Meghan Slattery spent 56 hours as an intern extracting and analyzing data from 6,000 patient records to determine hospital readmission rates and infections. She used Microsoft Excel to organize data on admission dates, surgeries, and infections from a hospital program. Her supervisor Amanda Melendez provided guidance, and secretary Marcella helped schedule meetings. Time management was challenging due to the large dataset but improved with tips from Amanda and coworker Joanna on efficiently using programs.

1. To: Ann Marie Hill, Internship Coordinator
From: Meghan Slattery, Intern, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Subject: Summary of Internship Activities from September 7, 2015 to September
21, 2015
Date: September 27, 2015
Summary:
This log memo represents the work completed by Meghan Slattery from the week
of Monday September 7, 2015 to the week of Monday September 21, 2015 for as
an intern for Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s Infection Control department
in Philadelphia, PA. Meghan spent a total of 56 hours extracting and analyzing
data from 6,000 hospital patients who were admitted to the hospital between the
dates of January, 2015 and January, 2000. Most patients were all patients of the
neurological department and received posterior spine treatments.
Major Work Tasks and Accomplishments:
The major work task 1during this period included using Microsoft Excel to
organize and record the data extracted from the use of Jeff Charts, a hospital
specific program that allows access to patient’s confidential electronic medical
record. The data that was collected included admission dates, surgery dates, and
hospital acquired infections. The purpose of this data was to analyze and
determine whether that patient was readmitted to the hospital ninety days after
the last discharge date, and specifically whether or not the readmission was due
to an infection that they acquired from their stay in the hospital or from the
original procedure.
Supervision and Staff Interaction
Amanda Melendez is my supervisor, and she was who I interacted with the most
during this length of time in my interview. I would come to the office every week,
and as soon as I got to the building I would go to the office and receive my
schedule for the day. These past few weeks were mostly spent inside Amanda’s
office using excel on a university computer, so there was limited interaction
between me and other hospital employees. The office is comprised of around
thirty other employees, all of which Amanda supervises as well. There is another
part of this office on the other side of this floor that I do not have access to and
therefore never see those employees. I was mainly working at an empty desk in
my own office, so there was limited time spent with the other people in the office
besides Amanda. There is another woman that works closely with Amanda that I
have had close encounters with. She has shown me how to use the Jefferson
programs that I was at first unfamiliar with and also helped me get started with
some of my other responsibilities around the office. The only other employees of
Amanda’s that I have closely interacted with have been her secretary Marcella

2. and another young woman named Joanna. I correspond with Marcella often and
let her know which days of the week and at what times I will be able to come into
the office. Marcella also provides me with help working around Amanda’s busy
schedule and finding times where Amanda and I can meet during the day when
she is not in a meeting or traveling between University buildings around the
center city campus. Joanna is another woman in the office that was helping with
the project that I was asked to take on. In the first few days of my new task
Joanna introduced me to Jeff Charts and explained to me the layout of the
research data table document. After I got the hang of how things worked Joanna
let me do all the work on my own. The majority of the time though, I am only
interacting with my supervisor Amanda.
Major Challenges/Progress
I found that time management proved to be one of my major challenges as I took
on these new and at first seemingly impossible tasks. The excel spreadsheet that
I was given included over 5,000 patients’ name’s and personal medical history.
At first my task was very overwhelming, but with the help of Amanda and Joanna
showing me how the programs worked and giving me tips to speed up my work
and more importantly be more efficient while doing so was ultimately what
enabled me to finish in a timely manner. I also found that my learning goals were
particularly helpful in this case. I applied my technique of using a calendar at
home and always put my hours and the work that I still needed to complete on it.
Keeping track of these crucial elements allowed me to be organized and not feel
so overwhelmed.