Jacqueline was an administrative intern for Intermountain Health during Spring Term 2023.
Briefly explain what you did and the result of your internship.
I assisted on several projects for the admin team. My main task was leading the hospital through recertification for LGBTQ+ awareness. I completed this training along with drafting an APP proposal, flow mapping how patients present to different units, and completing a Continuous Improvement course for leaders.
What did you learn on your internship that you were not expecting to learn?
I learned that it can be difficult to relate to certain clinical things when your background is not clinical. The hospital administrator I shadowed only has an MBA while several other leaders are MSNs or have other nursing degrees. I think it puts some separation in between what administration positions understand and what clinical leaders need.
How have your future plans changed because of what you learned from your internship experience?
I think I want to pursue other clinical roles to gain experience in healthcare before pursuing admin jobs. The goal before was go straight into admin however possible, now I'd rather look around first and get a better feel.
Please share how your experience led to personal inspiration or insightful revelation.
I think it required a lot of prayer. For some reason I thought this internship would show me that this is exactly what I wanted in a career. However, that wasn't the case. It led to a lot more confusion about whether this was even the path I wanted. I had so many experiences here that opened up more options than I thought were available and those options also led to more stress of my future career. The internship has been so helpful in showing me that the path post-grad doesn't have to be linear.
Would you recommend this internship to other students?
Yes! The team at Alta View hospital is the BEST!! Everyone is so kind and helpful. The administrator worked with my undecided future and had me shadow every nurse manager and every member of the administrative team. It was so fun and helped give me a clearer picture of the opportunities available in a hospital setting.
Is there anything else you would like to say regarding your internship?
It was the best experience! I highly recommend Intermountain Health internships for anyone wanting complete immersion in their future careers!
