Mayo Clinic provides internships, mentoring for undergrads on accelerated career pathway
By Jay Furst
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Akhil Kollengode is a University of Minnesota Rochester (UMR) scholar who goals to be a venture supervisor or operations supervisor in healthcare when he graduates. Thanks to an modern collaboration between Mayo Clinic and UMR, he is on a quick monitor to attaining that.
Kollengode is a paid intern at Mayo Clinic as a part of the Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences diploma program at UMR. The internship is a key element of an accelerated pathway known as NXT GEN MED, the place college students are enrolled in courses and training year-round and obtain their diploma in 2½ years, together with three semesters of internships and mentoring offered by Mayo Clinic throughout that point.
“NXT GEN MED is helping to kick-start my journey to become an operations manager faster than with a typical four-year degree program,” he says. “It also provides me with resources and networking opportunities early on in my college career, which will set the foundation for my work career and make that transition easier.”
The NXT GEN MED program was launched in August 2022 with 10 college students who are actually engaged in internships in numerous work areas at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Kollengode and his classmates are anticipated to graduate subsequent 12 months.
NXT GEN MED goals to create numerous and equitable pathways to healthcare careers in administrative companies, says Jess Anderson, applications supervisor and senior schooling specialist for Mayo Clinic’s Office for Academic Partnerships. Going ahead, Mayo Clinic has agreed to fund as much as 48 internships yearly.
“This collaboration with the University of Minnesota Rochester provides Mayo Clinic departments the opportunity to build relationships with undergraduate talent early — within a student’s first year of study — via mentorship and internship experience in their final 18 months of study,” she says.
Among the Mayo Clinic departments and work areas which can be offering internships are the Center for Digital Health, Center for Health Equity and Community Engagement Research, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, Health Education and Content Services, Mayo Clinic Ventures, Practice Administration, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology administration, and Supply Chain Management.
“We want to assure that interns come away from their experience with a solid understanding of Mayo Clinic’s mission, vision, values and culture,” says Anderson. “The internship should really help the student gain skills and clarify their career goals.”
The internships are for 12 hours per week, 15 weeks per semester for three semesters, with per week off between semesters. Each scholar has an advisor to offer steering and experience all through the internship. Advisors function facilitators, academics, evaluators and function fashions for interns, says Guy Finne, director of Education Business Development for Education Administration.
“At the end of the internship, the student hopefully can say that the experience contributed in an important way to their career development,” says Finne. “The goal is to make it as interesting and valuable for them as it is for us.”
The Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology — with about 3,500 employees, one of many largest departments offering internships for this primary UMR class — has one intern this 12 months and hopes to have as many as 5 sooner or later. Intern Safa Moustapha Ahmed, whose household is from the East African nation of Djibouti, started her internship in May and can achieve expertise in provide chain operations, technique administration companies and departmental administration throughout her three semesters.
“I had a feeling that this program would allow me to explore many fields in the healthcare system outside of patient care,” Ahmed says. “I was looking for an opportunity to work behind the scenes and still have an impact on caring for patients. The program is very challenging since it’s fast-paced, which makes it a good fit for me.”
“For Safa and other interns participating in NXT GEN MED, to be able to get an internship experience at Mayo Clinic and complete a bachelor’s degree in 2½ years is really an unparalleled opportunity,” says Mark C. Brown, operations administrator for the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. “For our department, it’s an easy choice — why would we not do this? We’re able to work with really smart and motivated young people, and ultimately, we hope that Safa and other interns are able to return to Mayo Clinic to begin their careers after graduation.”
Lori Carrell, Ph.D., UMR chancellor, says the partnership with Mayo Clinic could be a nationwide mannequin for how employers and better schooling establishments can work collectively to develop expertise.
“The University of Minnesota Rochester’s numerous college students are all obsessed with making a distinction on this planet by way of a career in healthcare,” says Carrell. “The Mayo Clinic Office for Academic Partnerships not solely linked us to hiring managers to discern wanted proficiencies and inform the college design workforce, they proceed to reinforce work-based studying by way of internships and mentoring.”
#
Media contact:
- Jay Furst, Education Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu