Experiential Learning
Our school incorporates externships into many of our programs. It definitely helps with placement. We have a program that when brought in didn't have an externship and placement was difficult at times. When they changed it to include an externship our placements increased incredibly. I have worked for schools that chose to discontinue externships in certain programs because externship coordinators complained about the difficulty finding sites. In my opinion it was never a good idea. We lost the externship to placement side and when they students did get jobs their skill level was much lower. When employers hire graduates from a specific school and their skills are not very good they will quit contacting the school with their open positions. I absolutely love externships. The externship coordinator I work with now is wonderful. She knows the significance of externship sites and hiring. She keeps track of the externship to placement and prides herself on the conversion rate. I am very lucky to have her.
Daniel,
Internship programs are very beneficial. Does your institution have a successful internship to hire rate?
Sheri Leach
we have an internship program with all of our media partners
Which of the following experiential learning opportunities mentioned in the course does your institution implement (Service Learning, Internships, Externships, Co-ops, Interdisciplinary Projects, Work-Study), and how would you evaluate the success of each?
Hi Sharon,
Are there interviews conducted with students who do not complete to get feedback from them on what prevented them from completing? When you say you suspect the students didn't select a site in alignment with what they truly desired from the course experience, what makes you feel this way? For others who may also experience this challenge, what steps have been taken thus far to improve this issue?
Robert Starks Jr.
Our campus schedule utilizes the last two courses as externships for six weeks each plus 180 work hours per externship. I always promote these courses as the student's opportunity to basically select the externship site of their own choosing and who they prefer as the instructor. I encourage them by explaining that this is what I would do if I were in their shoes and had infinite possibilities in my selection criteria. Unfortunately, many students don't complete their externships and I believe that this is due to the fact that they selected a site that really wasn't what they truly desired from this course experience. Current students just can't believe that students don't complete externships and look at you as if you had two heads when you explain, but it happens every six week block!
Externship is an extension of the students' education. While it is not in a classroom setting, the students gain skills and competencies that might otherwise not be taught in school. At the same time, students apply the skills learned at school in the real world. They also gain more confidence when working in the industry during their externship and would be a great, marketable candidate for employment if and when the externship site does not hire the student after completion of the externship.
We require an externship of all students as a graduation requirement of our program.
It has been a great success for both our students and the hospitals we have worked with. Just last year one of the externship locations we work with was merging with another hospital and was not going to be able to take any externs for a year. But as they took the last externs, they hired 4 of the last 8 who did their externship there, knowing they had positions to fill but also knowing they would not have the chance to test drive (as I always say) any potential employees to find the ones that fit their organizations.
So I think that externships work both ways - a huge advantage for the students in job experience and way to overcome the "need a year experience" they find at many health care jobs. And on the other hand, it helps employers find the employees they need.
My institution uses internships, externships and work-study positions as experiential learning opportunities. Internships and externship are wonderful opportunities to provide students with hands on experience in a real world work setting. These partnerships with area employers are a great way to improve employment outcomes when students are hired directly from their intern/externships. One pitfall is when sites are used over and over again, so that there is an expectation by the site that they will receive another student -- the result is that they do not hire. To make this program successful, sites should not be reused routinely, therefore, setting up the expectation that they will hire the intern/externship that have performed well for them.
Our core programs that incorporate externship have a higher placement rate. We currently are maintaining a conversion rate of 32%.
Anna ,
Is this a topic you might broach with school ownership? Do you feel your students experience value when they do participate in the internships which you post?
Ann Cross
We do not implement any of the experiential learning opportunities. We do have options for companies to post internships and I do forward to graduates and alums, but we do not have a formalized internship or learning opportunity program for our graduates.
We utilize work-study, service learning and clinical courses as we are an insitution offering healthcare degrees. As we expand our degree offerings, we are beginning to incorporate internships and to explore interdisciplinary education.
Terry,
Externships are an excellent way to prepare the graduates for the world of work. What problems have externships solved at your institution?
Ann Cross
The school uses externships. These have proven to be very effective in exposing students to real world environments prior to graduation while allowing them to practice what they have learned in the classroom.
