College of Administration and Finance Sciences

Form No 4- Internship Report Cover Page

Student`s name:	Mohammed Saleh Alwehaiby
Student`s ID #:	S180073360

Training Organization: General Directorate of Medical Services in Ministry of Defense	Trainee Department: Finance Department
Field Instructor Name: Abdullah Alfeez	Field Instructor Signature:
Course Title: MGT430	CRN: 31616
Internship Start Date: 21/03/2023	Internship End Date:25/5/2023
Academic Year/Semester:3rd Semester 2023

For Instructor’s Use only

Instructor’s Name: Ahmed Almamy	Total Training Hours 315
Students’ Grade: Marks Obtained / 30	Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low

A Brief Executive Summary

The General Directorate of Medical Services in Ministry of Defense is involved with all the armed forces hospitals around the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the doctors within those hospitals. Some of those hospitals being;

1- Prince Sultan Medical City in Riyadh

2- Armed Forces Hospital in The South

3- King Fahad Military Medical City (KFMMC)

4- Prince Sultan Cardiac Center (Qassim).

And many more others around the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

I worked within the Financial Department and was assigned a schedule by the training department in the institute alongside 4 other students from various universities for us to follow during the training period. The schedule was to be a part of every sub department within the financial department, the sub departments were as followed;

1- Accounting department

2- Financial audit department

3- Payroll department

4- Expenses Department

5- Accounts department

The training was mainly focused on teaching the trainee how the work is done within the institute rather than being assigned a specific job that you have to carry throughout the training. Switching departments every 2 weeks meant that the time period for me as trainee to absorb everything that the department does was very minimal, and the work they do within the whole organization is in Arabic and this course is in English so it proved to be rather hard for me, it was still an enriching experience and I hope that I can explain it fully in this report.

I would like to thank all the employees I interacted with and helped me with any question I had, specifically my instructor Abdullah Alfeez. The institute is not used to having trainees from the Saudi Electronic University that conducts everything in English, yet they tried to help me as much as they could which proves that they are willing to adapt for the sake of a trainee.

Chapter 1:

General Directorate of Medical Services in Ministry of Defense

The General Directorate of Medical Services in Ministry of Defense is involved with all the armed forces hospitals around the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the doctors within those hospitals. It looks after doctors’ deployment, scholarships, expenses and all fees surrounding them. It operates within the public sector and as a governmental body it is very classified and I did not have access to the hierarchy specifically. It serves military personnel alongside Saudi doctors deployed to the armed forces hospitals or contracted to it.

Chapter 2:

For the internship program, I got an opportunity to work in the Ministry of Defense, in the financial department. An internship or entry-level job position provides a person with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the operations of a situation where everyone else knows you are new at this and in an ideal world, they will train, mentor, and support you (Loretto, 2019).

The Department of Defense is U.S.’s largest government agency whose mission is to offer military forces required to prevent war and ensure the country’s security. The American military forces defend the nation, deter enemies, and ensure security across the globe by projecting America’s influence and collaborating with partners and allies (U.S. Department of Defense, 2023). In case the deterrence measures fail, the U.S. military is ready to fight and decisively win against any adversary. The Ministry of Defense personnel are the backbone of the U.S.'s national security. They are a representation of the diverse makeup of our country and support people on active duty as well as families, veterans, and retirees via training, education, and benefit programs. This department gave me a chance to experience an awesome, down-to-earth introduction to the government department and it was an unforgettable practice of the theory learned in the classroom. This practical experience turned out to be a decent way of preparing myself for the profession ahead.

Financial Department Operation

The financial department in the Ministry of Defense is significant in the management of financial resources allocated to the defense sector. It is also in charge of overseeing payments of the Ministry of Defense employees, service members, contractors, and vendors. The operations and activities of the financial department are organized in a manner to optimize financial management within the ministry. Budgeting and financial planning is one of the key roles of the financial department. By working together with other defense departments, the financial department can design and execute the set budget while putting into consideration factors such as procurement needs, personnel costs, strategic priorities, and maintenance expenses. Through budget control, the department also ensures the appropriate allocation of funds across multiple defense programs and departments and even performs financial forecasting to predict future funding requirements. Regarding accounting and financial management, the financial department is tasked with maintaining accurate financial and accounting records, as well as ensuring adherence to accounting regulations and principles. The department also oversees and regulates expenditures to make sure that they align with financial policies, and approved budgets. The implementation of internal controls and processes to protect financial assets and deter fraud is another key element of the financial department’s operations.

