Patient Advocacy Internship

The Patient Advocacy Internship is a summer patient contact experience, designed for students intending to apply to health professional programs. Patient advocates will be assigned to a care unit at Banner University Medical Center-Tucson, and will be responsible for rounding on patients by utilizing an established rounding process and guidelines. After they have rounded with the patients, they then summarize the findings and action is taken by the hospital providers. The role of the patient advocate is to enhance patient-centered care and satisfaction through facilitation of need based communication between patient, family, and staff.  The patient advocate will gain: effective communication skills; a better understanding of patient satisfaction determinants; increased awareness of health care system service quality and protocols; knowledge of methods to evaluate patient satisfaction and the impact that this satisfaction has on the hospital; and exposure to health administration and other public health challenges. In addition to clinical experience, students enrolled will write reflectively and receive feedback on their writing so that they can develop the type of communication skills they need as an applicant to medical professional programs. This internship is a 3 credit, upper division course (LASC 393) that extends through both summer sessions (June 6-August 10). Students are required to complete 135 contact hours at the hospital, and will be billed only for 3 credits total, not 3 credits per session. The application for this dynamic summer opportunity is now online and can be accessed through the following link:

http://clas.arizona.edu/event/pre-health-professions/patient-advocacy-internship-summer-2016

The application closes on Sunday, April 10, 2016 at 11:45pm. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Cassandra Peel

Cassandra Peel, MSW
Senior Academic Advisor
Pre-Health Professions Advising Center
Colleges of Letters, Arts, and Science
The University of Arizona
1428 E. University Blvd.
Bear Down Gym
Tucson, AZ 85721
Tel.: 520-621-7763
Fax: 520-626-6345
Web: prehealth.arizona.edu
Facebook: facebook.com/UAPreHealth
Twitter: twitter.com/UA_PreHealth