In this episode of Plugged in to Public Health, three second-year MHA students reflect on their summer internship experiences and the lessons they are carrying forward into their administrative fellowships.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the student hosts, guests, and contributors, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the University of Iowa or the College of Public Health.

Lauren Lavin:

Hello everybody, and welcome back to Plugged in to Public Health. Today’s episode focuses on graduate internships in healthcare administration and what students can realistically expect from those experiences. I’m Lauren Lavin. And in this episode, we are joined by three second year Master of Health Administration students who share where they spent their summer internships and what they learned along the way.

We hear perspectives from a large healthcare system in Colorado, a multi-hospital system in the Twin Cities, and a global healthcare consulting firm in Chicago. Together, they reflect on navigating ambiguity, managing multiple projects, communicating with frontline staff and executives, and building the confidence to lead in real-world healthcare environments.

If it’s your first time with us, welcome. We’re a student-run podcast that talks about major issues in public health and how they’re relevant to anyone, both in and outside the field. So, let’s get Plugged in to Public Health. Plugged in to Public Health is produced and edited by students of the University of Iowa College of Public Health. And the views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the student hosts, guests, and contributors. They do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the University of Iowa or the College of Public Health.

Thank you, everyone, for listening to the podcast today. Today, we have three MHA students that are going to talk to us about their summer internship experiences. So, I’m really hoping that those listening can learn from their experiences and how it went for them and to translate that into their own experiences going forward.

So, with that, could I have each of you introduce yourself and share where you completed your internship? Matt, I’ll have you go first.

Matt Mathew:

Sure. So, my name is Matt Mathew. I’m a second year MHA student at the University of Iowa, and I completed my summer internship with UC Health in Colorado, particularly in their south region in Colorado Springs.

Lauren Lavin:

Are you from Colorado?

Matt Mathew:

No. So, I’m originally from Illinois, Oswego, which those who aren’t familiar is about an hour west of Chicago. I did my undergrad at the University of Iowa, graduated in 2024, and then went straight into the MHA program.

Lauren Lavin:

What was your undergrad major?

Matt Mathew:

It majored in interdepartmental studies with a health science focus. So, I originally came in pre-med and switched tracks.

Lauren Lavin:

Love it. Okay. Hattie, where were you this summer?

Hattie Dukes:

Yeah. Hi. my name’s Hattie Dukes. I am also a second year MHA student, and then I spent my summer at Allina Health in the Twin Cities.

Lauren Lavin:

So, we’re getting some diversity. And Meg?

Meg Yellepeddi:

Hi. I’m Meg Yellepeddi. I’m also a second year MHA student at the University of Iowa, and I spent my summer at Deloitte in Chicago.

Lauren Lavin:

Great. And Meg, we’ll just keep going with you. So, what drew you to Deloitte? Because that’s going to be different than either of our other two on this call, because that’s consulting, if I’m correct. So, what drew you to Deloitte and Chicago?

Meg Yellepeddi:

So, a bit of an intro to Deloitte first, it’s a global consulting firm that offers healthcare consulting services. They cast a wide variety of services from taxing to auditing. But I was in a sector of it, which healthcare. And when choosing my internship, I was drawn to Deloitte’s strong reputation for combining analytics technology and strategy to drive large-scale healthcare transformation projects. And I wanted that exposure.

In addition, something I learned from my research when I was searching for internships is that Deloitte is a great place for early careerists. They put a large emphasis on lifelong learning, even having a Deloitte University where you can go to learn how to be a consultant, which I think is a big part of my decision. And I chose Chicago because I never lived in a big city before and I wanted to experience living on my own in a big city, and it ended up being one of the best decisions I made.

Lauren Lavin:

So, did you love Chicago?

Meg Yellepeddi:

Absolutely. It was my first time living in a big city. I learned to make connections exploring a big city all on my own using public transportation, so many life skills that I would not have been able to learn if I was staying in Iowa City. And one other thing this summer is that this is definitely not typical. It was such a random thing that happened. But it’s that I got to live with people from Ireland. So, not only was I growing in terms of living in a big city for the first time, but I also was exposed to a different culture entirely.

Lauren Lavin:

How fun. Ireland’s one of my favorite places in the whole world.

