Healthcare Administration InternAt — Imperial Primary Care Medical Group

This academic internship provides undergraduate or post-baccalaureate students with structured exposure to the clinical, administrative, and systems-based operations of a primary care office. Interns will engage in supervised, pre-professional activities that support patient care, care coordination, health education, and quality improvement initiatives.

The internship emphasizes the integration of academic knowledge with real-world healthcare practice, focusing on patient-centered care, interdisciplinary teamwork, healthcare workflows, and ethical considerations in clinical environments. Students will be mentored by healthcare professionals and will participate in reflective and evaluative activities aligned with academic learning outcomes.

Tasks:

Intern volunteers will provide non-medical assistance to doctors, patients, and clinic staff.
Their tasks may include and will not be limited to:
Clinical & Patient-Facing Support:
- Assist with patient intake processes (e.g., rooming patients, documenting histories under supervision)
- Shadow and support preventive care visits and chronic disease management workflows
- Assist in patient education efforts related to health maintenance, screenings, and lifestyle counseling
Administrative & Systems-Based Tasks:
- Support care coordination activities, including referrals, follow-ups, and patient communication
- Assist with electronic health record (EHR) documentation and data organization (non-diagnostic, supervised)
- Observe billing, coding, and insurance workflows to understand healthcare system operations
Quality Improvement & Learning Activities:
- Participate in quality improvement or population health initiatives (e.g., chart reviews, workflow assessments)
- Collect and analyze basic data related to patient flow, access, and or preventive care measures
- Contribute to a reflective or analytical academic project (e.g., report, presentation, and or portfolio)
Professional Development:
- Attend team meetings when appropriate
- Engage in reflective journaling and or discussion connecting experience to healthcare theory and career goals
- Develop communication, teamwork, and ethical decision-making skills in a real-world clinical environment

Training:

The internship includes structured training and mentorship to ensure students meet the stated learning outcomes:
Initial Orientation (Week 1):
- Overview of the primary care practice
- Clinical and administrative workflows
- Patient privacy, HIPAA compliance, and professional conduct
- Emergency procedures and safety protocols
Ongoing Training and Mentorship:
- Weekly or bi-weekly check-ins with a designated supervisor to review progress, answer questions, and provide formative feedback
- Shadowing and guided participation alongside healthcare professionals (e.g., medical assistants, providers, office managers)
- Case-based discussions or debriefings to connect clinical observations to healthcare theory and best practices
- Midpoint and final evaluations assessing skill development, professionalism, and learning progress

Learning Outcome:

By the end of the internship, the student will be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of primary care operations and workflows, including patient intake, documentation, care coordination, and follow-up processes.
2. Analyze the role of interdisciplinary healthcare teams in delivering comprehensive, preventive, and patient-centered care.
3. Interpret basic clinical and administrative data (e.g., vital signs, visit flow, or population health indicators) to support quality improvement and patient outcomes.
4. Apply foundational healthcare knowledge, including patient care principles, public health concepts, and health system considerations, to real-world clinical settings.
5. Demonstrate professional communication and pre-professional competencies, including teamwork, time management, documentation, accountability, and appropriate interaction with healthcare professionals and patients.
6. Evaluate ethical, social, and cultural factors influencing health and healthcare delivery, and synthesize experiential learning with academic theory through structured reflection and analysis.