Summer Internship: University of Iowa Physicians

By: Colin Carroll (MHA '18)

Hello from Iowa City! I don’t have to travel far for my internship with University of Physicians (UIP). Located in the College of Medicine Administration Building, our offices are at the center of Iowa’s Health Science Campus, and directly adjacent to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC).

UIP is the state’s largest medical and surgical group practice, employing more than 900 physicians in every clinical department at UIHC. Our physicians comprise the faculty of Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, and provide comprehensive care to patients of University of Iowa Healthcare. UIP directly oversees the Iowa River Landing in Coralville, 70 different specialty outreach clinics across Iowa, and multiple primary and specialty care offsite clinics.

My internship with UIP has focused on offsite clinic operations. Two of the major projects I have been involved with include clinic leadership presentations and clinic lease transitions. The clinic leadership presentations occur once a month with each offsite clinic. During these meetings, performance and operations issues are discussed with clinic staff, the Director of Offsite Primary Care, and the Administrative Director for Offsite Clinics. My role has been to analyze and present clinic performance measures to the group. I’m also involved with transitioning the leases for each offsite clinic to Capital Management. This multi-phase project started with a comprehensive review of offsite clinic lease documents, and compiling operating invoice files. The leases will eventually transition to Board of Regents leases under the oversight of Capital Management.

My internship is going into its sixth week and I have projects that are just getting started. I’ve been asked to help establish a telemedicine program for the offsite clinics, and implement a scheduling program to automate clinic wait-lists. My weeks are also filled with administrative rounds with the UIHC interns, the annual UIHC Space Survey, and Friday administrative lunches.

I have continued to enjoy Iowa City in the summer (this will be my fifth). As the temperature has warmed and the crowds have tapered-off, summertime in Iowa City presents a different atmosphere from the academic year. With plenty of patios and weekend street festivals, Iowa City summers are second to none. Looking forward to Jazz Fest at the end of June, and 4^th of July celebrations on the Pentacrest!