Meg Yellepeddi:

Very fun people to be around.

Lauren Lavin:

Okay. Matt, why did you pick UC Health?

Matt Mathew:

Sure. So, I initially found out about UC Health from former MHA students that either completed an internship or a fellowship there. And I’ve really not had a chance in the past to explore the State of Colorado. So, that internship was actually my first real experience in the state. And from then, once I got the initial overview of the internship, I really just dove straight in, got in touch with a couple people over there as well, and my interest grew from there. Similar to Meg, UC Health, it seems like a really good place for early careers in healthcare. So, that’s how I found out about that. And then it’s been really great as far as just the organization, how they support growing professionals and just the State of Colorado is very beautiful as well.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. I love how I think internships also provide an opportunity to explore other parts of the US that people haven’t before. So, don’t overlook that if you’re a student, you’re allowed to also look at places that you want to live or explore. And then Hattie, why did you pick Allina?

Hattie Dukes:

Yeah. Kind of the same as Meg. I have been in Iowa all my life and I knew I wanted to go and try something different. And my goal with an internship was making sure I ended up in a place that I thought I could really see myself in the long-term. And so, I’ve always enjoyed Minnesota the few times I’ve been there. And so, I knew I wanted a big city and I wanted to see what it was like in a bigger organization, too. And Allina was exactly that.

And so, they had 13 hospitals in the Twin Cities. So, I knew I was going to get a really good experience at a big system. And I also chose them, because throughout my interview process, I found out that we would get the chance to select what specific area we wanted to do our residency in. And that wasn’t something that was really common, I felt like during interviews at other places. It was just like, “You’re just going to work at one hospital and do whatever projects pop up.” But I was going to be able to explore my passions and things I really wanted. So, that really drew me to it.

Lauren Lavin:

So, what kind of projects or responsibilities did you take on then, during the summer, Hattie?

Hattie Dukes:

I was in continuing care. And so, that is everything post-acute care for patients in the Twin Cities. So, I was involved in a lot of rehabilitation projects. So, my big summer project was writing the business plan for an inpatient rehab unit expansion. That was a pretty big deal there. And then I found out in early September I got the board approval, so they’ll be going ahead with that. So, that was a lot of fun.

Lauren Lavin:

That’s incredible.

Hattie Dukes:

Yeah. I also worked on some growth planning for average daily census goals with a transitional rehab program. That’s a place where patients go after they get discharged from a hospital, but just need a little bit more in-depth rehab care needs. I did some home health stuff, like a joint venture plan for having a line to buy houses in the Twin Cities, so that way they could discharge patients. I’d been in the hospital for 200 days, but they didn’t have a place for them to live. So, those were maybe like ex-cons or on the sex offender list. They can’t find a place to live or they were homeless.

And so, Allina was exploring ways to make sure those people could end up back in the community. So, I got a real wealth of opportunities and just a whole bunch of areas that I never really expected. So, it was really great.

Lauren Lavin:

It sounds like it. And even some diversity in the things that you did while you were there.

Hattie Dukes:

Yeah. Absolutely.

Lauren Lavin:

Did you feel like your classes up until that point had prepared you well to take on that variety of, I don’t know, options, projects?

Hattie Dukes:

Yeah. Yeah. There was certain elements of each project that I thought I had experience with some financial planning a little bit. We take a two finance classes, but everything just goes a little bit more in-depth, especially since my residency was 12 weeks long. So, I had a little bit more time with each of these projects. But there was things that I’d never done before, like interviewing different directors of each department to assess what their needs are for filling FTEs, for different growth goals. And so, it was just things like that that I hadn’t done before. But my preceptors were great and helped me learn along the way, so it was nice.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. You learn as you go, right?

Hattie Dukes:

Yes. Absolutely.

Lauren Lavin:

Okay. Matt, what type of projects or responsibilities did you take on?

Matt Mathew:

I was within the service line project scope. So, I worked with four different service lines and rotated between each and stuck with them throughout the internship. So, those four service lines were neuro and spine, cardiovascular, oncology, and trauma. So, I’ll just go quickly down the list. So, trauma, that was the one that I first started off with. And what I helped assist in building is a proposal for some administrative expansion to support the trauma services, particularly in the south region, just because there was a need with the growing of acute care services down in the south region. So, one additional administrative support to help support that growth before it catches people off guard, if that makes sense.

