
Summer Enrichment Program (SEP)
Suzanne Jackson, vice president of operations and urgent care for HCA Physician Services Group, discusses how her participation in the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity’s Summer Enrichment Program helped create the foundation for her success as a senior health care executive. |
The 2023 Summer Enrichment Program
The Institute's Summer Enrichment Program (SEP) places diverse, graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in health care administration or a related field in 10-week, paid internships within health care organizations. Experienced administrators serve as preceptors and mentors, providing support and career advice as well as those critical early-career connections.
According to a 2015 Institute for Diversity and Health Equity Benchmark Study, the patient populations in U.S. hospitals and health systems are becoming more diverse, while diversity in those organizations’ senior leadership ranks has experienced a decline – evidence for the urgent need of effective initiatives to increase representation and inclusion of diverse leaders in healthcare management.
Since 1994, the Institute has placed more than 1,500 individuals in Summer Enrichment Program internships at hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations. Many former SEP participants now hold senior management and board positions at organizations across the country. In addition to gaining broad exposure to the host site’s staff, stakeholders and challenges, SEP interns also complete an independently-designed special project, intended to benefit the hospital after the internship concludes.
In 2016, the Institute and The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) also entered into a Strategic Alliance to co-promote the SEP.
2023 SEP Host Sites
Organization |
Location |
Baycare St. Joseph's Hospital |
Tampa, FL |
Kaiser Permanente of Northern California |
Oakland, CA |
Montefiore Medical Center |
Bronx, NY |
Penn Medicine Princeton Health |
Plainsboro, NJ |
Sheltering Arms Institute |
Richmond, VA |
St. Peter's Health |
Helena, MT |
Standford Children's Health |
Palo Alto, CA |
Thomas Jefferson University Health |
Philadelphia, PA |
Witt Kieffer |
Virtual |
Summerville Medical Center |
Summerville, SC |
Children’s Health |
Dallas, TX |
North Oaks Health System |
Hammond, LA |
Veterans Health Administration Midwest Consortium |
South Lyon, MI |
American College of Healthcare Executives |
Chicago, IL |
Archbold Medical Center |
Thomasville, GA |
Memorial Hermann |
Houston, TX |
Sheppard Pratt |
Baltimore, MD |
Providence Alaska Medical Center |
Anchorage, AK |
Main Line Health |
Radnor, PA |
Providence |
Healdsburg, CA |
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania |
Philadelphia, PA |
*This table will be updated frequently for 2023 SEP Host Sites, please check back regularly for updates.
For more information about the Summer Enrichment Program, please email ifd-sep@aha.org.