Hospital Administration Summer Internships: A Launchpad for Future Healthcare Leaders

Securing a high-quality internship or fellowship in Healthcare Management and Administration is a strategic move towards a fulfilling and successful career in the Healthcare Industry. A highly respected internship or fellowship is a great way to gain direct experiential learning that will help you find a position in the field. This article will showcase top internships and fellowships in Healthcare Management and Administration across the United States.

The Value of Healthcare Administration Internships

Top internships and fellowships provide students with valuable hands-on training, mentoring, and real-world experience. These programs offer opportunities for self-directed learning, encouraging interns to independently seek learning opportunities and feedback, develop problem-solving skills, and enhance their adaptability.

Featured Internship and Fellowship Programs

Here are some of the best internships and fellowships in Healthcare Management and Administration, offered by top universities, hospitals, and healthcare organizations across the country. These programs cater to students at various educational levels, from high school graduates to post-graduate fellows.

1. Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago:

This hospital features a one-year, project-based, post-graduate Administrative Fellowship. Fellows work closely with senior leadership, supporting the mission of Lurie’s. Fellows also attend leadership and board meetings, shadowing administration activities throughout the organization. Lurie also offers a summer administrative internship.

2. Unnamed Program:

This one-year administrative fellowship fosters close relationships with senior executives.

Read also: UMMC Services

3. Administrative Summer Residency Program:

This is a 12-week paid internship available to graduate students. Students gain practical management experience in either the Insurance Services Division or Health Services Division. Interns who complete the program will be invited to apply to the two-year, post-graduate Administrative Fellowship Program. During the first year of the program, Fellows rotate with executive leadership by participating in meetings, projects, and initiatives.

4. Unnamed Fellowship:

Fellows will work with their preceptor throughout the year to fine-tune their learning into skills that will be used throughout their careers.

5. UNC Health Care’s Administrative Internship Program (AIP):

This program offers Healthcare Management students a unique summer internship opportunity. Interns work on one or more core projects, gaining exposure to modern health care delivery practices.

6. UCLA Health:

UCLA Health features top Internship and Fellowship programs for students who plan to become future healthcare leaders. The UCLA Health Administrative Fellowship is a 12-month program that allows Fellows to work as part of a leadership team, gaining training in hospital management and administration. The UCLA Health Graduate Student Administrative Internship is a 10-week program that gives students valuable project administration experience.

7. The Administrative Fellowship Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Medicine:

This program provides qualified individuals with a comprehensive training opportunity in Healthcare Management and Administration. These two-year fellowships are tailored to meet the needs of each fellow’s interests and professional goals.

8. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital's Administrative Fellowship Program:

Over the past 40 years, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has been offering a unique Administrative Fellowship Program. This 12-month program is project-based, allowing recent graduates the chance to join a fully functioning administrative team and gain hands-on experience in finance, clinical operations, and service excellence. Eligible candidates include those who will have earned an MHA, MBA, or MPH before the start of the fellowship.

9. The Penn Medicine Administrative Fellowship Program:

This program exposes Fellows to the ever-changing field of health care. Penn Medicine’s Administrative Fellowship is a two-year program designed to give MBA, MHA, MPH, MSN, and other accredited master’s degree graduates the opportunity to be mentored by leading health care executives. Ideal candidates should have two years of full-time work experience in healthcare and have analytical and problem-solving skills. Students are engaged in a mix of short and long-term projects.

10. Unnamed Internship:

A limited number of interns are selected each summer to be placed in healthcare departments across the organization. Interns will work on an assigned project while experiencing the day-to-day operations of a healthcare organization.

11. Oakhurst Medical Centers:

Located in Stone Mountain, Georgia, Oakhurst Medical Centers feature a healthcare administration internship for students pursuing a bachelor’s in healthcare or business administration.

12. Mayo Clinic:

Each year, Mayo Clinic hires a cohort of graduate-level administrative interns with opportunities spanning all our destination and health system hub sites. Mayo Clinic provides an excellent learning environment for healthcare management graduate students interested in health care leadership. Administrative interns join a specific division or department for the summer and are precepted by an Operations Administrator or Vice Chair of Administration. Each intern will fill this position for ten to twelve weeks, dependent on availability and work unit needs. Preceptors provide graduate students with a broad range of learning opportunities depending on the priorities of the department, as well as the graduate student’s professional interests. Our internship program also provides time for professional development and learning through lunch and learns, site visits, and presentations that give you the opportunity to learn from our dedicated practitioners, as well as your fellow interns. Similar to the ideal candidate for our Administrative Fellowship Program, we are looking to hire high-performing graduate students with an interest in gaining direct healthcare administrative experience and are dedicated to continuous learning. The internship posting will open each year early to mid-October, with a deadline in December to start our selection process. To apply, please go to our Careers Site home page and search “Intern-Graduate” to find the posting.

