12 Week HCC Graduate Student Summer Internship

Application & Information

Health Career Connection (HCC) is offering a limited number of unique opportunities for students currently in graduate school looking for summer internship experience. The FULL-TIME internships are primarily related to health equity, public health, health policy, community health, process improvement, project management, healthcare administration, racial justice and social justice and working with underserved communities.

This internship is for:

The summer between your first year and second year of graduate school (or third year for those that are in a 3-year program).
For those doing a 4 + 1 this would be for the summer after you finish the + 1.
This internship can also be for someone who just finished their 2-year master’s program who does not have a job starting in June 2025
Someone in graduate school who is enrolled in an MPH, MS, MPP, MHA or MBA or a similar program.

Please note: International students will NOT be eligible for consideration for the HCC graduate student summer internship.

A select number of applicants will be interviewed by HCC in late January or February 2025. Then some candidates will be sent forward to interview with host sites selected by HCC in late January/February 2025.

Graduate Student Internship Summary:

This is an HCC twelve-week full time internship designed to provide a graduate student interested in pursuing a summer experience in essential project management and training related to social justice, community health, health policy and public health.

What is Health Career Connection (HCC)?

HCC is a 501(c) (3) national non-profit that inspires, empowers and professionally prepares the next generation of diverse health leaders. For 34 years HCC has supported college students and recent college graduates, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, to gain real-world exposure, experience, mentoring, and networking, while supporting health employers’ workforce, diversity, and priority initiatives. Recently, HCC has started to support graduate students with summer internships. There are 13 HCC regions nationwide and 5400 HCC alumni.

HCC is committed to increasing representation of all racial and ethnic groups in the health professions. While the graduate student summer internship is open to all graduate students, HCC encourages people of color, first-generation college students and those with challenged backgrounds to apply for this internship as well as students from under resourced rural and urban communities and those seeking to advance health equity.

Project Opportunities:

HCC Host organizations seek a graduate student intern to assist with organization initiatives. Projects will depend on the HCC host organization. The graduate student will assist with projects aimed at achieving host organization strategic goals. HCC host sites include:

Governmental agencies
Consulting Firms
Advocacy Organizations
Community Organizations
Hospitals
And more

Types of Potential Projects:

Project Management
Research, Literature Review and Summary
Writing a policy memo or a report
Developing and making a presentation
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Assist with projects related to health equity, process improvement, quality improvement, program evaluation, business strategy, grant writing, training and more.

Skills:

Excellent interpersonal skills
Strong analytical skills – ability to interpret data
Attention to detail
Ability to follow directions and complete assigned tasks
Excellent writing and communication skills
Ability to demonstrate respect and professionalism
Willing to work in a fast-paced environment
Proficiency in Microsoft Word & Calendaring
Intermediate Excel & PowerPoint
Preferred but not required: experience with quality improvement projects, understanding of how Medicaid and Medicare work

Pay scale - $20-$35 per hour.

Length of Fellowship: Full Time- 12 weeks from June 2025 to August 2025. There may be some flexibility regarding the start date.

Location: The office location depends on where the host site is located. Most graduate students will most likely need to be in Boston, MA for the summer. Some may need to be in other cities. Most host sites require a hybrid or in-person internship, though 100% virtual is a possibility.

APPLICATION PROCESS

HCC staff will review all applications.
Round 1 Interviews: A select number of applicants will be interviewed by HCC in January/February 2025.
Round 2 Interviews: Some candidates will be sent forward to interview with host sites selected by HCC in February/March 2025. The host site determines how many interviews there will be - usually, 2-3.
Final offers will be made by HCC in March 2025 based on the host site and applicants’ feedback.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Saturday January 25th, 2025, at 5 PM EST. We encourage early submission of your application materials!

STARTING, SAVING AND SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION

Start your application today!

You should be ready to provide the following information (there will be options to upload relevant documentation):

Name and contact information
Educational background
Demographic information
Name and Contact Information of Recommenders
Current resume
Unofficial Transcript
Short Essay Answers

As you complete each section make sure to select "Save my progress and continue” If you plan to leave and come back select “save and resume later." You will be asked to enter your email and choose a password, which you will use to resume and complete the application that you started.

Tip: You can work on a version of your short essay answers offline and upload when it is finalized.

Only submit your application after you have answered all required questions marked * and attached required documents.
Once you submit your application, you will be taken to a final confirmation page to review your responses and confirm your submission.
You will receive an email notification confirming that your application was successfully submitted.
If you don’t receive a confirmation email, please contact graduate-internship@healthcareers.org.

SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION

Please be sure to complete each section of this application and ensure required documents are uploaded before hitting submit. Only complete applications will be reviewed. Please ensure you click on the "Submit" tab to assure we receive your application. You will receive an email to confirm your submission. If you don’t receive an email confirmation, please contact graduate-internship@healthcareers.org.

LINKS & RESOURCES

CONTACT E-MAIL

graduate-internship@healthcareers.org

Page 4 – EDUCATION

Undergraduate Education

Please specify the institution which granted your most recent undergraduate degree.

University/College:

City:

State/Territory

Date Started

Graduation Date

Major(s):

To enter multiple majors, click "Add another response" below.

Minor (if applicable):

Based on a 4-point scale, please provide your grade point average for all undergraduate course work (overall GPA):

Graduate Education

Please enter your graduate degree information below. To enter additional graduate degrees, click "Add another response" below.

