The project your team keeps pushing to the future

Behind every appointment is a support and administrative team, and many are stretched thin. An extra pair of hands can help them finally tackle the work that keeps slipping.

Patients remember the nurse who comforted them or the physician who explained their care. They often miss the hospital ecosystem of support and administrative staff that makes every visit possible.

According to a 2026 labour market report by Financial Accountability Office of Ontario, the province’s health care and social assistance sector added 14,700 jobs in 2025 yet still recorded 36,500 vacancies, the most of any major industry in the province. In IT, finance, operations, research administration and communications, every open role means work piles up.

Most teams also carry a list of ideas they never get to: a records clean-up, a better referral tracker, clearer patient instructions. The problem is rarely a lack of will. It is lack of time.

An extra pair of hands, with a plan

A growing number of health care and research teams are filling that gap with university students on co-op work terms. These are full-time, paid work terms of four, eight or 12 months in support and administrative roles.

This differs from placements, where medical students complete mandatory real-world training in hospitals. Here, the focus is on the support functions that often do not need students with core medical skills but help medical teams do their work.

In practice, a co-op student might keep health records accurate, organize research study files, check data for missing entries or track orders and invoices. A mathematics and statistics student can analyze appointment data to find the busiest times. A computer science student can support IT teams with troubleshooting. A health policy student can organize documentation to help teams keep pace with regulations.

Not every project justifies a new permanent position. A records clean-up or a data review has a start and an end. A co-op student can take on that kind of work for four, eight or 12 months, without the long-term commitment of a full-time hire. The hospital team sees the results first, then decides what comes next.

The Arts and Science Co-op team at U of T Scarborough helps students from more than 57 undergraduate programs across the sciences, social sciences and humanities connect with co-op opportunities.

Students benefit too. They gain exposure to the health care system while using skills and learning from their own academic programs. After the work term, they return to school with real-world experience that informs their future career decisions.

Built on relationships

“I often ask hospital teams, “which administrative task takes up most of your time and attention?” The answer is usually something important but repetitive that keeps them occupied and away from strategic projects that require their specialized knowledge and experience. That’s when we share that our students are already supporting such administrative tasks in the healthcare space and share the detailed benefits of participating in our program.“ 

Antonella Poon, Team Lead – Arts and Science Co-op at University of Toronto Scarborough.

What about privacy and patient data security?

Hospital teams are right to ask. Good placements have clear tasks and oversight. Students look only at the information they need, use approved systems and their own logins, avoid downloading anything that could identify a patient, and raise privacy questions with a supervisor right away. Qualified staff review the work and make the final call on test results, billing, patient advice, public statements and staffing.

What changes for your team

• Clinic staff get time back. Nurses, physicians and managers can focus on their specialties.

• Shelved projects start to move. A student with a clear scope can advance an idea while staff review the work.

• A fresh set of eyes. Students ask why things are done a certain way, sometimes exposing outdated steps.

Arts and Science Co-op is a proud founding member of the U of T co-op community, with more than 50 years of experience in co-op education. Get in touch with their co-op representatives to explore projects a co-op student could take on in your team. Get support on scoping the work, shaping the role and navigating the next steps. 

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