What are the responsibilities required of the NIMAA Program Coordinator at my organization?
NIMAA recommends the following profile for Externship Organization Program Coordinators (PC):
- An individual who is in an upper management position, such as an operations person, nurse manager or a provider.
- The person should be in daily communication with senior MAs (i.e. preceptors).
Our experience is that the Program Coordinator's time commitment is greatest during an Externship Organization's first year of participation, and during the interview process of each new cohort. As a general guideline, NIMAA has found that the first year of the program requires the PC to be dedicated towards the program as 0.2-0.4 FTE, while in the second year, that requirement could likely shift downward. These estimates could vary significantly across organizations, depending on the number of students placed, experience and other responsibilities of the PC selected.
Typical tasks required of the NIMAA PC at each Externship Organization are as follows:
- Assist with the NIMAA-led admissions process, including:
- Promoting the NIMAA program locally to potential students to drive enrollment.
- Interviewing pre-screened candidates in-person selected by NIMAA.
- Performing administrative tasks related to placement for NIMAA-accepted students (e.g. obtaining badges).
- Serve as the primary point of contact with NIMAA
- Identify sites at your organization that will participate in the program
- Select preceptors and site facilitators.
- Review NIMAA-provided orientation resources
- Prepare your organization and sites to host students
- Ensure that preceptors are consistently tracking student externship attendance
- Perform periodic check-ins with sites hosting students
- Support program evaluations
- Arrange for exam proctoring, where relevant