In addition, the financial department collaborates with other departments such as teams involved in procurement to manage how goods and services are acquired for the defense ministry. The department adheres to the rules and regulations of procurement, prioritizes cost-effectiveness, and investigates the financial elements of defense contracts inclusive of financial reporting, budgeting, and evaluating contract performance.

Financial Tasks as an Intern

As an intern, I was actively involved in various financial tasks to help achieve the overall goals of the financial department. To begin with, I was responsible for handling payroll and personnel expenses. I dealt with payroll activities such as administering benefits, calculating salaries, and ensuring compliance with U.S. labor laws and regulations. Besides, I was responsible for tracking and regulating employee and personnel-related expenses inclusive of travel reimbursements, allowances, and training costs. As an intern, I collaborated with my colleagues and managers to ensure compliance in the entire department with accounting standards, financial regulations, as well as reporting requirements. I assisted in preparing financial reports inclusive of financial statements, budget execution reports, and reports required by relevant stakeholders such as government agencies, and international organizations.

Payroll department has (33) employees, divided into 5 sub departments being

1- Rewards section

2- Payroll section

3- Final discharge section

4- Audit section

5- Discounts section

6- General communications section

Rewards section is responsible for performing all rewards based on the identity of the recipients and disbursement of military and official debt bonuses, sorting decisions and making sure the orders are complete and eligible. Printing sprites and specials and raising exchange and payment bonuses via Eitmad platform at the Ministry of education, tracking expired payment orders and linking them to an exchange platform and finally ensuring the disbursements are given out correctly and in a timely manner.

As for the payroll section, the payroll auditors are responsible for salaries and the judgment and any variables on salary and numbers and printing monthly biographies. Payment of salaries of civil servants and official debts, working on achieving decisions and calculating earnings and updating the system as required. Also lifting bonds of exchange of and closing them on the Etimad platform. Uploading the salaries on the exchange platform known as (UGP). As well as follow up on the payment orders on the ( UGP), follow up on salary reports and prepare budget reports for salaries and their provisions.

As for the final discharge section, it handles the final liquidations of retirees and their disbursements of rights as well as submitting exchange and payment orders for final liquidation via the ministry of finance accreditation platform. Auditing and reviewing the amounts after calculation, printing biographies for each pensioner and finalizing the procedures for cashing completed transactions as soon as possible. Raising pensioner benefits on the exchange platform (UGP) and finally communicating with pensioners in case of any deficiencies through the salary system.

As for the audit section, it mainly focuses on handling the audit of all entries by the performers of salaries and bonuses as well as retirement settlements, following up and observing of salaries disbursement, follow-up and correction and response to the –

Accounting statements and correction of allowances as well as following up on the work of all sections of the department.

The discounts section pays attention to the discipline of discounts on the identity of the employee and raise discounts for internal and external parties, discounts are implemented for governmental banks and (Takaful) funds on a monthly basis. Follow-up and respond to governmental banks’ observations as well as following-up of checks and services calculations.

As for the final section, which is the general communication it focuses on distribution of transactions to the departments through the administrative communication system as well as preparation of internal and external letters for management. Preparation of external paper transactions and their distribution to the departments, export of internal and external transactions and sending the transactions to banks through the bank’s representative in the department and finally they are responsible for all archiving of transactions.

Chapter 3:

Entering a new work environment presented new challenges. There were a couple of things that I had to understand and thus the first few weeks were the most difficult and confusing as they were not what I was typically used to. I also experienced some challenges while working for the financial department at the Ministry of Defense. However, I was glad that I always learned something new from others.

Since this was my first time working with a government institution, there were several things that I was not familiar with. For instance, the roles of the finance department, and the types of operations were not very clear in the initial stages. I had to comprehend these things pretty fast in order to keep up with the pace at the new workplace. Even though I had some theoretical background of what was being done, I still struggled to apply the learned concepts practically. The department's difference and its own set of working procedures acted as a huge obstacle for the first couple of weeks.

