Exploring the Growing Trend of Hospitals Partnering with Universities

In recent years there has been a growing trend in which hospitals are partnering more and more with universities. There are actually a number of reasons why this makes good sense, but the actual need for this partnership is literally feeding the trend. By looking at some of the reasons why hospitals and universities are partnering, the growing trend can be better understood.

Addressing the Shortage of Doctors and Nurses

There is no secret that healthcare is in crisis. For years, there has been a great deal of concern that there is a severe shortage of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. The pandemic just added to the problem and now there simply aren’t enough doctors and nurses to staff the floor. This is why hospitals can’t afford to lose even one to take an education sabbatical. By partnering with universities, the hospital can be assured that nurses, for example, will remain at work but will take their classes online. If you check out academicpartnerships.uta.edu/programs/nursing.aspx you will get a better feel for how this partnership benefits both the hospital and the student nurse.

Bringing Advances in Healthcare Back to Work

Typically, advances in healthcare circle academia before they reach hospitals and clinics. Yes, many of these advances are published in scientific and medical journals but realistically, doctors and nurses have little time to be reading those studies. Usually, those advances are posted in journals published by universities and due to this, the information often finds its way into classes within days of being published. Hospitals benefit because their staff take these advances back to work with them and often are able to put them into practice immediately. If it’s not something they have the authority to institute, they will bring the information to their department head.

Clinicals Administered by the Hospital

Also, when a university partners with a hospital, the clinicals necessary prior to graduation are administered by the hospital in which the student is already working. Often universities will tailor their clinicals with duties specific to that degree and to the responsibilities assessed by the hospital. It’s a partnership that benefits both the university and the hospital in that clinicals can be tailored to the needs of the hospital which, in turn, gives universities tangible goals to set for their students. As an added benefit to the student, their clinicals are being realistically assessed by people who know them and work with them daily. A true assessment can be made.

You will often find that it isn’t only hospitals and universities forming a partnership to advance services provided. By working together in literally any field, academia gets a better understanding of real-life problems needing to be addressed and employers get to pose these needs to the universities that will address them both theoretically and in practice. Students get to bring what they are learning to real-life situations and employers are better able to serve their customers. Universities get to plan courses around issues common in today’s world.