Summer Internships: University of Virginia Health System

By Scott J. Hurtgen                   

Greetings, from the Old Dominion! Thomas Jefferson has a resume much more impressive than mine to say the least – he is, among many other things, the author of the Declaration of Independence and the 3^rd President of the United States of America.  In 1819 Thomas Jefferson became another type of founding father, when he founded the University of Virginia in his hometown of Charlottesville. Shortly after founding the University, in 1825 Jefferson also founded the UVA Medical Education and Patient Care Program, which has grown into what is now the UVA Health System - The UVA Medical Center (which includes a 604-bed hospital, trauma center and numerous primary and specialty care clinics throughout the region), the School of Medicine, School of Nursing and the UVA Physicians Group.  I have found my home this summer in the UVA Medical Center as the Administrative Intern in Ambulatory Care Operations working for Iowa MHA Alumnus Thomas Saul (’07) – Chief, Ambulatory Care Services.

The three main projects I’ve been working on this summer are: 

• The examination and cost analysis of a 3^rd party vendor contract regarding patient appointment reminders
• Serving on the Ambulatory Practice Vaccination Subcommittee, working on a project to increase influenza and pneumococcal immunization compliance rates
• Understanding how appointment availability is currently measured at UVA and researching (through literature and reaching out to individuals at other organizations) alternate ways to measure patient access
  
  

I have also been up to many other things as well.  I spearheaded the project to turn a room being used for storage into a functional workspace for the department.  Cleaning out a closet filled with big old printers and scanners wasn’t any less fun in a tie than it would have been in more comfortable clothing.  I’ve learned more about work orders and navigating through a complex infrastructure than I would have ever imagined in such a short time.  Every Monday morning I get my schedule for the week, with various different meetings to attend, and which almost always includes the weekly ambulatory team meeting on Thursdays and quality and patient safety rounds through the 7^th floor of the hospital every Friday. 

Life in The Commonwealth is fantastic outside of my internship as well!  Not having lived in a mountainous region before, going for runs around town with the view of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background is such an awesome experience.  Aside from running, I have also recently gotten into Bikram Yoga – a great, yet slightly spendy way to exercise and decompress.  “The Corner” – where you can find almost every UVA student currently in town – is the neighborhood I live in, and the center of UVA nightlife.  On Fridays, downtown is the place to be for a little party known as Fridays After Five – which features local food and music at the outdoor pavilion and pedestrian mall.  Charlottesville is also conveniently located on an Amtrak line 2.5 hours south of DC, so I was able to travel up to the Capital for a weekend as well.

Through interactions with all types of people involved in care at UVA Medical Center, from the CEO to medical directors, to clinic managers, to the parents of a young patient in the PICU – and especially from Thomas, I have learned so much about what it means to work in healthcare and what I Care, I Heal, I Build means here at the University of Virginia Health System.  I look forward to finishing strong here and bringing everything I’ve learned in Charlottesville back to Iowa with me in the fall; minus the southern accent.