17 March Intern Insight: 2018 March 17, 2019 By Tais Lildaree General 0 Author: Victoria Warner 6 Interns, 3 Trimesters, 2 Placements, 1 Year Throughout the last twelve months, myself and five others have embarked on what has been one of the most rewarding years yet! In our first year of the Health Management Internship Program (HMIP) in Victoria we have had the opportunity to work in two different organisations ranging from large metropolitan health services, regional and sub-regional health services and a number of us have also been able to experience working at a government department. 2018 has brought with it many challenges along the way with part time study on top of the busy-ness of full time work, professional development and networking opportunities. ACHSM has put on a very successful program of events in the past year including a long list of noteworthy speakers like the Auditor General of Victoria and the Secretary of the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services speaking at breakfast forums. As health management interns, 2018 also saw us having the opportunity to attend the ACHSM Asia-Pacific Congress in Darwin last September. This was a networking marathon and a remarkable learning experience for all six of us first year interns. Over three days we involved ourselves in panels with international speakers, large plenary sessions, pre-congress workshops and even a trip to parliament house. Without speaking too much on the behalf of the other interns, I think it was the highlight of the networking year! On a personal level, I was fortunate enough to have an abstract accepted to present a poster of some research I had completed just prior to beginning the internship program. It was a great way to amalgamate two quite distinctively different years together. A focus for us as interns throughout the HMIP is commonly on five competency domains; leadership, business skills, health and healthcare environment, communication and relationship management as well as professional and social responsibility. Much of the work we do within our placements and through professional development sessions with the college involves building our capacity and ability in these areas. Our ongoing studies for a Master of Health Management also contributes to this and thus far we have covered a great deal from financial management to legal foundations. The competency framework is a great way to track progress however, I also feel it is important to maintain a mind open to whatever opportunities may arise. This period of time in our lives is a very fortunate and considerably flexible one in terms of our learnings. We are able to leverage on an unbelievable amount of knowledge from our supervisors, preceptors, colleagues and importantly each other. I began this program thinking two years is a significant amount of time. Here I am at the half way point having feeling like I have only blinked once or twice. What a whirlwind of a year 2018 was and for all the good reasons I can only imagine 2019 will be the same. Another two new workplaces to become immersed in and the beginnings of the ‘where to next?’ conversation starting to develop. Wishing everyone a great 2019 ahead! Related Posts What interns think of the health management internship program An intern's summary of what the VIC HMIP is all about, things they found useful and what to look forward to. Networking, a health management intern’s holy grail To a new Health Management Intern, what exactly does ‘networking’ mean? Mpilwenhle ‘MP’ Mthunzi has attempted to demystify the term by soliciting the views and experiences of his fellow interns and sharing tips on how to network effectively Victoria HMIP Graduation 2018 Celebrating the graduation of the HMIP Interns who met the requirements of the program at the end of 2017 Insights from a Victorian Health Management Intern First year intern Angeline Kuek shares her experience of the ACHSM Victorian Health Management Internship Program. An intern’s guide to the ACHSM national congress (By Annie Makar) In September 2022, the Victorian Health Management Interns embarked on a journey to the west for the first face-to-face ACHSM Asia-Pacific health leadership congress in three years. The ACHSM congress is the premier event in the region to bring together leaders in health service delivery. A HMIP Intern's perspective of the 2017 ACHSM/ACHS Asia-Pacific Congress Simon Chong, a second-year HMIP Intern in Victoria gives an account of his experience attending the 2017 ACHSM/ACHS Asia-Pacific Congress, held from 27-29 Sep in Sydney. Comments are closed.