For my summer internship, I worked as an intern for the Government Relations Department at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. My primary goal was to develop an advanced understanding of the complex relationship between hospitals and various levels of government in the United States. My preceptor, Sherri Sager, is the chief government relations officer for the children’s hospital, and I accompanied her to meetings between senior hospital managers and government officials.

Most notably, Sager and I traveled to Washington, D.C., with a family whose child had received treatment at Lucile Packard. There, we met with several members of the U.S. Congress. In each of these meetings, the children told the representatives about their experiences at Lucile Packard and we advocated that the representatives support pertinent legislation that will allow hospitals such as Lucile Packard to continue to provide exceptional care. I also traveled to the state capitol in Sacramento to meet with legislators and advocate for bills on childhood obesity, nutrition and physical activity. In addition, I wrote several policy briefs, reports and letters of support. Over the summer, I learned about health policy issues that confront pediatric hospitals specifically, and observed how hospital managers and the government relations department deal successfully with these issues. My experience at Lucile Packard was invaluable and reaffirmed my commitment to children’s health and health policy.