University of Iowa Health Management & Policy

Hello from Iowa City! My name is Maddie Meyer, and this summer I had the opportunity to serve as an Administrative Intern with the University of Iowa Health Care Community Clinics. Community Clinics are located across Iowa and provide a wide variety of services, including QuickCare, urgent care, family medicine, pediatrics, specialty care, and more. Through these locations, UI Health Care can bring care closer to patients and communities throughout the state. During my internship, I had the opportunity to work under the leadership of Debbie Herold, Zoe Horak, Bekka Cappussi, and Ryon Rasmussen. Their guidance allowed me to gain exposure to many different areas of ambulatory operations, planning, and service expansion while learning more about the work that happens behind the scenes to support clinics across Iowa. One of my main projects this summer was developing a business plan for expanding Mohs dermatology services in the Quad Cities. This project allowed me to explore the operation...

 Hi everyone!  My name is Olivia Hedrick, and I am one of the interns with the Finance and Accounting Services (FAS) department at UIHC! This summer I have had the privilege of working under my preceptor, Beth Jaggers, and her financial strategy team. I work off campus in the Health Care Support Services Building (HSSB) in Coralville. I am grateful to everyone I have been able to learn from this summer, and it has been such a valuable experience! Over the course of my internship, I have had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects. I analyzed observation hour data across all three medical campuses in order to identify the top 5 units at each location with the highest observation hours. From there, I found areas with the best throughput opportunities. I was then able to sit at an executive leadership meeting to go over the data I pulled and analyzed. This project gave me full-circle insight into the life cycle of a project, from the very beginning of pulling data t...

Hello everyone! My name is April Arend, and this summer I completed my administrative internship at the University of Iowa Health Care at the Medical Center North Liberty (MCNL) campus. MCNL is an Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Specialty Hospital with 36 beds that opened in April 2025. This summer I was able to work with Bryan Garter, Director of Operations, and Amy O’Deen, Chief Administrative Officer. In addition to my preceptors, I worked with many department leaders on strategic initiatives and different operational projects. Throughout my summer at MCNL, I have been exposed to many facets of the hospital. I participated in senior leadership meetings and learned about how to be an effective healthcare leader directly from Bryan and Amy. I participated in weekly tracers, staff appreciation events, and community engagement events (ex: volunteering at the North Liberty food pantry). Outside of meetings, I spent time shadowing child life, supply chain, the night shift house operations ...

Hello all!  My name is Emma Bryer, and I am currently the administrative intern with the UI Patient Access Center (PAC) under Keri Semrau! The PAC is located in HSSB in Coralville, but they handle scheduling appointments for patients across UI Healthcare. There are essentially two parts to the department, PAC schedulers, and the ICC, which focuses primarily on nurse triage.  As the PAC is the centralized scheduling hub across UI Healthcare, we support patients by implementing efficient processes and improving access to care. Alongside Keri, who is the director, I also work with other managers, including operations, ancillary services, and training. This has allowed me to work on projects in various areas, with a focus on workflow and quality improvements.  One of the projects I worked on this summer was gathering benchmarking data from the Patient Access Collaborative. I grabbed notable data and built a 130-slide presentation comparing UI HealthCare’s performance to overa...

Hi folks! My name is Austin Synoground, and this summer I had the great pleasure of serving as a remote legal intern with the Office of Legal Services at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  St. Jude is a truly unique organization. Founded in 1962 by Danny Thomas, the mission of the hospital is to prevent and cure pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Whereas most hospitals fund operations through patient service revenue, government reimbursements, and private insurance payments, St. Jude relies primarily on public and private donations. These donations allow the hospital to provide life-saving medical care to 9,000 patients annually, and the families of those patients never have to pay for treatment, travel, housing or food.   Like the hospital, the Office of Legal Services is one-of-a-kind. Professional, clever, kind, the team is exactly what you would hope to see in a children’s hospital. With nearly twenty attorneys, the legal team’s deep ...

Summer 2026 has been filled with incredible opportunities, meaningful experiences, and lasting relationships. As I wrap up my summer, I have taken time to reflect on everything I have learned throughout this journey. I had the privilege of serving as the Administrative Intern at the Stead Family Children's Hospital under the leadership of Jim Leste and John Heinemann over the past 10 weeks. During my internship, I contributed to nearly 15 high-impact projects spanning multiple service lines and administrative functions across the children's hospital. While every project provided valuable experience, three of my primary initiatives included developing the first Stead Family Children's Hospital staff newsletter to strengthen leadership communication, creating provider and specialty scorecards to identify scheduling inefficiencies within the Pediatric Specialty Clinic, and designing an executive NICU dashboard that consolidates key performance indicators into a single reportin...

Hello Hello! My name is Emily Sutter, and I have spent the past 9 weeks living in Chicago, IL. I am the Administrative and Operations intern at Advocate Christ Medical Center (CMC), which is one of the Illinois Flagship hospitals, and my preceptor is Cameron Lewis (Chief Operating Officer). As I am writing this blog, I am just about to start my final week here. Time flies and I am having the best time! My first couple days of my internship were quite unique, I attended our Illinois Leadership Advance where I heard from some amazing leaders like Eugene Woods, CEO of Advocate Health and Kevin Warren, President and CEO of the Chicago Bears. This experience energized me, and I felt so grateful to be learning from a team committed to shaping the future of health care. On my second day I attended the groundbreaking event of the new Trinity Hospital on the south side of Chicago that is part of our 1-billion-dollar investment in Chicago’s south side.  I have been involved in multiple proje...

