Summer Internship: Kameda Medical Center

Shannon McCarthy (MHA '18), left, poses during her summer in Japan.
By: Shannon McCarthy (MHA ’18)

Konnichiwa!

I am writing to you from Kamogawa, Japan where I am just finishing up this portion of my three-month internship with Kameda Medical Center.  My time here in Japan has been eye-opening in both an educational and cultural sense.  While I am currently here in the far west part of the main island, my journey in Japan started across the bay in Tokyo with Nihon Keiei.  Nihon Keiei is a healthcare consulting firm with around 30% of the domestic market as a client.

During my time in Tokyo, I conducted site visits to several healthcare facilities including a long-term care hospital, psychiatric hospital, community hospitals, and more.  These facilities were located all across the Honshu island including Fukushima, Nagano, Nasu, and other organizations around Tokyo.  In addition to the site visits, I have helped Nihon Keiei in their application for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Village clinic with a detailed analysis of primary care services requirements.

When I worked with Nihon Keiei at their headquarters in Osaka, I was responsible for developing an international business expansion plan for the leadership of the organization.  Additionally, I conducted financial analysis for several clients all the while learning about the policy, tax, and financial differences encountered by healthcare providers in Japan.

At Kameda, I have received an incredibly unique clinical experience – scrubbing in for open-heart surgery and a c-section were experiences of a lifetime.  I also have conducted home health visits around the city, met with the mayor to discuss future demographic and developmental changes for the town, met with the leaders of every department in the hospital, and created a 35mm film of the entire hospital’s operations one slide at a time.


Japan is a fascinating country where you can find Shinto shrines directly next to huge, modern supermarkets.  I often spend my free time visiting these shrines, Buddhist temples, and ancient castles.  During my time in the large cities of Osaka and Tokyo, I loved to wander around the busy streets staring at all of the lights and just soaking up the atmosphere.  Now, in Kamogawa, I get to spend my evenings walking along the beach and listening to the ocean sounds while watching the surfers conquer the waves.  I am currently studying the language and hope to continue in the states.  I will always remember my summer in Japan, and I am certain that I will find myself living here again.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adriana Kotchkoski (MHA '24): Nihon Keiei Consulting Group

Image
Konnichiwa from Japan!   As I sit down to write this blog post, I am filled with a sense of gratitude and accomplishment as I reflect on my time as an intern at Nihon Keiei Consulting Group in Osaka, Japan. This summer has been nothing short of remarkable, offering me a unique blend of professional development and cultural immersion that I will cherish forever.   During my time at Nihon Keiei, I had the opportunity to engage in in-depth research and analysis, creating comprehensive market profiles for the healthcare sectors in the Philippines and India. These profiles laid the foundation for strategic expansion plans, and it was an honor to present my findings and recommendations to a senior consultant during insightful one-on-one meetings. These interactions were not only professionally enriching but also allowed me to witness firsthand how strategic decisions shape the course of an organization's growth.   One of the most rewarding experiences during my internship was t...
Read more

Devante Davis (MHA '24): UCHealth - Southern Region

Image
Hello my name is Devante Davis I am going into my 2 nd year as an MHA student at the University of Iowa!    I am currently interning at UCHEALTH southern region in Colorado Springs, and UCHEALTH mission statement is to Improve lives through providing quality care. My preceptor is Andrew Ritchie the Chief Operation Officer of the UCHEALTH southern region. He great a developing talent while unlocking hiding potential within his interns, and fellow! My favorite project was evaluating what the rest of the world is doing to recover from this global nursing shortage. Summarizing the data and be a part of creating a valuable plan to implement into the UCHEALTH southern region. A few other fun events I attended were the pikes peak annual racing event, viper’s baseball game, the incline!  
Read more

Naudya Chhuon, UIHC Accounting and Financial Services (MHA '25)

Image
This summer, I had the opportunity to be a part of the Finance and Accounting Services team (FAS) at the University of Iowa. My internship allowed me to better understand what it is like to work in finance and accounting, especially within the healthcare industry. From managing a vaccination clinic project to tackling financial models, I got to contribute to some and be a part of some fun projects. One of the highlights of my internship was being the go-to person for all things related to the HPV vaccination clinic with the Population Health team. This project provides Shoes for patients under 13 years old who obtain their 2 nd  dose of the HPV vaccine. I found myself at the center of communication between four different teams, which meant I got to lead meetings, and make sure we were all on the same page. Our big event is coming up in the second week of August, and I am proud of how smoothly everything has been running so far.  Another big part of my summer was getting my han...
Read more