Today we have with us Payel, who is pursuing her undergraduate degree in Hospital Management. In this interview, she talks about the perks of doing internships and how she took up the course because she wanted to do something unconventional. She is thoroughly enjoying her courses and internships.
InternFeel (IF): Please tell us something about yourself. Where are you studying currently? What are your hobbies and interests?
Payel Banerjee: “High Expectations”! This is something I really believe in. Hi, my name is Payel Banerjee. Right now I am pursuing Bachelor in Hospital Management from NSHM College of Management and Technology, Kolkata. I am in the final year of my college.
IF: Tell us something about your internship including stipend, duration and place?
Payel: I have started doing internships from the first year of my college at the age of 19 after every semester. Right now, I am 21 years old and I have had experiences of four internships in different hospitals, both in and outside Kolkata.
Internships are a part of our curriculum; it carries marks for our semester. College and batch co-coordinator mostly arranged internships for our course. We need to give an interview and if got selected we can do our internships there. There are two types of internship held; one is summer internship for two months and another one is winter internship for one month. Stipend as such not provided by every organizations, but few do outside Kolkata.
I have done internships in Amri Mukundupur, Tata Medical Center, Peerless Hospital, all are in Kolkata and the last one in Columbia Asia Hospitals, Ahmedabad.
IF: How competitive was the selection process? According to you, which qualities have helped you have an edge in the selection process? Also, what were the key things that selectors were looking for?
Payel: Competition is something that makes us alive to do better in our life. Selection process is much filtered; the organizations are very clear about what they are searching in their interns who will benefit their organizations by their work.
For me, the qualities that helped me large in such an organization where I am totally new is my confidence, smartness and good communication with people and my passion for hard work.
Hospital Industry is such a sector where you to be very particular about every step you are taking. So the selectors are usually looking for confidence, smartness, how humble, dedicated and passionate person you are. Also, how well the person can communicate and can take responsibilities.
IF: Could you please highlight the work/research you carried out during your internship period?
Payel: I have done internships in different departments of different hospitals. OPD (Out Patient department) where I have connected directly with the patients, handling their queries and solved them and getting feed backs from them.
HRD (Human Resource Department) , I have done two of my internships in this department where I was assisting my managers starting from recruiting, selection to the joining of the employees, leave approvals, various activities, performance appraisals, salary processing, process of resignation and exit interview.
MD (Marketing Department), according to me an interesting department to work in where I can visit new places for healthcare campaign. During my internship I visited two societies for health care campaign and awareness as a part of external marketing. As a part of internal marketing, I used to talk to patients directly whether they are satisfied with the kind of treatments they are getting and how do they come to know about this hospital. Also, if any new treatment was introduced I used to present that in front of the patients. Besides that, I wrote blog for a department where I was doing my internal internship. I had also conducted research for my project and bring out information among the top hospitals in Kolkata and finding out the one that is doing well because of their marketing strategies and how active they are.
IF: Can you give us interesting details about your experience – good and bad?
Payel: Experiences are a mixture of everything. Both good and bad were there, but mostly challenging situations were there.
Regarding the internship outside Kolkata is a total new exposure. Ahmedabad is a good place to start with, a safe nice city which gave me so many reasons to love the city. I had to take care of my own accommodation and I used to stay in a PG which was a bungalow near my hospital. Lastly the seniors and staffs, were very helpful in every organizations and I made good friends and still in touch with them.
IF: How do you think this internship has helped you grow? In other words, what are your key takeaways from the internship?
Payel: Practical Knowledge, it may just include two words but it gives a lot more in life. Internships will help getting connected with the practical world applying all the theoretical knowledge. It helped me a lot to become more mature as person, handling responsibilities and facing critical situations. I have developed myself to become more challenging and ready to face every situation. I can remember when I was in Columbia Asia Hospitals. Ahmedabad my General Manager told me internships are those times where you can learn as much as you can and nobody will restrict you. So, I would love to learn things no matter how small it is.
IF: Has this internship had a decision altering impact on your career? Do you now think of a different future path as compared to before doing the internship?
Payel: Nothing as such I felt like doing something else and be on some usual path. Therefore, I chose to be in this course and I would love to be in. My family is my constant supporter and I am thankful to them always.
IF: Lastly, do you have any words of advice or caution for students aspiring for this internship and reading this piece?
Payel: Do it and give your best shot. Show everyone how capable you are and importantly show yourself how much strength you have. It will help you now and also in your future. Gain experience and use it. I hope my sharing experiences will help you a lot. All the best!
We’d like to wish Payel all the very best for her future endeavors.
