Bonnie Gao (MHA '23): University Iowa Physicians (UIP) - PAC

Hiya from Iowa City, Iowa! This summer I am doing my internship with the University of Iowa Physicians group. Keri Semrau is my preceptor and the director of the Integrated Call Center and UI Patient Access Center. The UI Patient Access Center (UI PAC) is a “contact” center that facilitates patient access and scheduling for UI Health Care outpatient services and also offers 24/7 access to nursing triage and the UI Consult, UI Access, and UI Children’s phone lines. The PAC scheduling operates from departmental guidelines created and maintained by the clinical departments. The PAC is located in the Old Capitol Town Center which is right in downtown Iowa City.

I came into this internship wanting to learn as much as I can and so far I have been able to learn so much about the ins and the outs of the operations within the PAC. I sit in weekly at the managers and administration meetings which keep me up to date with current events happening within the department. Currently, I am assisting with project managing the Enterprise scheduling Initiative as well as assisting with TeamSTEPPS. TeamSTEPPS focuses on four teachable-learnable skills: Communication, Leading Teams, Situation Monitoring, and Mutual Support. It is an evidence-based framework to optimize team performance across the health care delivery system, to support training, behavioral methods, human factors, and cultural change designed to improve quality and patient safety. Another one of my projects has been completing the Patient Access Center’s monthly financials. I collect the information from different platforms such as tableau and report2web. Then I compile and analyze the information and put it into a PowerPoint which gets shared with a high-level administration team. This has allowed me to better understand what financial reporting by department looks like within a big medical institution like UIHC. 

Along with my project work, I have been assisting in space reporting for UIHC Capital Management. This has allowed me to visit eleven different departments throughout the main hospital campus. There is a variety of departments that I have explored from marketing and communications to bioengineering and the main OR. Exploring and learning from all parts of the hospital has been a great learning experience. Also, there are other many opportunities to gain more education throughout the hospital. I attended a 2-day lean training put on by the Quality and Improvement team at UIHC. This experience was engaging, informative, and fun. I encourage everyone to take advantage of all the courses they have to offer.

This is my first full summer in Iowa City so I am exploring as much as a can. The Midwest summers are definitely humid (people say it is from all the corn) compared to the summers back home on the East coast. I have tried different local restaurants, attended the farmer’s market, and explored some cute shops downtown. I also learned how to play the game Catan and now I am hooked so if you want to play Catan, let me know! During the other spare time that I am not at my internship, I work part-time at Trader Joes and it is honestly the best. So if you ever need any Trader Joes recommendations, I got you. I am going to soak up the rest of Summer and look forward to the new school year ahead!

*A Note From The Editor*

If you would like to keep up with Bonnie, you can find her here on LinkedIn!