Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

5-2010

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph. D.

Cooperating University

Western Kentucky University

Department (Legacy)

Department of Leadership, Foundations, and Human Resource Education

Committee Chair

Capps, Randy

Author's Keywords

Experiental learning; Internships; College health; Clinical rotations; Learning; Career services

Subject

Experiential learning; College students--Medical care; Interns (Medicine)

Abstract

This exploratory study was conducted using a descriptive design and examined the use of college health centers for academic internships and clinical rotations. In addition, the study examined the relationship among health center director and school characteristics and the presence of academic internships or clinical rotations and the directors' satisfaction with these activities. The population consisted of 267 health center directors responding to a survey containing 21 questions. The demographics of the directors consisted of 64 (24%) males and 203 (76%) females; school classifications; 106 (39.7%) Research/Doctoral, 68 (25.5%) Masters, 87 (32.6%) and 3 (1.1%) Associates/Community College, 147 (55.1%) Public and 117 (43.8%) Private Logistic Regression analyses indicated the presence of three predictor variables (school classification, scope of services and nursing school) in the overall model for the presence of clinical rotations, X 2 (12, N=261) = 68.23, p < .001, R 2 = .23; and two predictor variables (scope of services, director credential) for the presence of academic internships, X 2 (12, N=258) = 50.10, p < .002, R 2 = .18. Results from Multiple Regression analyses indicated no significance in the overall model for satisfaction with clinical rotations R 2 = .08, F (7, 135) = 1.75, p = .10; however, the presence of a nursing school was a significant individual predictor variable. The overall model for satisfaction with academic internships was significant R 2 = 14, F (7,95) = 2.24, p = .04. Scope of services was a significant predictor. Of note, results indicated a trend toward significance for school classification and a nursing school. The findings suggest the presence of a nursing school was a significant predictor variable regarding satisfaction with clinical rotations and displayed a trend toward significance for satisfaction with academic internships. The presence of a medical school was not a predictor in this particular study. The findings indicated more frequent use of clinical rotations than academic internships at these college health centers. The findings suggest more academic integration for college health centers may be warranted.

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