Preceptorships

In the MHA Preceptorship Program, the elite of Chicago metropolitan area healthcare leaders will mentor MHA candidates throughout their studies in the program. MHA preceptors are successful executives in healthcare institutions and organizations who will be paired with a student based on the student’s interests and career goals. The MHA preceptorship is a critical part of the MHA program and lasts throughout the student’s course of study. The preceptor relationship will begin in the first semester and will include summer work experience to provide an opportunity to obtain firsthand exposure to management, leadership, and governance for the graduate student.

Purpose:

The MHA preceptorship will fulfill the following program goals:

1. Provide students with valuable experiential learning that is essential to their success in the field upon graduation.
2. Add value to a rigorous core curriculum while providing an opportunity to develop real-life skills and expertise needed by students beginning or advancing their careers.
3. Give students the experience of a preceptor who will share lessons learned, accomplishments, and the challenges of being a healthcare leader.
4. Attract motivated students who appreciate the value of the preceptorship opportunity.
5. Provide a network for recruitment of experienced applicants to the program from the preceptors’ employees.
6. Establish strong relationships with local healthcare leaders as a key to the long-term development of a regional employment and continuing career development network for our graduates.
7. Offer the student the opportunity to build a resume founded in the projects completed during the preceptorship experience, particularly for those students beginning their careers.
8. Provide preceptors the association with other healthcare leaders from the area, with UIC staff who are leaders in their fields, and with a highly respected Chicago academic institution.

Structure:

All students of the program will be required to participate in a preceptorship that starts in the first semester of entry into the program. The student will spend at least 3–6 hours per week at the preceptor’s workplace and on campus engaging in both structured learning experiences and completing project(s) . The focus of this first semester will be on learning the internal workings of the healthcare sector and the specific area in which the student has expressed an interest.

In the first summer, the preceptorship experience consists of at least 300 hours on-site at the preceptor’s workplace. During that time, learning about executive and leadership responsibilities and roles will be pursued in direct discussions with the preceptor and completion of assigned experiences and projects.

In the following Fall Semester, the preceptorship will focus on issues of leadership and culture. Again the student will be involved for at least 3–6 hours per week in structured learning and project completion at the preceptor’s workplace and on campus.

Preceptorships will be organized to serve the general educational objectives of the program with placements that offer opportunities for the student to participate in a sector of healthcare that is related to his or her professional career goals.

Preceptorship opportunities will be broad, including inpatient healthcare, long-term care, community-based health services, health-related government and private agencies, insurance and managed care organizations, and a variety of specialty care opportunities (diagnostic and therapeutic centers, rehabilitation organizations, professional and trade associations, supply chain organizations, consulting firms, etc.)

Preceptorship activities will be organized around a syllabus that defines a recommended minimum set of topics and projects to be completed. Such a syllabus will include:

• Ethics, governance and management;
• Building organizational alignment;
• Leadership in a clinical/professional environment;
• Financial decisions related to facilities, capital, and operations;
• Healthcare strategy;
• Making policy—both governmental and institutional;
• Quality and safety management;
• Crisis management.

Each preceptorship activity will incorporate a project to be completed and submitted to the MHA Program, culminating in a major project supporting the Capstone Paper required for completion of the degree. Each of the projects will reflect topics being presented in the various courses offered in the classroom curriculum

All preceptorship activities are logged into our on-line BlackBoard system. Completed papers are submitted to the MHA Program through the BlackBoard system, and are reviewed by program faculty. Preceptor and student evaluations are also submitted as a part of the record maintained in the oversight and supervision of each student's Preceptorship experience.

Copyright © 2008 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
UIC School of Public Health, 1603 W. Taylor St., Chicago, IL 60612-4394, mha@uic.edu
Revised Thu, May 29, 2008