Read also: Healthcare Internship Tips

13. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH):

The Massachusetts General Hospital provides an exceptional learning environment for healthcare management students planning a career in hospital leadership. Their Administrative Internship Program is a summer program that accepts a limited number of master’s degree students each year. The Massachusetts General Hospital provides an excellent learning environment for healthcare management students interested in careers in hospital leadership. Each summer, Mass General accepts a limited number of master’s degree students for administrative internship opportunities. Administrative interns join a specific Mass General department for the summer and are precepted by an Administrative or Executive Director. Preceptors provide students with a broad range of learning opportunities depending on the priorities of the department, as well as the student’s professional interests. Interns meet regularly with their preceptor(s) to discuss their progress. Koren is the Executive Director of Teaching and Education at Massachusetts General Hospital, a role in which she works on institutional planning, execution, and ongoing management of initiatives related to the core educational mission of the hospital. As part of this Education ecosystem, Koren has oversight of the Peter L. Slavin, MD Academy for Applied Learning in Health Care, the Paul S. Russell, MD Museum of Medical History and Innovation, the Treadwell Library, and the MGH Learning Laboratory and Simulation Center. Prior to her role in Teaching and Education, Koren held leadership roles in cancer administration and network development. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Simmons University School of Management. Koren also serves as a course director in a master’s degree program at Harvard Medical School. A limited number of applicants will be invited for initial zoom interviews in late November. Final round panel interviews will be scheduled for mid-December. Internship offers will be sent by early January. Each student’s start date will be the day immediately following Memorial Day (Tuesday). The internship length at minimum is 10 weeks (individual end dates will be identified between the intern and their preceptor). Applicants must submit a cover letter and resume. Other application materials will not be considered. The internship program is designed to promote a sense of camaraderie among the administrative interns. Interns attend meetings and program events together, in addition to professional networking events and self-organized social outings throughout the summer. The internship offers students an invaluable opportunity to strengthen their peer professional network while also building a tight-knit community.

Northwell Health:

The Healthcare Management Program Internship at Northwell Health is designed to prepare the next generation of leaders. This 10-week paid internship experience is offered at various locations throughout New York. This summer program is open to undergraduate students expecting to graduate in December or August of the following year. Interns are matched with a mentor who guides them throughout their internship.

13. The Institute for Diversity and Health Equity’s Summer Enrichment Program (SEP):

This internship is designed to advance the next generation of health care leaders. The program was created to support ethnically under-represented first and second year or recently graduated MHA/MBA/MPH students. The 10-week paid internship program takes place in various metropolitan areas throughout the United States. The program provides interns a hands-on introductory training in healthcare administration.

14. Unnamed Fellowship:

This two-year post-graduate fellowship maximizes professional development and personal growth through a balance of structure and flexibility that transitions Fellows to future healthcare leaders. During the second year of the program, Fellows rotate with the leadership team in specific business areas of interest.

15. Brigham and Women’s Hospital:

Brigham and Women’s Hospital has been providing patient care, medical education, and research for over a century. They feature unpaid student internships for individuals needing to gain experience in healthcare administration. Internships can give students their required number of supervised field experience hours or can serve as personal development. This internship places a strong emphasis on management skills. Student interns at Brigham are students who do not yet possess the necessary skills to function as full-time employees in their chosen field.

16. Barnes Jewish Hospital - The David A. Gee Administrative Fellowship program:

The David A. Gee Administrative Fellowship program at Barnes Jewish Hospital is a two-year program for graduates of healthcare-related professional programs including an MHA or MBA. The administrative fellowship program at Barnes Jewish Hospital provides meaningful opportunities to interact, coordinate, and manage projects of strategic importance to the hospital.

17. Unnamed Internship (Healthcare Consulting):

They offer a unique internship experience in healthcare consulting. Applicants must be enrolled as a full-time student in a business area (including healthcare administration) or a related program and have excellent academic performance.

18. Aurora Health Care:

Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee, Wisconsin features both an Administrative Fellow program and an Administrative Intern program. The Administrative Fellow program is a 13-month post-graduate training program for students who have completed the 2nd year of an MHA program. The program is designed for students at the early stage of their career and prepares them to become leaders of health care institutions. The Administrative Intern program is a 10-week program for students finishing their first year of an MHA program.

19. The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Diversity Internship:

This is a unique program that complements graduate study in either healthcare or association management. Interns will participate in the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity’s Summer Enrichment Program and will complete a final project as part of the program.

Sheppard Pratt:

The graduate school intern will work with and shadow members of the Senior Leadership Team and subsequent areas of the hospital as they develop their management and leadership skills. The chosen candidate will work on an identified project that holds personal interest as well as value and benefit to Sheppard Pratt.

Application Advice

The internship posting for Mayo Clinic will open each year early to mid-October, with a deadline in December to start our selection process. To apply, please go to our Careers Site home page and search “Intern-Graduate” to find the posting.

For the Massachusetts General Hospital program, a limited number of applicants will be invited for initial zoom interviews in late November. Final round panel interviews will be scheduled for mid-December. Internship offers will be sent by early January. Each student’s start date will be the day immediately following Memorial Day (Tuesday). The internship length at minimum is 10 weeks (individual end dates will be identified between the intern and their preceptor). Applicants must submit a cover letter and resume. Other application materials will not be considered.

Benefits Beyond the Job

“As an Intern, I felt that administrative leaders were personally invested in my development throughout the summer and took an interest in the projects I was working on. You are granted incredible access to every level of the organization and encouraged to jump in and bring your perspective to complex problems from day one. “By the end of my summer internship, I not only left with a series of projects I could speak to, but I had also built an incredible professional network. Throughout my entire experience, my summer preceptor helped me cultivate leadership skills in project management, teamwork, and operational excellence. She also helped me grow a lot of my soft leadership skills, which included assertiveness, empathy, and confidence.

tags: #hospital #administration #summer #internship