Internship Spotlight: Amanda Deese
Amanda Deese, MHA and MS Health Informatics student, completed her internship this past summer with Novant Health’s Logistics and Supply Chain Operations, where she worked under the Director of Supply Chain Operations, Tyler Ross, M.S. She discovered this internship opportunity through an email distributed to students by the MHA Program. Amanda interviewed with two Directors in Supply Chain in order to secure this internship.
During her time at Novant, Amanda worked with Novant Health Medical Group (NHMG) outpatient clinics reviewing supply ordering, processes, and logistics. She utilized report and data analysis skills to develop best practices and process flow for NHMG clinics based on Novant Logistics Center (NLC) operating parameters and practices. She also identified potential efficiencies to be gained at the distribution level of the supply chain. Amanda was also responsible for identifying best practices for inventory management and process flow to assist with policy development for wider utilization across Novant Health clinics.
Amanda’s main Internship project was developing a supply process standardization policy for all 530 Novant Health clinics to use. However, her favorite project was the standardization efforts in one specific clinic that she worked with on several occasions. Amanda stated, “The most rewarding aspect was that the clinic was still using all of the processes recommended and was doing well overall during a recent visit with them almost eight months later.”
Finding time to meet with administrators was challenging at times for Amanda, given their hectic schedules and competing demands. However, Amanda spoke enthusiastically about that valuable data analytic skills she gained from the work she did at Novant. Her favorite aspect of her internship was getting to see all of the many aspects of the supply chain including procurement, sourcing, customer service, and pharmaceutical sourcing.
Amanda believes that the courses in the MHA program taught her how to use strategic thinking methods to make decisions, solve problems, work effectively with other professionals, and develop her written and oral skills. Amanda advises MHA students to, “Explore new avenues in healthcare outside of the traditional acute care setting; an internship provides the perfect opportunity to do so. My internship gave me new insight into two healthcare sectors I had not previously thought of as career options – supply chain and physician practice management.”