University of Iowa Health Management & Policy

By: Cameron Steeples (MHA '19)  Nothing makes one appreciate the marvels of the modern world like air travel. In 1853, U.S. Naval Commodore, Matthew Perry, sent a legion of "Black Ships" to open a Japanese society that had been closed to the world for more than 200 years. His voyage took nine excruciating months and featured unpleasant distractions like malaria and yellow fever. By contrast, my trip took 16 hours and was marred by the comparitively mild indignity of a layover in Denver. In these dark days of anti-vaxxers and alternative facts, going airborne in a 300-ton contraption helps reaffirm one's belief in the primacy of the scientific method. During my three month internship in Japan, this respect for scientific progress and continuous improvement were readily apparent at both Kameda Medical Center (KMC) and Nihon Keiei Consulting Group (NKGR). From the cutting edge collaboration in the KMC Digital Pathology department, to the data analytics insights

By: Benjamin Mohr (MHA '19)  Greetings!  This summer I had the opportunity to do my summer internship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC). UIHC is a large, nationally ranked academic medical center that serves patients in the state of Iowa and beyond. UIHC employs more than 13,000 people, has 811 beds, and admits more than 36,000 patients annually for in-patient hospital care. UIHC is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report in Gynecology, Pulmonology, Urology, Cancer, Orthopedics, Ophthalmology, and Otolaryngology. UIHC is also a Magnet Recognized organization for nursing, and I was able to be a part of the site visit this summer.  During my internship, I had the pleasure of working with Sabi Singh, the Chief Operating Officer at UIHC, who served as my preceptor. About 60-70% of my project work this summer was in perioperative services, where I worked directly with many clinical and non-clinical leaders. One of my larger projects involv

By: Bobby Skogsbergh (MHA '19)  This summer I have had the privilege of interning for two different healthcare systems. My internship has consisted of splitting time between Atrium Health in North Carolina and Advocate Aurora Health in Illinois and Wisconsin.  Atrium Health is a comprehensive not-for-profit healthcare system based out of Charlotte, North Carolina that spans across South Carolina and Georgia as well. This healthcare system employs over 65,000 individuals and has roughly 32,000 patient encounters each day. My time spent in Charlotte was under the guidance of Atrium Health CEO Mr. Gene Woods, and the experience included exposure to every facet of their system. I split time between their 874 bed flagship hospital, Carolinas Medical Center, as well as the support center where Mr. Woods and his team of executives oversee the system-wide enterprise. A significant portion of my experience involved strategy, growth, and access within the core market of Atrium Hea

By: Layne Croney (MHA '19) This summer I had the opportunity to intern for PacificSource Health Plans in Springfield, Oregon.  PacificSource is an independent, not-for-profit community health plan that provides medical and dental benefits to more than 3,900 Northwest employers and covers more than 272,000 people with group and individual health insurance plans. The full-service organization has licensure in four states—Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Washington—and employs around 1,000 people. My preceptor, Mr. Ken Provencher, President and CEO since 2001, helped make my experience with PacificSource excellent by ensuring I had ample opportunity to both work and interact with him and numerous other members of the Executive Management Group (EMG). In addition to bi-monthly one-on-one meetings with my preceptor, I was also very fortunate to get to attend the monthly EMG meetings and have individual meetings with almost all 28 members of the group.  One of my favorite memorie

By: Garret Danelz (MHA '19) Bleeding Black & Gold in Northwestern Wildcat territory. This morning, I walked into the hospital for the last day of my summer internship at NorthShore University HealthSystem. Located just north of Chicago, NorthShore is an integrated health system housing four hospitals – Evanston, Glenbrook, Highland Park, and Skokie. NorthShore was the first Illinois healthcare system to be Magnet-recognized and has been named to the Watson Health Top 100 Hospitals list a record 19 times. NorthShore is also dedicated to medical education and research as the teaching affiliate for the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. My preceptor, Dave Rahija, President of the Skokie Hospital campus, has successfully leveraged these unique aspects of NorthShore and integrated them into my internship experience. Dave believes in high-level exposure and has given me a seat at the table at many Executive Leadership meetings. I have grown both personally

By : Jamison Robinett (MHA '19) Greetings from beautiful Utah! This summer I have been privileged to be the administrative intern at St. Mark’s Hospital, the flagship hospital for Hospital Corporation of America’s Mountain Division, also known as MountainStar Healthcare. Sitting in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, St. Mark’s was the first hospital in the state and has been providing Utahans and surrounding residents with compassionate and quality healthcare s ervices for nearly 150 years. Today, St. Mark’s is a 308-bed community hospital which employs approximately 2,000 individuals, treats 55,000 patients annually in the emergency department, and performs 34,000 surgeries each year.  If someone were to ask me to describe the ideal internship, I don’t think that my description would deviate much from my experience at St. Mark’s. From day one, I was adopted into the administrative team and hit the ground running. My preceptor was not one individual, but rather the entire ad

By: Hannah Fink (MHA ’19) Hello from Ada, Oklahoma! This summer I have enjoyed the opportunity to be an administrative intern at Mercy Hospital Ada. The Mercy ministry is located within the states of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Additional clinics, outpatient services, and outreach ministries are in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Mercy Hospital Ada is a 156-bed community hospital with multiple specialty clinics. My experience has expanded well beyond the hospital walls. I have attended biweekly Mercy West regional leadership meetings in Oklahoma City, as well as leadership events in Joplin, MO and Rogers, AR. I have been working alongside an astounding preceptor and accessible senior leadership team. My preceptor believes I should not only gain experience through project work, but also by shadowing and working in different hospital departments in order to benefit from various perspectives. I have spent time in dietary services, environmental services, em

By: Mathew Jerome (MHA '19)  I have had the opportunity to spend my summer interning with the University of Iowa Physician’s group, or UIP. UIP is Iowa’s largest multi-specialty medical and surgical group, with over 1,000 physicians working in 19 different departments. The physician’s group falls under the UI Health Care umbrella, where medicine, research, and education intersect as part of the larger academic medical center.  Working for an organization like UIP has allowed me to be involved in a wide variety of projects and experiences. UIP recently took over the intake and implementation of all telemedicine initiatives within UIHC, and I have been able to work on the team that facilitates these new telemedicine projects. Working directly with doctors, administrators, clinicians, project managers, HCIS, and finance has given me a broad and valuable foundation on which to build my career as I move forward. Another great experience has been leading my own piece of an ext