University:

For example: Boston University

Graduate School or Program Name:

For example: Boston University School of Public Health

Degree Program

For example: MBA, MPH, MSPH, or MPH/MBA if dual degree program.

Concentration

For example: Global Health, Health Policy, Management, Health Equity

Date Started

Expected Graduation Date

Based on a 4-point scale, please provide your grade point average for all graduate course work (overall GPA) at this institution:

Which best describes this graduate degree program:

On campusOnlineHybrid

Which best describes your enrollment status:

Full-timePart-time

Page 7 - LANGUAGE SKILLS

Language Skills

Speaking (Are you fluent and/or proficient in speaking any of these languages) To select multiple options, hold down the ctrl or cmd key when selecting from the list.

Select all that apply. To select multiple options, hold down the ctrl or cmd key to select more than one option in the list.

Specify language:

Reading/Writing (Are you fluent and/or proficient in reading and writing any of these languages) To select multiple options, hold down the ctrl or cmd key when selecting from the list.

Select all that apply. To select multiple options, hold down the ctrl or cmd key to select more than one option in the list.

Specify language:

Page 8 - AFFILIATIONS

Are you an alumnus of the HCC summer internship or Health Equity Scholars program?

YesNo

If yes, what year did you complete your HCC internship or HES program? Also, please make sure HCC is on your resume.

Click on "Add another response" if you have completed multiple HCC internships.

Page 9 – RECOMMENDATIONS

In the following fields, please list the contact information for 2 individuals who HCC can reach out to if needed. HCC may want to ask these 2 people to respond to a few questions about your background.

Your application will not be considered complete until at least 2 names and required information are listed

Be sure to inform your recommenders that they may receive an email from HCC.

#1 Work or Volunteer Supervisor or Graduate School Academic Member

First Name	Last Name
Organization	Title/Position
E-mail

Recommendation Description: Write one sentence explaining how you know or have worked with this person, where, when, and for how long.

#2 Work or Volunteer Supervisor or Graduate School Academic Member

First Name	Last Name
Organization	Title/Position
E-mail

Recommendation Description: Write one sentence explaining how you know or have worked with this person, where, when, and for how long.

Page 10 - ATTACHMENTS

Attachments

Resume

Attach a current resume which includes the following information:

Contact information
Education information
Skills: technical and language
Paid experience/internships/volunteer work
Student group membership or professional affiliations
Any other relevant information

Resumes must be submitted in PDF format ONLY.

Use the following format to name your resume attachment file:
2025 HCC Grad Internship_Firstname_Lastname_resume.pdf

Attach a PDF copy of your resume below.

Transcript

Unofficial transcript must be submitted in PDF format ONLY.

Use the following format to name your transcript attachment file:
2024 C3 HCC Grad Internship_Firstname_Lastname_transcript.pdf

Note: An official transcript may be required for applicants invited to the interview process.

Attach a PDF copy of your unofficial transcript below

Page 11 - SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

The questions below are intended to allow you to explain your interest in participating in healthcare and HCC. We also hope your responses allow us to learn more about you as an applicant, including your interests, aspirations, background, and skills that may not be reflected in other parts of the application.

Some of the prompts include multiple questions designed to help you answer as thoroughly as possible - you do not need to answer all questions in each prompt; these are only here to help you write your response. You are not required to use the entire word limit.

NOTE: To make sure that you do not lose your work, we strongly advise drafting and saving your responses in another application (such as Microsoft Word, Notes, Notepad, etc.) first, and copying and pasting your final responses into the appropriate prompt field.

250-word limit each

How has your background and/or experience influenced your interest in health or health-related fields? Please provide examples where possible.

What health or health-related topics are you passionate about? Are there any populations that you are most interested in serving? Why?

Please describe your potential career interests, directions, and/or goals at this time.

Are you interested in attending medical school in the future?

Describe leadership, academic, volunteer, or work experience that was important to you. How did this experience impact you? What skills did you develop as a result of this experience?

In what ways are you interested in growing personally and/or professionally during summer 2025?

What do you hope to gain from participating in an HCC summer internship?

OPTIONAL. Is there anything else that you would like us to know about you or your interest in HCC? If there are any aspects of your application that you would like to expand upon (for example, pursuing a non-traditional academic pathway, low GPA in a specific course / quarter / semester / overall) please do so here. The HCC team reviews all applications holistically and considers distance-traveled in our assessment.

Page 12 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS INTERNSHIP?2

Source:

Other (specify source)

Referred by:

Page 13 - COMPLETE APPLICATION

When you have completed your application, please click "Submit" in order for this application to be reviewed. Please make sure that you have answered all required questions and uploaded all required attachments.

If you are not yet finished with your application and would like to return to your application at a later time, do not click the "Submit" button, but click on "Save my progress and resume later" link at the bottom of the page. You will be asked to enter your email and choose a password, which you will use to resume and complete the application that you started. Only submit your application after you have answered all required questions marked * and attached required documents.

Once submitted, you will not be able to make changes to your application. You will receive an email confirming your application has been submitted along with a copy of your application responses.

To the best of your knowledge, have you completed all required questions and uploaded all required materials (PDF copies of your resume, and unofficial transcript) for this application?

Yes

YOU MUST CONFIRM YOUR SUBMISSION ON THE BOTTOM OF THE NEXT PAGE TO FINALIZE YOUR APPLICATION.