Health Informatics undergraduate students participate in one 3-credit internship and one 3-credit capstone course that facilitate a deeper understanding of the professional practice aspects of health information and related health-care areas. The overall goal of the immersive experiences is to provide students with practical experiences to apply their knowledge and skills that they develop as they progress through the HI curriculum.
Students are required to find and participate in an internship during the spring term of their senior year. The program’s clinical education coordinator works very closely with the students to make sure that they find the right match and help meet their goals and interests. Students are often hired by these same companies before they even finish our program making the internship a valuable experience and a pathway to future success.
The department has affiliation agreements with approximately 145+ clinical sites for student internships. The following list provides a sample of sites which recruit and/or host internships for HI students:
Students are required to provide their own transportation to clinical sites, whether they live on campus or off-campus. There are requirements that students need to meet before they can participate in clinical education, including having an annual physical examination (including specific immunizations and TB testing), completing HIPAA and Bloodborne Pathogen training, purchasing liability insurance and carrying personal health insurance.
All students are also required to annually obtain Act 34 clearance (PA State Criminal Record Check), Act 33 clearance (PA Child Abuse History Clearance) and Act 73 clearance (FBI Background Check with Clearance). If there is a criminal infraction on any of these clearances, the student may not be able to be placed for clinical education, which will require the student to withdraw from the class which may prevent progress to graduation. Additionally, some facilities may require a drug screen to determine whether you are qualified to participate in clinical education.
As part of a leading R-1 research university, SHRS offers Pitt undergraduate and graduate students a multitude of opportunities to engage in diverse research experiences across its departments and programs.
Participation in a research project complements a student’s classroom learning and allows them to develop mentoring relationships with faculty, gain critical skills, access resources to pursue their own research interests, clarify life goals and strengthen career aspirations.
All Pitt undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to apply to participate in ongoing research.
An application is submitted, the information will be reviewed by faculty members working in the specified area of interest. Students can expect to be contacted by someone from SHRS that will direct to the best possible faculty researcher to help the student meet their personal research goals.