Lauren Lavin:

Yes.

Matt Mathew:

So, after that, I went into cardiovascular. And that was actually pretty unique. So, that rotation or I guess service on experience that I had, I helped plan a health screening for the police department in Colorado Springs. And yeah. So, there was a need there and it helped. I was allowed … Let me rephrase that. I was given the opportunity to take the lead on things. So, building up the costs for it, the number of people that are going to be affected and just Going through different chains of approval. So, legal compliance, financial compliance, et cetera. So, unfortunately, I didn’t get to see that until fruition, but that was very interesting considering that I wasn’t expecting to do something like that.

And then for oncology, I helped assist with the communication of denial prevention. So, that was a system-wide initiative that I had heard about. It got to start more like the initial conversations of what that looks like for the clinical leaders. And then my last one with neuro and spine, so that was a project that I took throughout the entire summer. And for that one, and we were looking at optimizing the billing processes for elective spine surgery patients that were going through our spine clinic, as well as optimizing the ordering process for the medically necessary braces that they need for post-op care. So, making sure that wasn’t delaying their post-op mobility or anything like that with complications. So, yeah, very unique experience across all the circumstances.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. A wide breadth. How much of that were you able to direct versus were you just given these opportunities and you had to take what you got?

Matt Mathew:

Sure. I’ll use the neuro and spine project, so that one a little bit more direction that I got to give from a leadership standpoint. And the reason I mentioned that project specifically is because UC Health, when it comes to engaging their interns on this growth throughout the internship, they give you the opportunity to get trained in Lean Six Sigma and the process improvement side of things. So, that was a tactic that we used to carry our experience throughout the internship, see it as one that really gives you the most out of the short time that you’re going to be there.

So, that was a framework that I got that we got to use throughout the internship and each meeting that we had walking through each step of the process. Me as an intern, as well as the other interns throughout the system were the ones that were leading those conversations. So, that was very great as well. And had a lot of support from leadership, from the managers, directors, nurse coordinators on taking that role.

Lauren Lavin:

Love it. So, you got to grow into it as you developed those skills?

Matt Mathew:

Exactly. Yep.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. And then, Meg, I’m sure yours will be a little bit different, but what was your role?

Meg Yellepeddi:

So, typically, in a consulting internship, you’re going to be put on a project and given a client. So, this past summer, I supported a large regional health system undergoing an electronic health record implementation. It was a migration from one EHR to another. And this health system was across 500 clinics and 30 plus hospitals. So, my work centered on project management and organizational change management as well to help ensure a smooth transition and operational readiness across all the GoLive sites.

And for me, in particular, I was able to develop three deliverables for the client. So, the first one being … Usually, when there is an EHR migration project, we’re looking at data. And what I was able to do was to develop a Power BI, Power Apps data model, so that my manager could create the dashboard that essentially monitored all the change impacts and then related it to specifically what end users would need to do to prepare, so they would know what workflows were going to be impacting them, and then what changes would be happening to them, and then what exactly they should be doing to prepare for GoLive.

And that dashboard made it easier to consolidate all that information. And what I did was take 10 plus complex data sets and create a model, mapping out how my manager should go about doing that. And then one other thing that I worked on is redesigning the Superuser cost model. So, Superusers are essentially spokespeople who have extra training early on in the migration project and can lead their work groups to be ready for GoLive. And they’re also in charge of mitigating any kind of risk related to that.

So, by redesigning the Superuser cost model, this really helped improve financial transparency around training and backfill costs, and really helped to entail whether the health system should be hiring these people internally versus externally, whether they should be hired as physicians or other clinicians. So, this was very critical for leadership decision-making when it came to the Superuser model.

And then the last but not least tool that I worked on was curating the change coalition tracker. This is much easier, much more straightforward, essentially a structured meeting and communications planning tool for the change coalition leadership so that when they cascade communications about the different changes happening, they can ensure alignment and 100% delivery of these leadership decks.

Lauren Lavin:

Wow. It seems like you also had a lot of projects that you were working on. So, was there any moment or particular experience that really stood out too meaningful for you during the summer, Meg?

