Creating Change at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

This summer I am working in the Office of Safety and Medical Operations at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. I have been able to observe the operations of most of the subsections of the department, including patient safety, performance improvement, harm prevention, and emergency preparedness. As I continue to observe and figure out which subsections interest me most, I will have the opportunity to work on projects under mentors from some of these subsections. For example, I am working with an improvement advisor on a project that aims to optimize the scheduling process in every department by creating questionnaires and decision trees to standardize the process. This will give me hands on experience in the creation, management, and completion of improvement work throughout a hospital. Further, my experience here exposes me firsthand to hospital operations and the interconnectedness of the different departments, units, and leaders, and how important it is for them to work together in order to create positive change in the hospital. I am quickly learning that in order to excel in healthcare, I have to be able to think creatively and innovatively in order to find new ways to improve efficiency and deliver the highest quality of patient care. I hope this experience will give me more insight into what specific roles within the healthcare sector interest me most. Further, this internship is helping me to understand which skills, such as leadership and communication, to sharpen in order to be successful in my career.

Sarah Novak
Health Administration