Nicole Dembny, statistics major, was featured in a story by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) on summer internships.
Nicole Dembny (’27 statistics)
Internship:
Naples Comprehensive Health Management in Naples, Florida
Primary responsibilities:
As an enterprise project management intern, Dembny analyzed clinical and population demographic data to help inform Naples Comprehensive Health Management’s strategy decisions. She helped plan large-scale projects that involved teams from across the organization, including clinicians, IT, finance, supply chain, facilities, and executive leadership.
What’s one thing you learned during your internship that you’ll apply to your career?
“One technology I learned to use was ArcGIS, which is a tool for analyzing geographic data. In health care, it can be used to see how far people must travel for care, identify areas that may benefit from a new facility, and understand the needs of those communities. For example, an area with an older population may have a greater need for cardiovascular services, while an area with a younger population may have a greater need for obstetrics services.”
What surprised you about the internship or this field of work?
“I came away with a much deeper understanding and appreciation of the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes in health care. Health care depends on people from many non-clinical specialties and backgrounds, all contributing different pieces and working with one another. Seeing how those roles work together gave me a much greater appreciation for how complex it is to keep a hospital running.”
What are your plans following graduation from Iowa State?
“I enjoy the work that I have been doing, and after graduating, I plan to continue working with data in a health care setting.”
Learn more about Nicole and more LAS students' internships.