Meg Yellepeddi:

Yeah. So, I would say it’s going to be the co-location week I had with my team. Typically, with consulting projects, you may or may not travel, and I didn’t get to travel at all, and my team is all over the US. So, in order to meet me and get to work with me, they decided to plan a co-location week. And I was super thankful for that. It was where I believe I had the most growth. But on top of that, it also showed me that there isn’t a lot of hierarchy at Deloitte. For example, the managing director would work in the same room as me, and we would go to events together.

Managing directors are generally juggling multiple client relationships at once, multiple projects. But seeing that they were able to prioritize getting to know me as an intern and providing me with their time made me realize that healthcare leadership is all about collaboration and consulting is all about collaboration, which I would say was the most meaningful part of my experience.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. And that’s an important lesson to learn, especially if you are thinking about working there after done with school. Matt, did you find anything especially meaningful or a really great experience during your summer?

Matt Mathew:

Yeah. So, I would say just throughout the entire experience, I really appreciated how open the leaders are to just simply taking the time out of their days, weeks, and essentially all your time that you’re there to make you get the best education possible and really bring something meaningful out of the internship. One particular example was when one of our VPs of operations, he is overseeing a huge expansion at one of the hospitals. And particularly during that time when I was there, they were going over the design and development phase, so they pulled up the blueprint in the conference room, they have the architects there, they have the impacted team members, and he was happy enough to allow me to come and sit in on those meetings and see what they talk about.

So, I think just seeing something unique like that, I’ve never really seen the construction side of healthcare when it comes to expansions or anything like that. So, I found that really meaningful because it’s a lens that I never really thought I’d get to see during my time there. So, it’s something that I can really take on into any future roles.

Lauren Lavin:

What a unique opportunity and something that, yeah, like you said, you might not have gotten to experience somewhere else. Hattie, anything particularly meaningful for you?

Hattie Dukes:

Yeah. Throughout the whole summer, my preceptors really emphasize that I should get experience working with the frontline staff. And so, once our business plan had been submitted for my bigger project, I was asked to start planning things for post-approval because just felt so confident in the business plan that they just assumed that things were going to go according to plan and we’d get the approval. And so, I spent time with staff on the unit to hear what their concerns were and how we might be able to address that going forward.

And so, I learned how to communicate well with frontline staff to hear out concerns, but also address any problems that they thought they might had. And so, I think that’s something we learn about in class is just how critical it is to have the support of your frontline staff to achieving any mission or program or anything that you’re doing in healthcare, but that’s something you can really only learn when you’re doing it in real life. And so, being able to spend time on the units or out in our transitional rehab program with the patients, it was really meaningful and it was just, I think, a great experience for me in my career.

Lauren Lavin:

Especially as future administrators, it’s good to spend time with the people giving care, because we don’t necessarily have experience with that in our training like they do.

Hattie Dukes:

Yeah.

Lauren Lavin:

So, Hattie, was there any skills that you feel like you built or strengthened during the summer that you know that you’re going to carry on to your future career?

Hattie Dukes:

Yeah. One of the projects I did was submitting a request for proposal for buying new electronic health record for community services. So, part of continuing care is the adaptive sports that they have, and it’s this really huge thing across the whole state of Minnesota. It’s pretty cool for kids all the way up to elderly adults who have disabilities and just need extra support playing sports or doing any type of recreation. They had a mobile app and a payment system that didn’t work very well, but they just wanted a new tool to use.

And so, I worked on finding a new program, setting up demos, working with Allina to put together a bid or a request for a new tool. And I hadn’t previously done anything related to technology in that way. So, learning how to, once again, work with frontline staff who use programs every day and learning what needs to be changed to submit an adequate business plan was really helpful, and I know that’s something that I’ll continue to do in the future.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. Great experience. Matt, anything, any skills that you built over the summer that you know will be beneficial carrying forward?

Matt Mathew:

Yeah. I think one of the skills I came in wanting to improve was my financial acumen, and I think I had a pretty wide exposure to that. So, I definitely came out a lot, feeling a lot stronger and confident in navigating that route. In addition to that, I think my project management … Or when I mean project management, I mean, managing multiple projects at the same time and juggling that in a practical day-to-day knowledge with something just to measure out what your priorities are for that day, what do deadlines look like. So, just making sure that you have yourself organized there.

