Clinical Internships
This program is a formal, comprehensive clinical internship program with health care professionals in the Springfield community that is designed to meet the needs of students interested in pursuing a variety of the health professions. Our students have the opportunity to work one-on-one with one of over 50 different mentors in the health field of their choosing. Internship locations include a private practitioner's office, community clinic or a position in our local hospital. We offer 20 internship positions per semester, and the selection process is competitive.
Students have completed internships with:
- Anesthesiologists
- Cardiologists
- Cardiology nurses
- Chiropractors
- Dentists
- Emergency room physicians and nurses
- Family practice physicians and nurses
- General surgeons
- Nurse practitioners
- Occupational therapists
- Oncologists
- Optometrists
- Orthopedic surgeons
- Pediatricians
- Pharmacists
- Physician assistants
- Physical therapists
- Plastic surgeons
- Veterinarians - both large and small animal
Mentors share their experience as a health care practitioner with their intern, which includes both the patient and business sides of running a successful practice. Most mentors briefly prepare the intern before entering each room with a brief patient history and probable reason for the visit. Mentors also teach students to take vitals and allow them to participate in gathering the patient's medical history as appropriate. The health care practitioners can take students with them on rounds and into procedure rooms or surgical suites to give our students a well-rounded view of that profession. We have undergraduates each semester who scrub into surgery.
We are very proud of our students who have participated in this program. They have served as ambassadors to our local community as they enter the private practice, clinic and hospital settings with the utmost respect for our mentors and professional attitude toward patients. These students learn a tremendous amount from their mentors as well as from the patients and office staff they encounter. Students keep a journal of their experiences at their internship site that demonstrates how successful they are at learning the basic anatomy and physiology necessary to understand the diagnosis and treatment of patients. Students expand on these observations as they present their work publicly at the end of the semester.
Time commitment:
This is intended to be a one-credit, non-writing intensive clinical internship. Students spend approximately four hours a week for 12 weeks in a clinical setting with their mentor. Therefore, students need to do internships in a semester that has flexibility in availability in both days and times so that you can match your schedule with your mentor's schedule.
Prerequisites for the clinical internship program:
- Junior or senior status
- Completion of Wittenberg's community service requirement
- Permission of the Health Science Director and Clinical Internship Director after completion of background check, receiving disciplinary records from Dean of Students, and internship availability