Visiting Graduate Student (Academic Credit) - Simpkins Lab - Department of Neurology - Per Diem (On-site)
About The Position
The Simpkins Lab in the Department of Neurology offers an educational, per-diem internship for a student enrolled in a master’s program in health administration. Under the mentorship of Dr. Alexis Simpkins, the intern will support quality-improvement initiatives related to physician staffing processes and patient care coordination across the stroke clinic and related services. The intern will learn how healthcare operations, workforce planning, and care-coordination processes affect access, quality, and patient experience in stroke care. Working with the mentor and relevant clinic leaders, the intern will help define a quality-improvement question; collect and organize de-identified or minimum-necessary operational data; conduct workflow and root-cause analyses; and help develop and evaluate practical interventions. Activities may include reviewing staffing and coverage workflows, analyzing appointment and referral data, mapping handoffs among neurology, primary care, rehabilitation, and other services, and identifying ways to improve timely follow-up and continuity of care. The position is educational and administrative/operational, does not replace a staff position, and does not involve independent clinical decision-making or independent staffing or privileging decisions. All work must follow institutional privacy, compliance, and quality-improvement/IRB requirements. The one-year curriculum includes a literature review (one month), chart review and REDCap entry (seven months), manuscript writing (the final three months), and presentation development (one month). Career-development mentorship is provided throughout, including CV building, pre-residency neurology preparation lectures, presentation skills, and foundational project-development and critical-thinking skills. The position is on-site in Los Angeles, and applicants must live within commuting distance and be able to commute a few times per week.
Requirements
- Must be at least 18 years of age.
- Must have a high school diploma or GED.
- Must reside in the greater Los Angeles area or surrounding cities while conducting activities related to the appointment and be able to commute to Los Angeles a few times per week.
- For participation for academic credit, must receive academic credit for the duration of the internship.
Nice To Haves
- Currently enrolled as a graduate student in a graduate school, such as a master’s program, PhD program, or medical school.
Responsibilities
- Support quality-improvement initiatives concerning physician staffing processes and patient care coordination in the stroke clinic and related services.
- Work with the mentor and clinic leaders to define a quality-improvement question.
- Collect and organize de-identified or minimum-necessary operational data.
- Review staffing, scheduling, coverage, and workload patterns.
- Analyze appointment and referral data and identify barriers to timely referrals, follow-up, and communication across care teams.
- Map workflows and handoffs among neurology, primary care, rehabilitation, and other services; conduct workflow and root-cause analyses.
- Develop process maps, dashboards, and recommendations, and help develop and evaluate practical interventions.
- Learn and apply quality-improvement methods, including PDSA, Lean, process mapping, and run-chart interpretation.
- Complete a literature review, chart review and REDCap entry, manuscript writing, and presentation development as scheduled in the one-year curriculum.
- Present findings to collaborators in a concise report or presentation.
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What This Job Offers
Career Level
Intern
Education Level
High school or GED
