Summer Internship: University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC)

By: Anne Edwards

Hello from Iowa City! This summer I have the opportunity to intern with University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. After my summer internship experience with Mayo Clinic in Arizona was cancelled due to COVID-19, I was able to secure another internship with the CFO of University of Iowa Health Care, Brad Haws, as my preceptor. University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (UIHC) is the only comprehensive medical center in the state of Iowa, and is nationally ranked for Adult and Pediatric specialties.

            I am working on a number of projects, some in particular due to the financial strains of COVID-19 on the hospital. I am involved in setting and coordinating faculty salary reductions in all 19 clinical departments due to budget constraints. In fiscal year 2021, staff are required to take unpaid time off, give back vacation time, or take a salary reduction according to their classification at the hospital. I have also created and presented to leaders in Finance and Strategy a business plan for the creation of a new inpatient hospice unit to improve transfers and the patient and family experience. I have continued my projects that I started as a Graduate Assistant in the Department of Pediatrics, focused on supporting a pilot scribe project with a physician in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and serving as the Project Manager for a process improvement project in the Pediatric Specialty Clinic. This project involves streamlining the clinic flow and scheduling process, affecting 15 clinical divisions and over 25 scheduling and management staff. My favorite aspect of that project has been the ability to work with engineers in the Operations Excellence and put Lean techniques into practice.

            Outside of my project work, I have participated in meetings about the financial situation of UIHC and Carver College of Medicine, budget meetings with all clinical departments, faculty meetings in Pediatrics, implementation of kiosk technology in various clinics, and the expansion of telemedicine for the hospital. I have also had the opportunity to join the UI Health Care interns in Administrative Rounding Sessions with different departments at the hospital and Lunch and Learn sessions with leadership.

My internship has flown by so far. In my free time I have been spending time outside hiking at Lake MacBride, running, and trying to social distance while still enjoying the summer. My older sister is getting married later in July, so I have that to look forward to as well as returning to classes in August with the whole cohort!