The Overall Experience

                This internship has had professional, academic, and personal impacts on me and my plans for the future.  It has reassured me that I have picked the right field to initially go into, and also has gotten rid of all my doubts that going straight into grad school might be a bad idea, I know think it is a great idea.  Personally, this internship has demonstrated how I am ready for a real working position since I worked from 7am-5pm which is similar to how a real job will go. 

                The goals I had set out to achieve in week three have really been accomplished since I have started.  I met all the goals Dr. Bentkover had laid out for me about professionalism and getting tasks completed in a timely fashion and independently.  As far as the goals I had set out for myself to complete I have met those as well.  I had mentioned how I took it upon myself to really try and learn the ins and outs of marketing, and I really went beyond just learning since I got to experience it hands on and very in-depth. 

                I would recommend someone in the same situation as me to do this internship in the future for sure. It was a great experience with a great office and really gives you a god insight into what a real job in this position would be like.  After doing this internship I can safely say I want to work in medical marketing in the future, and maybe even tailor my master’s degree around that topic. 

Codes of Conduct

                The formal code of the office is that of Medical Confidentiality and HIPPA.  Each patient who comes in has a right of confidentiality and no one employed by the office is allowed to speak of who enters the office or anything about their procedures.  Also, HIPPA, which is about Health Insurance Privacy makes it so that no information can be given to anyone in person or over the phone who is not the direct patient, unless the patient has signed consent for that person to attain knowledge of medical history. 

                The formal codes effect the office in a legal way as do all doctor’s offices, but there are other codes that the office follows.  There is a professional code that we follow about dress, which is a business casual setting.  There are also codes about what’s acceptable to do in the office.  It is very lenient but can change if someone abuses their privileges.  These are small things like you can have your phone on you, but keep texting to a minimum, respect others food in the refrigerator, ask before using things, and overall just do what is assigned and help everyone out.   

                The informal codes are what get reflected to the patients when coming into the office.  Behind the desk is a very mature controlled group of people, well organized, and task oriented which gives the customers a better feeling about coming in.  It is a very easy office to work in because everyone is respectful and helpful which allows tasks to get done in a timely fashion and correctly.  The formal codes must be followed for legal reasons, but the informal codes are what hold the office together. 

Tasks, Assignments, and Educational Implications

                The tasks I have been getting assigned vary a little bit, but not much.  Bi-weekly I type up a newsletter to be sent out via email to patients.  Similar tasks have been to make flyers to be posted to the website and to be emailed out about seminars that Dr. Bentkover hosts about his new treatments.  I also have designed eblasts which are essentially flyers that get emailed out to quickly promote an upcoming special or event.  These are the types of tasks I perform regularly.

                Tasks I have worked on or have been assigned in addition to those have been to make different brochures for the office.  I have made specific ones to inform patients about the different types of services.  For example, I made a whole brochure based on the beauty and wellness portion of what is offered in the office.  Additionally, I made one specifically about the types of surgery, and also one about the different recovery options you have and are recommended to you based on what type of procedure you had done.  I have not needed to negotiate any of the tasks I have been assigned, but in some cases I was able to change some of the ideas for the better, and give feedback which changed some portion of the assignment, but it was really negotiated it was just and agreed upon suggestion. 

                I haven’t really learned any new skills in this position because I am working with software I was already familiar with, like publisher and excel.  I have learned many other things though about marketing and how it works that will really be effective to me in the future, as well as learned things about myself.  Some things I have done which is a new skill in a way was learn how to print and manage labels on Microsoft word, which was no easy task. 

                Overall I haven’t found many links that direct back to my formal education at Worcester State, but the internship has been very educational.  I got a better look into how private companies or specifically a private practice goes about marketing and how the boss manages things financially and promotionally for the company.  It has given me a better look into the real world and how employment really works since I myself have only held part time positions. 

Preliminary Evaluation of Internship Experience

After taking a little while to fill out and reflect upon the mid-point survey, I couldn’t be happier with this internship.  Starting with one of the later points, “I look forward to each day enthusiastically.”, my answer to this was an immediate yes.   I only work for ten hours each Monday because of my schedule, but I really do love coming into the office.  This really set the tone for how the rest of the evaluation went.

                To answer a lot of the questions about how I feel about my co-workers and how I deal with situations when they come up, to be truthful no situations have come up.  The office staff is very understanding and respectful.  I get tasks weekly that are very appropriate for the learning I have done in school and there have been no strife’s in the office.  During staff meetings there is constructive criticism that is given that we all take in stride and just improves the office over all. 

                As for the personal questions, I am very pleased with myself in this internship.  I have established a great relationship with Dr. Bentkover as well as the others in the office.  When patients come in and I greet them at the window I feel as though I have also built a nice rapport when speaking to others in a professional setting.  In all the tasks I have completed from newsletters, to eblasts, seminal flyers, and even designed mailers I have put all my effort into them and my work patterns and consistency have been reflected in the completion of my tasks.  I feel like my contributions have been appreciated and well executed. 

                This internship has cleared up all my doubts about what I want to do in the future.  I am now positive that marketing and public relations is for me, and I really like the medical side of it proving that I could be in this position for a while.  I am very committed to what I am currently doing, and look forward to seeing how the rest of the internship pays off. 

Organization Hierarchy, Management structure, and Communication Methods

                Dr. Bentkover’s office is comprised of a small staff that demonstrated great communication to keep the whole office organized and under control.  The hierarchy of the office is as follows:

Dr. Bentkover

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Nancy Bentkover

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Kim Van Gerven (Aesthetician) and Holly O’Neill (Office Manager)

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Myself

                The formal management including position titles has Dr. Bentkover, who is the only physician in his practice controls how things run.  Following him would be his wife, Nancy, who is the nurse in the office but also manages the financial aspect of the office.  She coordinates all of the payment plans with patients as well as aids in on the procedures.  The next two people work a similar basis of the job but then perform alternative tasks as well.  Kim and Holly both answer phones, make the payments, schedule appointments, and keep up with other small office jobs.  Kim, in addition to the smaller office jobs, does all the facials, peels, and professional make up for patients after new surgeries.  Holly, does all the small tasks but then is in charge of managing the office as a whole.  She is in contact with everyone that needs to be spoken to at all times, faxes medical histories, updates charts, and many other things.  Which leads to me at the bottom, my role is to make the advertisements that will go up on the website, and communicate directly with the company that designs the website.  I do smaller typical intern tasks as well like file and make copies, but most of the time I am actually performing relative tasks. 

                The communication in the office is so strong.  Even on the busiest days everything runs smoothly because the four main employees work so well together.  Every Monday, there is a staff lunch meeting where they talk about tasks for the week, and things that may need improvement.  I am in attendance at these meetings.  There are also emails being sent out constantly in which everyone is cc’ed in keeping everyone on the same page.  They do a great job really keeping all parties informed which allows for a smooth, comfortable feel and flow in the office. 

Organization/Personal Goals

               Since this is the second internship I have done with my major my goals were simply to try and gain a better experience from this one in comparison to the other.  My last internship dealt with marketing in the sense of promoting a completely new idea by going door-to-door and making cold calls, which I realized isn’t an ideal job for me.  My internship here at Dr. Bentkover’s office has me doing eblasts for the website, making brochures, making a waiting room book, and promoting new types of treatments for the patients, which is more of the marketing I like than door-to-door. 

                The goals set out for me in the internship description were to be professional, complete tasks independently, and demonstrate confidentiality in the office.  I have acted upon all the goals they have requested upon but also added a few myself.  My personal goals are to learn the ropes of marketing more independently.  I have really taken an interest to the responses my ads and newsletters have been making on people, and if my ideas are reaching the right audience. 

                Ultimately the goals they have established for me and the ones I have set out for myself are very similar.  All the goals combined really encourage myself to get better acclimated with the workings of medical marketing which is the point of me interning here.  Working hard to keep up with these goals has made me realize this is something I think I could pursue a career in.  Overall, I am very happy with this internship.    

The Organization and Its Media

                The internship I am working on for the fall semester is at Dr. Bentkover’s private Facial Plastic Surgery Practice at the Worcester Medical Center in St. Vincent Hospital.  Dr. Bentkover’s office is specialized in certain types of skin treatments as well as huge surgery like rhinoplasty and facial reconstruction.  It is also the only office in all of New England that does tattoo removal.  The purpose of the internship is to gain experience in medical marketing and medical public relations. 

                Dr. Bentkover has been in practice since 1979 and has been located in this office for the past 10 years. The mission statement of the office is; “The Bentkover Facial Plastic Surgery and Laser Center was founded on the premise that technical skill, experience, art, innovation, the ability to listen, and compassion are the most important elements of plastic surgery. We are a team of dedicated professionals who work hard each day to perfect this philosophy.”  My thoughts on the mission statement back up how I feel about Dr. Bentkover.  He is a very kind passionate person to work for, and he truly does bring those qualities into the work place.  The patients he treats all have a strong relationship with him because he really puts in the extra effort to make them feel comfortable.  Plastic surgery can be a scary procedure just like all surgeries, but he really makes the experience as smooth as possible for the patients. 

Bentkover Facial Plastic Surgery

Worcester Medical Center

123 Summer Street, Suite 675

Worcester, MA 01608

(508) 363-6500

http://www.drbentkover.com/

My Mentor:

Holly O’Neill

Office Manager for Dr. Bentkover

Office.manager@drbentkover.com

(508) 363-6500