And then I think my last one would probably be public speaking. So, I feel like I’ve had strong public speaking skills, but particularly to a student audience. So, this is a very different audience of executive, senior leadership, and just being able to articulate a message to a different type of audience and getting that practice in. Throughout the internship, I think, was very beneficial as well.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. That’s a learned skill that you can really only do by … or learn by doing. So, glad you got that experience. And then Meg, any particular skills?

Meg Yellepeddi:

Yeah. So, like what Matt mentioned, project management. Particularly in a fast-paced consulting environment, priorities are constantly changing. Something you were working on this week might not be as important next week. So, being able to juggle multiple conflicting priorities at once and then being able to communicate that with your stakeholder and client, whoever is affected is really important. And that’s a huge skillset that I had to learn throughout the summer.

And one other thing that Deloitte really emphasizes for their consultants is effective communication. Being able to advocate for your own learning, proactively seeking feedback to better yourself. They encourage their consultants to have, or internships, interns to consistently meet with their management and consultants on the team for feedback. And I think I learned that working with people and constantly asking for that feedback is what helped me better my skillsets and the tasks that I was working on.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. Then did you feel like this internship shaped or shifted your perspective on healthcare leadership?

Meg Yellepeddi:

Yeah. Kind of like what I was talking about before, it is really collaborative and I don’t think I realized how collaborative the different deliverables were until I was actually working there. It really helped me deepen my understanding on how large-scale technology projects really require strong leadership. Not just leadership, but alignment with their frontline engagement. And it really reinforced the idea that we’re not just strategic thinkers, we’re people that have to connect people, processes, and technology.

And so, going back to the co-location week, I had the biggest thing is the communication with the stakeholders and leadership communicating together and showing humility and just being able to open to learn new things, because being a consultant means that you’re not going to know everything. There are constantly new tools being put out there and being able to be willing to learn it no matter what position you’re in, whether you’re a manager or senior manager. I saw that that was really important at Deloitte, at least, for healthcare leadership.

Lauren Lavin:

Those are good things to learn, and you can really only learn that by being in those environments. Hattie, were there any challenges over the course of the summer, and if so, how did you deal with them?

Hattie Dukes:

I think the biggest challenge for me was handling a slow start to the summer. I like to be really, really busy. And I didn’t have any meetings with my organization beforehand. And so, it just took a little bit to get going, which really truly isn’t that big of a deal. But I just love to get going on projects. And so, something I learned was just how to become a better advocate for myself and really use this as an opportunity to connect with other people in my service line and ask, “What can I do to help you out?” Or “What are some opportunities I can take part in just to learn what it is that you do for a job?” Or “Can I spend time with your team?”

So, I followed a physical therapist around in St. Paul on his home health visits and did physical therapy with patients. And so, it just led me to some different avenues during the summer, and I got involved in things I didn’t really think I would to begin with. So, ended up being just fine.

Lauren Lavin:

Lemonade out of lemons, right?

Hattie Dukes:

Yes.

Lauren Lavin:

Okay. Matt, any challenges that you had over the summer?

Matt Mathew:

Yeah. So, I guess one of the challenges, and this is something that I identified that I wanted to work through, was managing ambiguity or just ambiguous tasks. And when it came to working through that, really just what do I know and what can I try to put together before going to whoever might be overseeing this initiative and asking for help. So, the reason I mentioned that one is because I think throughout the internship, they really want to test your critical thinking, like, “What can you produce with little to nothing before coming to me and asking for help?”

So, I think that was really beneficial for me, and I think it’s something I want to continue to work through is just because healthcare, as some of us mentioned, is just constantly changing. And there’s going to be those ambiguous tasks that really don’t have a clear direction to them. So, I think just trying something before, essentially just giving up, is more beneficial to you than honestly doing nothing.

