5. Observe and/or obtain observations of the student’s interactions and work within the organization and provide feedback. 6. Share information and thought processes with the student to provide as much insight as possible into successful approaches to management responsibilities. 7.Provide the student orientation concerning policies, rules and regulations. 8. Provide a concluding evaluation of the student’s performance during the internship upon completion in a manner which will encourage the student to grow in his/her administrative skills. 9. Report misconduct on the part of the student immediately to the faculty advisor and work with the faculty advisor to determine appropriate action to rectify problems or conclude the internship experience at the organization. Faculty advisor: 1. Provide the student and mentor information concerning institutional policies governing internship experiences. . Provide the mentor with written guidelines concerning the content and conduct of the internship and such additional advice and consultation as may be necessary or requested to ensure a satisfactory learning experience for the student. 3. Provide instruction to the mentor concerning learning objectives for a successful internship and procedures to follow to structure and supervise a successful internship. 4. Take action to withdraw a student whose conduct violates organizational rules or who proves not to benefit from the learning experiences provided by the organization. 5.Maintain contact with the student and mentor during the internship to ensure that objectives are being met and that problems are dealt with in a timely manner. At least one on-site visit will be performed. 6. Ensure that all internships are initiated with a signed learning agreement approved by the student, mentor and faculty advisor. 7. Review student’s journal, final written report, and performance evaluations. Student: 1. Apply for academic credit through college registration and work with a faculty advisor for placement with a mentor. 2. Learn and abide by organizational standards as applied to personnel, e. . follow facility hours and dress code policies, etc. 3. Take as active a role as possible in the operations of the organization, performing actual duties within the department as permitted by staff to learn first-hand the activities and their contribution to the overall effectiveness of the organization. 4. Prepare a list of learning outcomes expected from the internship and obtain approval for it from the mentor and faculty advisor, then identify and pursue specific experiences which will achieve those outcomes, again in consultation with the faculty advisor and mentor. 5.Identify and agree with the mentor upon a special project to be completed to satisfy course requirements while providing a learning experience which assists in meeting the student’s learning outcomes. 6. Meet course requirements for completion of assignments including preparation of two reports and weekly journal entries. 7. Taking into consideration course requirements and the student’s personal work and volunteer experience, prepare a schedule of the amount of time to be spent at the organization, obtain approval of the proposed schedule from the mentor and faculty advisor and ensure that it is implemented.