Greetings from Iowa City! My name is Brenton Shrock, and I am the administrative intern at Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa Health Care this summer. My preceptor is Rachel Kirchner, Executive Administrator for Oncology Service Line at UIHC. Holden Cancer Center is Iowa’s only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center and offers high-acuity oncology care. This includes infusion, chemotherapy, CAR T-cell therapy, surgical and radiation oncology, and much more! This summer has provided me with the opportunity to learn, observe, and put my skills to the test. During my time, I have been able to participate in leadership and clinical meetings, attend high-level director’s meetings across UIHC, and lead the implementation of new initiatives at Holden.  One of my first projects this summer included working with The Institute for Public Health Practice, Research and Policy (IPHPRP) to curate written portions of the Combat Cancer Technical Assistance program as ...

 Hello from Denver, Colorado! This summer, I've had an amazing opportunity to work at Foley & Lardner LLP as a Summer Associate. Foley & Lardner is an AM Law 100 law firm with over 1100 attorneys and 27 offices worldwide.   This summer, I completed over 50 projects. I spent the majority of my time working with the law firm's healthcare group on various transactions and deals. This included performing tasks such as negotiating letters of intent, drafting confidentiality agreements, and performing due diligence. I also provided several answers to regulatory questions, created company formation documents in a variety of states, reviewed and revised various types of contracts, and drafted demand letters.  One of the best parts of my summer associateship has been getting to know the associates and partners who currently work full-time at the firm. Many of these people have gone above and beyond to ensure that I've had a great summer, whether that be by providing m...

Hi all!  My name is Claire Schaefer, and I am the summer administrative intern with the Chief Medical Office team at the University of Iowa Health Care. My preceptor is Greg Kirkman, Service Line Director of Adult Inpatient Operations. I write this blog as we begin Week 7 of our 10-week internship, which feels crazy—I guess time flies when you are learning so much!  This position has presented me with opportunities to observe and participate in valuable initiatives taking place within UIHC. More specifically, some of my biggest projects this summer have lied within one of UIHC’s six priority areas within our strategic plan: Access. Length of stay is a measurement of access for Iowans and beyond treated here at the U.  Over the past several weeks, I have attended morning throughput huddles across various inpatient units. I audit these conversations to better understand how providers are collaborating to discharge our medically ready patients. At this stage, we are working ...

Hello from the Des Moines metro! This summer I’ve had the amazing opportunity to be the  Administrative Intern for ChildServe at the main location in Johnston! ChildServe is the first  and only children’s specialty hospital in Iowa, helping over 6,000 kids with special healthcare  needs a year across five locations live a great life. ChildServe offers complex medical care,  pediatric rehabilitation, autism and behavioral health, and community-based services. This summer I’ve worked closely with my preceptor Kelly Pearce and 2026 MHA program  graduate, Aidan Cunningham who is the current fellow! One project that Aidan and I have been  working on is the development of ChildServe’ s student opportunities and expansion of  educational programming. This project has involved analyzing our current operating systems,  creating a document repository, identifying new opportunities and creating a standardized  experience for all students who come to Chi...

Hello friends! My name is Natalie Cargin, and I am currently the administrative intern under Tom Mulrooney at the University of Iowa Health Care’s University Campus (MCU)! Tom is the Chief Administrative Officer of Ambulatory Services throughout the enterprise, covering MCU, MCD, MCNL, IRL, and Community Clinics. Throughout my internship, I have spent a lot of time shadowing Tom, getting a front-row seat to all the amazing work he does for UI Health Care. This has allowed me to meet people from all throughout the organization, from the executive team to frontline staff. I have also had the opportunity to sit in on countless meetings, learning about everything going on in the ambulatory world.  Some of my most valuable experiences have been working on business plans for large capital projects, developing a governance meeting structure for department leadership, and shadowing several clinic managers to learn about day-to-day operations in different settings. I also was able to watch ...

  Hello from Chicago! My name is Brinda, and this summer I’ve had the opportunity to intern with ECG Management Consultants, a healthcare consulting firm that works with hospitals, health systems, pharmaceutical companies, and physician groups. I’m based in ECG’s Chicago office, where I’m part of the Health Systems Performance team. I work closely with project teams to support financial modeling and data analytics for client engagements. My preceptor, Katie, has been an incredible mentor throughout the summer. She’s helped me build both the technical and interpersonal skills needed to succeed in consulting, while giving me the opportunity to take ownership of meaningful client work. I’ve contributed to financial models in Excel, developed client-facing documents, and created presentations. One of my primary projects has been an overnight staffing assessment for a health system in Colorado. I analyzed whether the health system’s OB/GYN department had sufficient overnight provider co...

Hello!  My name is Margo Maynard, and I am a summer administrative intern at the University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center Downtown (MCD)! The Downtown Campus is a 234-bed hospital that became part of UIHC on January 31, 2024. MCD serves as a community hospital providing care to individuals and families throughout the Iowa City area.  This summer, I am working under Jennifer Miller, the Chief Administrative Officer here at MCD. I have had the opportunity to spend time with leaders and frontline staff across many departments to better understand the operations of a community hospital and the important role each team plays in delivering high-quality patient care.  I’ve participated in a variety of quality improvement initiatives, including glucose monitor testing and Environment of Care (EOC) rounding. I’ve also assisted with safety and security projects, including work on policy development and updates. In addition, I’m working with the Associate Director of Strategy o...