Lauren Lavin:

I think as students we’re so used to being given, at the very least, a rubric that gives us something to start with and go off of. And so, then going out to the real-world where they might just be like, “I don’t know. Figure it out.” That’s just harder to do and it’s a skill. So, as we wrap this up, I just want each of you to give … If you were talking to a first year MHA student, what advice would you give them as they prepare to search for their own internship and then as they go into the experience? I will have you go first, Matt.

Matt Mathew:

Sure. So, if I had to give any advice as you go through your internship search or looking for a particular experience, don’t limit yourself and definitely go into those areas that you initially didn’t think you’d go into, because you might find that you have a particular interest in it at the end of it. And then definitely, be proactive. And then as Hattie said, be an advocate for yourself. Seek out that work and dive into those ambiguous tasks. It’ll really help you grow throughout your summer.

Lauren Lavin:

I love it. Meg?

Meg Yellepeddi:

Yeah. I echo everything that Matt said. Ambiguity with tasks is a huge thing. So, being able to communicate your needs and asking for feedback regularly is what’s going to help you build the skillsets to be able to thrive in an unknown environment, which is basically the real-world. But I would say one big thing about your internship experience is that you should enjoy yourself.

This potentially could be the last summer you have before you start working full-time, whether it be a job or a fellowship. Internships are pretty short, typically 10 to 15 weeks, and it goes by really fast. So, make sure you’re enjoying your time over your summer, enjoying the experience that you have, making the most of the location that you’re at and the people you’re with.

Lauren Lavin:

Love it. Hattie?

Hattie Dukes:

I’ll go with something a little bit more corny. Make a bucket list. I had a list of all the restaurants and experiences I wanted to try in the Twin Cities. And like Meg said, it’s your last summer before you’re going to work forever, it feels like. And so, have fun with it. There’s so much you can do outside of work. And obviously, do your best and try all the new things, but there’s so much that you can do outside of it, too, to make it a really meaningful experience.

And I think when something that I really allowed me to connect with the people I was with all summer was everyone wanted to know what I did on the weekends or afterwards, because people wanted me to have a good summer in the Twin Cities. And so, that was just another way for me to make my mark on the team that I was with. And so, they really appreciated that I wanted to do fun things. And so, I think that’s just another way to stand out.

Lauren Lavin:

Great advice. Okay. Final, final question. Do you guys all know where you’re going to end up next year for a fellowship? Yeah? Okay. Then let’s finish it off by sharing where you’re going. Hattie?

Hattie Dukes:

Yeah. I just accepted UI Healthcare’s fellowships. I’ll be sticking around here in Iowa City.

Lauren Lavin:

Congratulations.

Hattie Dukes:

Thank you.

Lauren Lavin:

Meg?

Meg Yellepeddi:

So, I will be at Deloitte in Chicago this upcoming year.

Lauren Lavin:

Fine. So, you loved it so much, you’re going to return?

Meg Yellepeddi:

Exactly.

Lauren Lavin:

Love it. Matt?

Matt Mathew:

I will be returning to UC Health, and we’ll be working with their Metro Denver Community Hospitals as a administrative fellow.

Lauren Lavin:

Well, congratulations to all three of you. Thank you so much for chatting with me today. I always think it’s great to share all different perspectives. So, hopefully, the students that listen to this will be able to get something out of it, too.

Hattie Dukes:

Thanks for having us.

Matt Mathew:

Thanks, Lauren.

Meg Yellepeddi:

Thank you.

Lauren Lavin:

That’s it for our episode this week. A big thank you to Matt, Hattie and Meg for sharing their experiences and honest reflections on navigating their first major healthcare leadership roles. In this episode, we learned how internships are not just about building technical skills. They’re about learning to operate in uncertainty, collaborate across disciplines, and grow into leadership through real responsibility. Whether in health systems or consulting, the themes were consistent. Advocate for yourself, seek feedback, embrace ambiguity, and take full advantage of the opportunity.

This episode was hosted and written by Lauren Lavin and edited and produced by Lauren Lavin. You can learn more about the University of Iowa College of Public Health on Facebook. Our podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and SoundCloud. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help support the podcast, please share it with colleagues, friends, or anyone interested in public health. Have a suggestion for our team, you can reach us at cph-gradambassador@uiowa.edu. This episode is brought to you by the University of Iowa College of Public Health. Until next week, stay healthy, stay curious, and take care.