Administrative Internship Tips

I’ve been approached by a few people with questions regarding summer internships, so I thought I would blog about some tips that first years might hopefully find helpful in their search for the right internship.

1. Deadlines. Most internship application periods are open in January with deadlines due in mid to late February. So this is prime time to be asking questions, sending in resumes and application forms. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your mentors if you have any questions about the process.

2. Finding an internship. There is not just ONE way to find an internship and this is usually the hardest part about the whole internship process. One of the roadblocks I encountered was the fact that some, if not, most internships aren’t even advertised. Some internships are offered through alums, networking, and a little bit of luck. If there is a particular place that interest you, find out if we have alum who are working there and ask around. Also, since some internships aren’t advertised, if they offer a fellowship, you can ask their main contact person whether they offer an internship as well. You can also check out this website from MGMA, which lists opportunities by state: http://www.mgma.com/pd/default.aspx?id=694. Go to “Student Benefits” and click on “ MGMA and ACMPE Internship-Residency Directory.” Be sure to look for “paid” internships and the length of them (12 weeks). In addition, attending the ACHE Congress is also a great way to locate your future preceptor. An intern I met during my internship found his through Congress and interviewed with his preceptor during the four day event.

3. Don’t get discouraged. Candy and Dr. DeGraaff will ensure that you will be placed somewhere for the summer. Don’t fret if you haven’t gotten one by March or if you didn’t get your first choice. Everything always works itself out in the end and usually for the better. Most of us didn’t know where we were going until late April. A lot of organizations will not make their final decisions until then.

4. Don’t limit yourself. This can be said for the type of organization and geography. Many of us know about the top academic medical centers who are usually recognized through U.S. News and World Report but if medical centers aren’t your interest, don’t hesitate to reach out to consulting firms, pharmaceutical companies and health associations. Many of them offer internships that will provide you with great exposure to management and leadership. In addition, this is one of the few times that you’ll be able to check out a completely new city for a short period of time, so don’t be afraid to absorb yourself in new experiences.

I hope that these tips will give you better insight in finding a great internship.

Best Wishes,
Anna

First HMI-MedZou Meeting!!!

Hello HMIGSAers!

I hope you all had a good break and you're looking forward to a few more weeks of rest, relaxation and wellness. We had our first meeting of 2009 for MedZou today! A lot was discussed, but an important topic was the integration of HMI students. I asked for the new directors to think of how they could best utilize the competencies of the HMI department. I hope we'll have a better idea by next week.

I would personally like to call any student interested to help Chris and I write an IT grant proposal. I think it was be a great experience for all involved and it would really help serve MedZou.

Below is an overview of what we discussed during the meeting.


Minutes for 1/5/2009

We will hold clinic on Thursday 1/8

(1) We had two pediatric pts last clinic. They should have SCHIPs, but for some reason they did not. The solution was for the pts to talk with Angie.
(2) Documentation Issues
- Labs & Scripts
- No Calling in Scripts!
- Issues with forgetting to write scripts (we still need a plan)
(3) F/U for pts to ensure pts follow med instructions
- Working with Dr. Howestine in Block 3 to better educate M1 students about health literacy
(4) Information Management
- Mike Lynch came and told us the clinic’s documentation was adequate!! He will possibly help us leverage EMR integration
(5) Directorship of Clinic
- We decided that 2 new directors and 1 old director would help with clinic operations for the next month
(6) Council of Chairs
- We are inviting Dr. Churchill to the clinic for a tour (Kayla and Vincent)
(7) Scheduling Clinical Students
- Jessica is working to start a Google Calendar for Med students to sign up
(8) IT Grant
- Andrew and Chris are going to get together to discuss writing a grant for $25,000 to use for a website competition
(9) Data Management
- Ryan suggested we have a single person handle collection of data for the clinic. Kayla suggested Brett S.
(10) Labs expansion
- Training people is the biggest issue with expanding labs. The protocol is written.
(11) Nursing Oversight
- Ryan has arranged for two nursing students to help us at the clinic and his faculty advisor will serve as the nursing liason.
(12) Defining Roles
- Serve people mentioned the need for creating clearly defined roles for incoming nursing students. I suggest we do not stop there. I think it would be a good idea to record as many roles as possible within the clinic to reduce confusion during turnovers and transitions. I really like the idea Emily advocating of a true team mentality when it comes to running the clinic. Perhaps a strategic plan coupled with a solid vision, mission and goals will be the best bet.
(13) Areas where IT can help?!?!?
- Organization of Documents (HIPAA Training, Lab Training, Labs, Scripts, Pt. Records)
- Scheduling (Calendars, Invites, Appt. Requests)
- Document Collaboration (Grant Writing)
- Data Collection (RYAN’s Bag, Recording Nursing Hrs)
- Knowledge Management (Access to Articles, Chronic Disease Algorithms)

It seems like information technologies are the new frontier in health care (actually it started in the ‘80s, but who’s counting). President-Elect Obama has made it very clear that one of his first initiatives when entering office is the widespread implementation of EMRs in healthcare and internet access for healthcare providers across the nation. I think it is fantastic that all of you are ready and willing to accept the use of IT in MedZou. It can only serve to benefit yourself and your community in the future.