From Internship to Fellowship: Lessons from MHA Summer Experiences

In this episode of Plugged Into Public Health, three second-year MHA students reflect on their summer internship experiences and the lessons they are carrying forward into their administrative fellowships. Matt Mathew shares his experience at UCHealth in Colorado, where he worked across multiple service lines including trauma, oncology, cardiovascular, and neuro/spine. He discusses leading Lean Six Sigma process improvement efforts and learning to manage ambiguity in executive-facing projects. Hattie Dukes spent her summer at Allina Health in the Twin Cities, working in continuing care. Her projects ranged from writing a business plan for an inpatient rehabilitation expansion to exploring housing solutions for long-stay patients. She reflects on the importance of engaging frontline staff and advocating for her own learning. Meg Yellepeddi interned at Deloitte in Chicago, supporting a large-scale electronic health record implementation. She discusses project management in consulting, organizational change management, and the importance of communication and collaboration in healthcare leadership. The episode closes with advice for first-year MHA students preparing for internship applications and highlights where each student will begin their administrative fellowship next year. A transcript of this episode is available at https://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/news-items/plugged-in-to-public-health-lessons-from-mha-summer-experiences/ Have a question for our podcast crew or an idea for an episode? You can email them at [email protected] You can also support Plugged in to Public Health by sharing this episode and others with your friends, colleagues, and social networks. #publichealth #MHA #summerexperience #internship #fellowship #mastersdegree #healthadministration #graduatedegree #realworldexperience #iowacity