From Intern To Employee – The Employer’s View
Clinical fieldwork is, in my opinion, one of the most important aspects of a student therapists education. This is where you get to see all your textbook knowledge and labs come to life. This is where you begin to see the difference you are making in peoples’ lives. This is also where you begin to ponder, "I think I could work for this company."
The Campus Relations department recently had the pleasure of sitting in on a presentation by a senior DPT student from the University of Kansas who informed us that 94% of internships turn into full-time employees. Mind you, this is referring to the workforce in general and not just the rehab industry. CaroMont Rehab and Sports Medicine in Gastonia, North Carolina is no stranger to students coming in and out of their building. In fact, they hosted a total of 13 students throughout 2007 and converted several of those over to employees. I asked the Program DIrector, Jeff Hill, what his opinion is on taking students for clinical fieldwork and why we have had such positive feedback from those students:
"I always feel I learn just as much from a student as they do from me. Students keep you on your toes in terms of creativity and explaining why you are doing certain treatments. I never feel having a student is a nuisance, but more of a partner and that we learn from each other. We treat our students just like employees. They get to attend all the in-services, staff meetings, parties, etc. and also accept some of the responsibilities of patient care. It truly makes them feel part of the team."
I also asked Jeff what he feels are the benefits of hiring a new graduate and why he feels they have has such success in bringing on several of their interns as employees:
"A new grad brings in a lot of fresh ideas and can easily be trained to fit into the environment. They have worked in a lot of areas during school and are used to adjusting quickly to new environments. New grads can also teach some of us older PTs some new tricks and vice versa. I honestly think we have one of the best environments in terms of team work, equipment, patient variety and of course, people. We actually had the highest score of all departments in our hospital system for the Gallup employee satisfaction survey this year."
A huge kudos to Jeff and his team at CaroMont for all their great support of Clinical Education and Campus Relations. Stay tuned for the next blog on the opinion of students who have interned and also come on board as employees with RehabCare at CaroMont…..
~Josh
