What began as a job shadowing opportunity turned into a career-expanding internship for a Slippery Rock University student. Megan Reidler,a senior health care administration and management major from Ashland (North Schuylkill HS), completed an internship this summer at Lehigh Valley Health Network-Schuylkill in Pottsville that blended administrative and clinical work.
Reidler, who is on the pre-physical therapy track at SRU, first immersed herself in hospital operations at LVHN-Schuylkill’s Stine Rehabilitation Unit shadowing inpatient and outpatient therapy settings. Job shadowing is a requirement for enrollment in SRU’s Doctoral of Physical Therapy program. After her shadowing experience, Reidler inquired with her shadowing supervisor if she could return as an intern.
Upon completion of finals week, she was offered a student intern position through June 6. Reidler’s position as a student intern gave her an array of patient care and administrative experience ranging from assisting with hands-on physical therapy tasks to administrative tasks, such as collecting and presenting data.
“Once I completed my internship, I realized I could really see myself working in a hospital, doing something similar to the director of rehab, who was a physical therapist and also in a director role,” Reidler said. “It was cool to see the process of patients I was familiar with transition from the hospital to being residents at the facility.”
Working in the smaller-scale rehabilitation unit helped Reidler define her interests. With only a few patients on the floor during her placement, she was able to assist and closely observe how therapists, nurses and administrators collaborated. The environment, she said, showed her the possibilities of how a single role could combine her experience in health care administration and management and a future in physical therapy.
After completing her internship position, she was offered additional as-needed experience in an activities assistant position at the Schuylkill Center. Reidler now focuses on supporting and monitoring residents and maintaining documentation of participation and engagement.
Reidler said she chose SRU because of the seamless path from undergraduate pre-physical therapy degree tracks to the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. She also emphasized how SRU’s HCAM program successfully prepared her for real-world application.
“Everybody is so supportive in the HCAM Department; they all are wanting us to succeed to max capacity, far beyond the classroom,” Reidler said. “So much of what I learned from Dr. (Natalie) Dick’s class I used every day on site. People were often surprised at how much I was able to pick up on from what I learned in my degree program.”
More information about HCAM programs is available on the program webpage. More information about the DPT program is available on the program webpage.