University of Iowa Health Management & Policy

Hi folks! My name is Austin Synoground, and this summer I had the great pleasure of serving as a remote legal intern with the Office of Legal Services at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  St. Jude is a truly unique organization. Founded in 1962 by Danny Thomas, the mission of the hospital is to prevent and cure pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Whereas most hospitals fund operations through patient service revenue, government reimbursements, and private insurance payments, St. Jude relies primarily on public and private donations. These donations allow the hospital to provide life-saving medical care to 9,000 patients annually, and the families of those patients never have to pay for treatment, travel, housing or food.   Like the hospital, the Office of Legal Services is one-of-a-kind. Professional, clever, kind, the team is exactly what you would hope to see in a children’s hospital. With nearly twenty attorneys, the legal team’s deep ...

Summer 2026 has been filled with incredible opportunities, meaningful experiences, and lasting relationships. As I wrap up my summer, I have taken time to reflect on everything I have learned throughout this journey. I had the privilege of serving as the Administrative Intern at the Stead Family Children's Hospital under the leadership of Jim Leste and John Heinemann over the past 10 weeks. During my internship, I contributed to nearly 15 high-impact projects spanning multiple service lines and administrative functions across the children's hospital. While every project provided valuable experience, three of my primary initiatives included developing the first Stead Family Children's Hospital staff newsletter to strengthen leadership communication, creating provider and specialty scorecards to identify scheduling inefficiencies within the Pediatric Specialty Clinic, and designing an executive NICU dashboard that consolidates key performance indicators into a single reportin...

Hello Hello! My name is Emily Sutter, and I have spent the past 9 weeks living in Chicago, IL. I am the Administrative and Operations intern at Advocate Christ Medical Center (CMC), which is one of the Illinois Flagship hospitals, and my preceptor is Cameron Lewis (Chief Operating Officer). As I am writing this blog, I am just about to start my final week here. Time flies and I am having the best time! My first couple days of my internship were quite unique, I attended our Illinois Leadership Advance where I heard from some amazing leaders like Eugene Woods, CEO of Advocate Health and Kevin Warren, President and CEO of the Chicago Bears. This experience energized me, and I felt so grateful to be learning from a team committed to shaping the future of health care. On my second day I attended the groundbreaking event of the new Trinity Hospital on the south side of Chicago that is part of our 1-billion-dollar investment in Chicago’s south side.  I have been involved in multiple proje...

Greetings from Iowa City! My name is Brenton Shrock, and I am the administrative intern at Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa Health Care this summer. My preceptor is Rachel Kirchner, Executive Administrator for Oncology Service Line at UIHC. Holden Cancer Center is Iowa’s only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center and offers high-acuity oncology care. This includes infusion, chemotherapy, CAR T-cell therapy, surgical and radiation oncology, and much more! This summer has provided me with the opportunity to learn, observe, and put my skills to the test. During my time, I have been able to participate in leadership and clinical meetings, attend high-level director’s meetings across UIHC, and lead the implementation of new initiatives at Holden.  One of my first projects this summer included working with The Institute for Public Health Practice, Research and Policy (IPHPRP) to curate written portions of the Combat Cancer Technical Assistance program as ...

 Hello from Denver, Colorado! This summer, I've had an amazing opportunity to work at Foley & Lardner LLP as a Summer Associate. Foley & Lardner is an AM Law 100 law firm with over 1100 attorneys and 27 offices worldwide.   This summer, I completed over 50 projects. I spent the majority of my time working with the law firm's healthcare group on various transactions and deals. This included performing tasks such as negotiating letters of intent, drafting confidentiality agreements, and performing due diligence. I also provided several answers to regulatory questions, created company formation documents in a variety of states, reviewed and revised various types of contracts, and drafted demand letters.  One of the best parts of my summer associateship has been getting to know the associates and partners who currently work full-time at the firm. Many of these people have gone above and beyond to ensure that I've had a great summer, whether that be by providing m...

Hi all!  My name is Claire Schaefer, and I am the summer administrative intern with the Chief Medical Office team at the University of Iowa Health Care. My preceptor is Greg Kirkman, Service Line Director of Adult Inpatient Operations. I write this blog as we begin Week 7 of our 10-week internship, which feels crazy—I guess time flies when you are learning so much!  This position has presented me with opportunities to observe and participate in valuable initiatives taking place within UIHC. More specifically, some of my biggest projects this summer have lied within one of UIHC’s six priority areas within our strategic plan: Access. Length of stay is a measurement of access for Iowans and beyond treated here at the U.  Over the past several weeks, I have attended morning throughput huddles across various inpatient units. I audit these conversations to better understand how providers are collaborating to discharge our medically ready patients. At this stage, we are working ...