Thank you for your interest in providing an internship for an HSM student! Your organization plays a key role in preparing student interns for their future careers because you offer valuable real-world experiential learning opportunities.

If you're a student, visit the HSM Internship website for students.

The Value of a University of Minnesota Health Services Management Intern

“. . . through group projects you definitely learn how to lead groups, create professional level presentations and collaborate among your teammates. And…fulfilling deadlines, which are definitely valuable in my internship as well.”

— Jacob Rodriguez (Spring '22) Independence Blue Cross (AmeriHealth Administrators), Operations Intern, talking about how the HSM program prepared him for his internship.

Hear from more interns about their internship experiences in the video below.

8 reasons to hire an HSM intern

U of M Health Services Management interns…

  • are taught by working health care professionals dedicated to cultivating excellence in the leaders of tomorrow.
  • have fresh perspectives, energy, and insights, and a commitment to teamwork and leadership.
  • bring foundational knowledge of key health care administrative concepts such as
    • diversity, equity and inclusion
    • organizational development
    • finance, quality, and safety
    • project management
    • innovation
    • law and ethics.
  • can offer added capacity to help you advance special projects or back up projects that are shorthanded.
  • contribute their analytical, writing, research, and interpersonal skills.
  • have a passion for making a difference in health care, and many have key language and cultural skills to contribute to the community being served.
  • benefit from real-world experience to prepare them for the important roles they’ll be stepping into.
  • gain confidence from the mentorship and experience you’ll be providing.

"I felt she came in very well prepared both in terms of technical and soft skills. I was extremely impressed with her confidence and skills in communicating with employees and leaders from many areas of the organization, her ability to take initiative and be a self-starter, and her willingness to ask questions."

—Internship Provider Review

Are you ready to host an HSM intern? The first step is to post your position. Please direct any questions you may have to hsminternships@umn.edu.

What Makes a Great Internship?

A great internship experience includes these basic site expectations and best practices, in addition to the items below.

Orientation

Begin by sharing your organization's mission, philosophy, and operational framework. Typically, an intern spends about two weeks in orientation before moving on to projects.

Projects

Interns will engage in detailed assignments designed to give practical experience while carrying the intern broadly across the organization. These projects may include assisting in the budget preparation, collection of data to analyze problems of high organizational priority, or participation in strategic planning. As a requirement of the HSM internship, students must give a formal presentation on their applied learning and skills to an audience of students, faculty, and professionals.

Access to Meetings

Interns benefit from attending meetings for management staff, medical staff, governing board, or clients. It's recommended that the mentor and intern discuss how sensitive information concerning the organization is to be handled internally and externally.

During the internship approval process, the internship supervisor will agree to the internship site expectations that include best practices for hosting internship sites.

Designating a Mentor

Mentors consistently report that their role is very rewarding, as they have the privilege of being a guide, a motivator, and a resource for the next generation of health care professionals. Successful mentors work the following elements into their internship structure.

Training

Mentors and other members of the management staff will train the intern, setting aside the time necessary to acquaint the intern with their role and duties over the term.

Regular Check-ins

It's beneficial for mentors to set up a weekly check-in schedule in order to discuss the intern's progress, as well as challenges facing the organization.

Feedback

It's great to allow the intern ample opportunities to engage in research and make recommendations for the organization. Mentors can assist interns by making themselves available to discuss and give feedback as interns develop their projects.

At the conclusion of the internship, mentors submit an online evaluation of the intern’s experience and performance on a form emailed by the HSM program.

Read a sample job description of a mentor

Frequently Asked Questions

The internship is a required component of the Health Services Management academic program that provides students with a consolidated period of time to relate and apply what they have learned in the classroom to a health care organization. The purpose of the internship is to provide an introduction to the daily activities of a health care organization from the perspective of health care business management. Whenever possible, the internship is tailored to the interests and professional needs of the student.

HSM students have completed a series of courses prior to the internship designed to give them an understanding of and exposure to basic management challenges in health care organizations. Students have also been required to analyze data, write numerous reports, collaborate on group projects, and make oral case and organizational presentations that have been reviewed and graded by faculty. The combination of management projects and applied health services management courses provides a solid foundation for the internship.

Students are responsible for finding their own positions, with the assistance of the HSM Internship Coordinator and Career & Internship Services. They are encouraged to seek internships at organizations in which they have an interest. They can also view a list of open internship positions on Handshake, the University of Minnesota’s professional job, internship, and volunteer opportunities database.

Students and alumni job seekers can upload their resume into Handshake at the University of Minnesota for you to view, as long as you have an employer account. A resume book of internship-eligible students is sent during the winter. If you would like to be added to the distribution list, please contact hsminternships@umn.edu.

All students should have an orientation to the organization at the start of the internship and access to meetings with a variety of internal and external constituents as relevant to their role throughout the duration of the experience. A major component of the internship is assigned projects designed to give practical experience at various administrative levels. As a requirement of the HSM internship, students must give a formal presentation of their learned skills and expertise and their application in the internship setting to an audience of students, faculty, and professionals. The student should also have a mentor as a point of contact in the general management of the organization.

Students have previously worked on a variety of roles/responsibilities including, but not limited to: provider productivity and compensation metrics, clinical quality metrics and patient retention, patient check-in process improvement, clinical supply workflow implementation, updating databases, policies and procedures, diversity and inclusion initiatives, marketing and social media reach, clinic insurance guidebook, etc.

At the conclusion of the internship, the mentor will be requested to submit an evaluation of the intern's experience and performance on forms provided via email. This evaluation will only go to the HSM internship course instructor. The intern is also evaluated on work completed within the course.

Schedule and Work Hours

Schedule

The internship spans 10 weeks and can take place during the fall (September–December),spring (January–May),or summer term (June–August). The specific internship schedule is created by the mentor and intern, but should align with term dates. You can determine what works best for your organization.

Work Hours

The HSM internship requires a minimum of 200 hours. While 200 hours is the minimum program benchmark, students are encouraged to complete as many hours as possible at the internship site. Therefore, it is not necessary to decrease the requirement to 200 hours if this is not appropriate for your site.

Compensation

Internships can be paid or unpaid, part-time or full-time. The HSM program strongly encourages paid internships when possible. Internships require more work and commitment than most volunteer positions, so compensation is a fair expectation. Paid internships also tend to draw more committed, diverse, and qualified candidates. The average pay for HSM interns in 2022−23 was $19.67 per hour (range of $15−$25 per hour).

Posting Your Position

If you have an intern position, the best way to promote your position to students is to post your opportunity on Handshake. University of Minnesota undergraduate students are trained to use it as a top resource, and recent alumni also continue to use Handshake at the University of Minnesota to find opportunities. Visit Career & Internship Services for more information on how to set up an account and use the features in Handshake.

If you have an internship posted on your company website and would like it promoted to Health Services Management students, please contact hsminternships@umn.edu with the information.

If you would like assistance creating an internship position at your organization, you can view a sample Health Services Management Intern job description or contact Career and Internship Services at 612-624-2710.

Additional Resources

For additional information or questions on the internship process, contact the HSM Internship Coordinator, Alissa Bigelow, at hsminternships@umn.edu or 612-625-5276.

For additional information on other ways to support the HSM program, contact the HSM Faculty Director, Frances Fernandez at fernandf@umn.edu.