Health Policy, Health Management, or Digital Health Placements
Work in a health care setting in the final year of your degree! Experience working in health policy, health management or digital health!
Why take the practicum?
Listen to what alumni have to say about the practicum course in the video below.
What have other alumni said about their practicum experience!
What is the practicum?
You will spend 3 days a week in the Winter term working in a community partner organization, gaining a minimum of 250 hours of hands on work, in health policy, or health management, or digital health work, reinforcing your degree and discipline specific skills. At the same time, you will obtain very valuable and in demand transferable career-ready skills such as communication, problem solving, collaboration, creative and analytic thinking, adaptability and more! This is a fabulous time to demonstrate your learning and network in the field of health care.
Note: The three days a week are three full weekdays during regular business hours.
What are the admission requirements and prerequisites
There are five requirements for acceptance into the practicum:
- You are in a BHS Specialized Honours degree
- You have a cumulative GPA in your HLST credits of at least 7.0 at the end of the Fall/Winter academic session prior to the academic session when the practicum takes place
- You have a minimum of 84 earned credits at the end of Fall/Winter academic session prior to the academic session when the practicum takes place
- You attend the Practicum Information Session held in the Winter term prior to the academic session when the practicum takes place
- You choose an area of study or discipline for your placement, in Health Policy, Health Management or Digital Health, and ensure you have all necessary prerequisites and plan to take the corequisites in the Fall/Winter of the practicum as shown in the table below:
| Health Policy Placement 15 credits | Health Management Placement 15 credits | Digital Health Placement 15 credits |
| Prerequisites: HLST 3110 3.0 Major Themes in Health Policy in Canada Corequisites: HLST 4110 3.0 Comparative Health Policy HLST 4210 3.0 Health Care Leadership HLST 4330 3.0 Decision Making & Decision Support +1 additional HLST Policy course chosen from: HLST 3510 3.0 Poverty and Health in Canada HLST 3520 3.0 Aging: Comparative Perspectives HLST 4130 3.0 Public Policy and Disabilities HLST 4140 3.0 Mental Health Policy | Prerequisites: HLST 3400 3.0 Quality and Safety in Healthcare HLST 3500 3.0 Quality and Operational Excellence in Healthcare – Intro to Lean Six Sigma Corequisites: HLST 4210 3.0 Health Care Leadership HLST 4250 3.0 Measuring Health System Performance HLST 4330 3.0 Decision Making & Decision Support | Prerequisites: HLST 3310 3.0 Electronic Health Record HLST 3320 3.0 Health Database Applications HLST 3350 3.0 Health Data Analytics, Machine Learning and AI Corequisites: HLST 4310 Analysis & Design of Health Information HLST 4320 3.0 eHealth Highly Recommended: HLST 4210 3.0 Health Care Leadership HLST 4330 3.0 Decision Making & Decision Support |
What kind of work would I be doing in a placement?
How do I learn more about the practicum, and how do I enroll?
A practicum information session is held every Winter term. Watch your York U. preferred email account for an announcement in February for the date and time of the upcoming information session. In that session we explain the process to be approved for enrolling into the practicum. There is an application and interview before you are approved for enrollment.
What can I do to prepare for the practicum before the information session and application and interview?
In your first and second year you should begin to plan for the practicum, ensuring you are successfully completing the prerequisite courses, and maintaining your GPA in your HLST credits. To gain some work experience before the placement, you can look for volunteer opportunities at health care organizations. However, do not worry about health care experience, often other work experiences like retail work prepare you well for working in a professional health care environment, i.e. working as a team member and interacting with customers/patients.
What if I take courses in the Summer before the practicum takes place?
Planning and setting up a practicum placement takes approximately six months. That means we have to have all the information on enrollment six months prior to the January start of the practicum, meaning June of the year prior. We cannot wait for students to complete summer courses to qualify for the practicum.
Practicum students are encouraged to take summer courses that would allow them to have a lighter study load during the session with the practicum, but those summer courses cannot be what lets you qualify for the practicum, i.e. 3rd year prerequisites, earned credits and GPA requirements are as of you Fall/Winter term prior to the session when the placement takes place.
Are there other requirements before I start my placement, once approved to enroll?
Students are required to complete a resume and cover letter workshop and risk management requirements. The risk management requirements to be able to start your practicum placement include: Vulnerable Sector Check (VSC) and Vaccine and Immunization Requirements. These must all be completed in the Fall term prior to the practicum placement.
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