Medical Student Summer Internship

• Applicants must be a current (year one) University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine student.
• Letter of Interest (no more than one page)
• CV

Any questions should be directed Stacey Riley at Stacey.riley@pennmedicine.upenn.edu or to Dr. Neha Patel at neha.patel@pennmedicine.upenn.edu  

Apply HERE

The Penn CHIPS Internship scope and expectations are outlined below and may vary slightly based on the needs and requirements of the office/entity where the intern participates.

Basic Function and Responsibilities:

Interns will work with a local quality/safety office or team  at CHOP or UPHS on existing initiatives. Typical responsibilities can include but are not limited to:

• Assisting with project implementation
• Performing data collection such as interviews

• Analyzing or organizing data
• Note-taking

Duration and Time Commitment:

• About 8-10 weeks between June and August (6/10/2024 – 8/16/2024)
• Interns are expected to work about 30 hours per week, Monday through Friday, and between the hours of 8AM – 5PM. The specific daily hours are ultimately up to the intern and their team lead/mentor.

Format:
Hybrid (remote and in-person)

Program Leadership:
The Penn CHIPS Medical Student Summer Internship is led by Neha Patel, MD, MD; Director of Resident and Student Initiatives. The intern will join members of a QS team at either CHOP or UPHS and will have a dedicated individual from that team assigned as a team lead/mentor.

Objectives:

• To learn about core tenets of Quality Improvement and Patient Safety in healthcare and assist teams on projects or programs that provide value to the institution.
• To understand different QI methodologies and how to utilize them.
• To gain exposure to the many different types of problems in which QI strategies are employed to solve in healthcare (patient flow, patient safety, etc.).
• To gain insight into the organizational structure and work related to quality and safety in a healthcare system, as well as successful professional, and organizational behavior by observing experienced QS professionals.
• To present and share key findings to teams when applicable.
• To observe clinical medicine subspecialties related to the project you are working on, if interested.
  
  

Other Requirements:

• Interns must attend the Penn Medicine Healthcare Leadership in Quality Track didactics, a two-day bootcamp in Quality Improvement that offers exposure to models and approaches used to tackle problems in healthcare delivery systems. (two full days in the summer, in-person).
• Complete the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Basic Certificate in Quality and Safety. We suggest that these certification modules be started as soon as the internship begins.