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What steps did you take to break into hospital and business administration, especially when internships or entry-level opportunities weren’t clearly available. How did you build experience and make yourself stand out for leadership roles in a healthcare setting starting from a younger grade like a college freshman? #Spring25
I'm going to be a college freshman and I want to be able to start finding internships and leadership positions early because the career that I want, being hospital administration is a higher up position so getting experience is crucial, also I want to see if I enjoy the job.
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Donna "Crissie"’s Answer
Start by seeking entry-level internships while you're in school. This will help you gain experience in different roles and understand the tasks you'll manage in the future. It's a great way to become well-rounded and get to know all the teams and positions you might lead one day.
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Laura’s Answer
Hi Hermela,
Excellent question, and something I too experienced early in my career.
My advice: look at internship and entry-level positions across all facets of healthcare, not just hospital administration. You can also administrative roles outside of healthcare, such as an administrative assistant.
When I worked in healthcare, I was an office manager for a primary care clinic, and we were consistently seeking engaged and ambitious people to join our office staff; generally no experience required, though any kind of customer support experience you have (even retail) is a huge bonus!
Additionally, roles that will make you stand out are anything in customer service or people management (even volunteer work like coaching/teaching assistant, or habitat for humanity are great references to consider).
When looking at internships and entry-level positions, I would start with roles where you are an individual contributor such as working the front desk of a Primary Care Office, or a scheduling call center for a Surgery Center. These roles can help you build skills and confidence in what you know, and then start applying for management or leadership roles (because some leadership roles are not people-management). I also encourage you to look for any leadership development courses or coaching opportunities; HP Life <https://www.life-global.org> is an awesome and free platform that may provide you with some resources and additional ideas.
Look for entry-level jobs working healthcare front desk or call center roles
Start researching free leadership development courses
Start researching free business administration courses
Reflect on your volunteer work and how that has helped you gain skills
Excellent question, and something I too experienced early in my career.
My advice: look at internship and entry-level positions across all facets of healthcare, not just hospital administration. You can also administrative roles outside of healthcare, such as an administrative assistant.
When I worked in healthcare, I was an office manager for a primary care clinic, and we were consistently seeking engaged and ambitious people to join our office staff; generally no experience required, though any kind of customer support experience you have (even retail) is a huge bonus!
Additionally, roles that will make you stand out are anything in customer service or people management (even volunteer work like coaching/teaching assistant, or habitat for humanity are great references to consider).
When looking at internships and entry-level positions, I would start with roles where you are an individual contributor such as working the front desk of a Primary Care Office, or a scheduling call center for a Surgery Center. These roles can help you build skills and confidence in what you know, and then start applying for management or leadership roles (because some leadership roles are not people-management). I also encourage you to look for any leadership development courses or coaching opportunities; HP Life <https://www.life-global.org> is an awesome and free platform that may provide you with some resources and additional ideas.
Laura recommends the following next steps: