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Keep hearing the word, but not understanding what an externship is? It’s pretty simple. An externship, like an internship, provides hands-on training in a field a student is interested in pursuing.
Externships at CALRegional are an opportunity to practice the skills you have learned in the classroom portion of your healthcare training program. Think of it as on-the-job training. An externship allows you to be placed at an off-site location like a hospital, clinic, or laboratory to complete the required hours for the practical portion of the program.
We partner with more than 1500 sites, including leading healthcare facilities such as Kaiser, Sutter Health, Quest Diagnostics, and LabCorp, so our students are never struggling to find placement in an externship.
All programs offered through CALRegional partners include didactic and practical training. Dialectical training is what you learn in the classroom. The didactic portion of the program may include learning medical terminology and anatomy or running diagnostic tests.
In the practical part of the program, you will practice procedures like blood draws on classmates and instructors. Most of your practical training will come from your experience during the externship.
There are many benefits to completing an externship. In addition to being able to practice your skills in a live setting, you will experience what it is like working in the field. Many sites host externs, in part, to find qualified candidates to hire. In some cases, it can lead to employment at the location.