Any decision made went through a long chain of command which caused delays even though this process served to keep transparency and accuracy of the decisions made. For instance, before any procurement was made, an individual was required to initially notify the procurement manager and write a purchase order. Petty amounts of money were quickly accepted and paid via Petty Cash but the amount that exceeded a certain amount required Purchase Requisition. After authorization by the procurement department, the voucher is given to the finance department.

During the internship program, I leverage various accounting tools such as Payroll and Cash Book to locate files in order. The financial department maintains a cashbook and all the cash and bank transactions are properly recorded. The Cashbook in the Ministry of Defense is maintained by the Finance Assistance and updated every day with every new transaction. Since the Cashbook contains information about the vendor name, and filing dates with a brief explanation of each type of voucher, I was able to utilize it to find vouchers with little effort and also attach supporting documents.

Additionally, I utilized the Payroll system to gather data about the salary benefits time sheets of all relevant personnel. This system typically records salary details separately and offers accurate net salary amounts to be transferred to individual employees. With every payment, a payroll code is printed and attached as a supporting document. I must admit that the orientation given by the HR department gave me an overview of how each department works. I was also assigned a supervisor who offered guidance and was always ready to answer any questions that I raised. This made my adjustment process quite easy in the new work environment.

Lessons Learned as a Financial Trainee

The internship experience at the financial department of the Ministry of Defense helped me increase my knowledge and skills on how such departments operate. Even though I had very little to contribute to the department, I ensured that all the given tasks were finished properly. I strongly believe that my work during the internship program has significantly contributed to the department achieving its objectives.

I learned how to interact, collaborate, and network with colleagues. During my internship, I made new professional relationships even with colleagues outside the finance department. I actively participated in social events, farewell events, and orientation programs through which I connected with other people. I also learned about how to manage time and meet deadlines. Even though there were duties and information to keep up with, meeting deadlines was key. I remember how I struggled to multitask and complete tasks, especially during peak hours. However, with time, I gained the skills of prioritizing tasks according to the level of urgency rather than performing all tasks at the same time.

In addition, I learned how to balance work. During the internship program, I experienced busy days and other days where the workload was minimal. While facing huge workloads, I quickly familiarized myself with the work and effectively communicated with my fellow colleagues. This gave me a sense of putting in the work and becoming productive from the very start. When I had a lot of free time, I dived into research work about the financial department. I engraved myself in training manuals and reports to obtain more information about the department. I was also able to balance my work and professional life. I learned the importance of taking care of your well-being in order to increase productivity at the workplace.

department and even with senior executives. In addition to developing my interpersonal skills, I was able to learn the operations of the finance department in detail. I feel honored and humbled to have gained a chance to work in such a renowned department, and more so be guided throughout the internship period. I am positive that the knowledge and skills obtained from the internship program will help me improve my career.

As a trainee in a governmental body, I faced a few difficulties that hopefully will serve as a lesson in future endeavors, having to translate everything from Arabic to English served as an obstacle for me personally, trying to constantly prepare for the reports in English while giving the information I am getting from the institute justice was a struggle, but I hopefully did well in that regard. Another difficulty was the schedule set for me by the institute did not give me enough time in the respective departments, being transported every two weeks to a different sub-department within the financial section meant that I had little time to adapt and absorb all the information I can from the employees. My supervisor Abdullah Alfeez helped me in transitioning between sub-departments greatly and I would like to extend my thanks to him.

My main recommendation to future graduates and the esteemed Saudi Electronic University is to find and institute or a company that mainly operates in English to reduce the hassle of translating everything and focusing solely on learning and gaining the experience of being a trainee. My professor (Ahmed Almamy) made it easier for me to focus as much as I can on the course and the training program and was very transparent and ready to answer any questions the students had. I appreciate the opportunity from the university and the General Directorate of Medical Services in Ministry of Defense and hopefully it will help me greatly in the future, as an unemployed student this experience was a needed one for me personally to get me on track on how the working environment is, also the employees that I met in the institute gave me a lot of advice on how to succeed and what I need to improve to get the job that I want in the future and set my expectations correctly.

Conclusion

The internship program at the Ministry of Defense has helped me learn about how government organizations completely differ from other organizations. This program gave me an opportunity to upgrade my knowledge and skills and boost my capacity to work in financial departments. The diverse and good corporate culture made it easy for me to approach and communicate with my colleagues. I was able to build connections with employees in my