Zeitschrift für Gesundheitsinformatik und -management

The Importance of Internships: Ensuring Informatics Students’ Future Success

Stephen C. Burrows

With so many people looking towards furthering their education and with all of the demands the recent federal mandates for healthcare information technology (HIT) have put on the field of informatics, the need for educated and knowledgeable staff for HIT projects is critical. With the emergence and recent popularity of graduate
education in healthcare informatics, we see an influx of potential students entering these programs who may not have the clinical or information technology backgrounds. Some have even reported challenges after obtaining their master’s degree and getting hired ‘without experience’. These individuals have a great desire to work in informatics and recognize the enormous impact the field they can have on healthcare but they lack the hands on experience that some employers are looking for.