Internship hones practical experiences for MHA student

“There’s no program without the faculty,” says, Daniel Triggs, a student in the Master of Health Administration Program at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

It was Program Director Emily Harris who encouraged him to apply for a competitive summer internship program with the National Association of Health Service Executives. He was not yet eligible to do his academic residency and had a free summer available to him.

The program, normally held in person in Baltimore, brought 30 minority undergraduate and graduate students together in a virtual program where they engaged in case competitions, debates, and in depth learning and discussion with professional healthcare executives. Triggs was matched with a mentor Kenneth Grant, an alumnus of Tulane who had recently retired from his role as a healthcare executive.

As a participant in the program, Triggs says he was able to connect with peers across the country and continue to hone his skills even as COVID-19 shut down many similar opportunities.

The case assignments came together at the end of the internship with a case competition in which teams of interns had to describe how they would address a new virus if they were the CEO of a hospital. They presented before executives at the Johns Hopkins Medical Center.

“I was kind of sad that we didn’t win,” Triggs admits. His team included a wide range of participants including a nurse and an undergraduate student.

“I met a lot of people who I’ll definitely reach out to when I make it into the industry as well,” he says.