Intermountain Healthcare: UVRMC Patient Experience Administrative Internship--Kody

PATIENT EXPERIENCE INTERNSHIP

Over the course of Fall Semester 2013, it was my pleasure to be on the Patient Experience team at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, part of the Intermountain Healthcare system.  This internship allowed me the opportunity to interact daily with the administration of the hospital.  For a person interested in pursuing a future in Healthcare Administration, this internship is a great tool.

A typical day...well there is no typical day in administration, there is always something new!  I was assigned to work in the Emergency Department validating caregiver behavior and ensuring excellent patient care.  It was not uncommon to meet regularly with upper management in board meetings, weekly team huddles, and a quarterly Leadership Summit.  I learned how to understand the language of healthcare in current times, and gained a better understanding of its future.

Every week the interns met in a team meeting to listen to healthcare professionals discuss
ways to improve patient experience and overall better clinical outcomes.  In this meeting, the interns are also assigned to read and discuss a book or two that educates on an evidence based framework that reduces patient anxiety and improves clinical communication.

All-in-all I learned so much about the ins and outs of the administration of a hospital.  I have decided from this internship that healthcare administration is for me!

Provo, UT; Utah State Hospital Physical Therapy Clinic - Phillip

My internship at the Utah State Hospital has been a great and unique experience. I have had patient responsibility and been able to work directly with several patients. After the Physical Therapist evaluates a new patient, he will create a treatment program for them. It is then my responsibility to help the patient through their treatment program each day. This includes exercises and modalities that focus on recovery as well as improving strength, endurance, and flexibility. Having already taken classes at BYU in Anatomy, Physiology, Kinesiology, Biomechanics, and Psychology, among others, helped prepare me for this experience working with patients.

Patients of all ages come to the physical therapy clinic (there are units with pediatric, youth, adult, high-risk forensic, and geriatric patients). Each patient is very different and deals with physical difficulties as well as mental illnesses of varying degrees. Because of this, I have learned to be adaptable in many different situations. I have developed greater patience and care for others. It is challenging to work with those who are struggling, but also very rewarding to know that I am making a positive difference in their lives.

Overall, my internship at the Utah State Hospital Physical Therapy clinic has been a wonderful experience. I’m sure I will remember these experiences for the rest of my life.  I have become more aware of mental disorders and I have become more kind and understanding. I also feel more prepared for my future in the health care industry where I will be working with patients on a daily basis.

Provo, UT; NOW I CAN! Intensive Pediatric Physical Therapy - Randy

ternship experience was amazing.  I would highly recommend it and advise to make sure you get more than 2 or 3 weeks in a given location.  
Now I Can! is a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to helping disabled children reach their greatest potential (Nowican.org).  The therapists strive to achieve this mission through intensive physical therapy with patients that come in 5 days a week for 4-hour sessions.  Generally this will last 3-4 weeks.  I have had the privilege of volunteering for Now I Can for the 7 months, and this past semester I decided to apply for internship credit.
Because of my personal experience with physical therapy I was myopic enough to believe that the only field I would be interested in was sports injury recovery.  I searched for a place where I could volunteer, but no outpatients clinics designated for sports injuries were close to where I lived.  With a bicycle as my only form of transportation anywhere, this made things difficult.  I later found out about a pediatric physical therapy clinic just around the corner from my apartment, so I decided to investigate.  They let me know there was an opening for one more volunteer, and I started going every Thursday as a therapist assistant.
As I helped the children with different exercises and stretches that expanded their abilities I began to see how driven many of them were.  I fell in love with the whole experience.  The disabilities that the children with whom I was able to work included Cerebral Palsy (differing levels of severity), brain anomaly, Spina Bifida, brain tumor resection, and hemiplegia.  Never before had I worked with or even been around children with neurological disabilities, so any ideas or notions I previously had were created by myself.  However, working alongside these children and getting to know them by talking with them and observing them has led me to the conclusion that they are children of divine heritage just as is everyone around them.