About the role#
The Simpkins Lab in the Department of Neurology at Cedars-Sinai offers a one-year opportunity for a visiting graduate student. You will work under the mentorship of Dr. Alexis Simpkins to support quality-improvement initiatives focused on physician staffing and patient care coordination within the stroke clinic. This role is educational and operational. It does not involve independent clinical decision-making or replace existing staff positions.
What you'll do#
You will learn how healthcare operations, workforce planning, and care-coordination processes influence patient experience and quality of care. Your work includes:
- Define a quality-improvement question and conduct workflow and root-cause analyses.
- Collect and organize de-identified operational data.
- Assess physician staffing, scheduling, and workload patterns.
- Map handoffs between neurology, primary care, rehabilitation, and other services.
- Identify barriers to timely referrals, follow-up, and communication.
- Develop process maps, dashboards, and recommendations.
- Learn quality-improvement methods including PDSA, Lean, and run-chart interpretation.
- Present findings to collaborators through reports or presentations.
- Complete a literature review, chart review, REDCap data entry, and manuscript writing over the course of one year.
- Follow all institutional privacy, compliance, and IRB requirements.
What you'll need#
- Must be 18 years of age or older with a HS Diploma or GED.
- Currently enrolled in a graduate program, preferably in Health Administration, PhD, or Medical School.
- Must receive funding from an eligible sponsoring institution.
- Ability to commute to our Los Angeles location a few times per week.
- Must reside in the greater Los Angeles area or surrounding cities during the appointment.
Location & details#
- Location: Los Angeles, California.
- Modality: On-site.
- This is a full-time, paid position.
About Cedars-Sinai
Cedars-Sinai is a nonprofit healthcare organization based in Los Angeles. Founded in 1902, it provides patient care, research, and medical education. The system focuses on clinical areas such as heart disease, cancer, and brain disorders. It employs over 16,000 people and serves the diverse population of its region.
How to get in at Cedars-Sinai
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