Adopt-a-Hospital Project: An instructional tool for hospital administration

Abstract

Backgournd: More often than not, university health administration curriculums are generic and are not foundational to a specific career track. This is especially true in relation to the transition from graduation to a hospital administration career progression. The overarching question is, “How does one prepare themselves for senior leadership in an acute care hospital setting?”
Objective: A semester-long assignment – Adopt-a-Hospital Project – is discussed in the context of a healthcare finance course as tool for preparing students to think administratively regarding hospital operations. This Project is presented as an academic foundation preparing students for the required semester-long internship placement in an acute care hospital.
Results: The Project-Internship sequence has, over a four-year period, demonstrated its value as an academic and experiential learning bridge from the academy to the world of work. Informal, qualitative findings are discussed in terms of a future quantitative study incorporating: (1) preceptor surveys, (2) intern surveys, and (3) focus group feedback.
Conclusions: The Project-Internship sequence fosters a link between academic content and experiential learning in an acute care hospital – thereby augmenting one’s post-graduation readiness to pursue a hospital administration career track.