2026-2027 OACA/CIH Interprofessional Interns

Collage of 2026-2027 OACA Interprofessional Interns

Co-hosted by the Office of Academic Clinical Affairs and Center for Interprofessional Health

Students from across the health sciences:

1 MLS BS, 2 BSN, 3 DDS, 3 MD, 1 PharmD, 1 DPT, MN, 7 MPH, 1 MSN, 1 Public HealthPHD

Enhancing Access with Digital Resources
Aspirus St. Luke's
This project supports the long-term vision of expanding patient education, strengthening community awareness, and creating sustainable resources that continue to evolve. Goals include creating accessible patient education materials that connect patients with maternal and child health resources.

Community Health Needs Assessment, Strategic Planning, Social Media Promotion
BigFork Valley
This project will build on results of a recent Community Health Needs Assessment by creating a formal report, forming an implementation plan, and designing online content for public access.

Behavioral Health Resource for Primary Care
Essentia Health
This project will create a comprehensive resource directory of behavioral health resources by agency, location, services and conditions that allows primary care providers to quickly identify and connect patients with appropriate community-based services.

Connecting Children to Coverage: A School-Based Mobile Health Initiative
Hennepin Healthcare Pediatric Mobile Health
Interns will identify and assess potential eligibility for public insurance programs, connect families with enrollment resources, and develop a sustainable workflow to support insurance outreach and enrollment. Deliverables will include an insurance outreach tracking process, resource materials for families, and recommendations to improve future enrollment efforts.

Activity 2F
Minnesota Northstar Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP)
This project is aimed at providing curated educational resources to meet the needs of the care coordinator (CC) and case manager (CM) workforce in Minnesota.

Minnesota Northstar Registered Apprenticeship Program
Minnesota Northstar Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP)
This apprenticeship program aims to improve the retention and job satisfaction for certified nursing assistants in long term care. Interns will support the development of an apprenticeship curriculum, mentorship training, and support the process of facilitating CNA participation in the program.

Preventing Workplace Violence in Acute Care Hospitals
Minnesota Nurses Association
This project aims to reduce workplace violence by identifying hospital units with the highest risk of workplace violence and the determinants of workplace violence. By identifying trends and proposing hospital unit-based solutions, students will gain experience working with union nurses to advocate for occupational safety and pitch their ideas to hospital management and elected officials. Reducing injuries improves working conditions and can help keep RNs at the bedside and improve patient care.

Building a Data-Driven Foundation
Mower County Public Health
This project will build a data tracking infrastructure to enhance data-informed decision-making and real-time response for population health. This project will foster alignment of services and programs with current community health needs and preferences.

Culturally Integrative Services
RADIAS Health
This project will expand processes for gathering stakeholder feedback on how to continue to develop and adjust program practices to maximize therapeutic alignment and associated engagement in services. The project will support decade-long efforts to ensure that culturally congruent care is available across RADIAS programs.

Rock Your Smile Campaign
University of Minnesota Cleft and Craniofacial Clinic
This project will develop and deliver school-based educational programming to reduce bullying, teasing, and stigma experienced by affected children. Deliverables include age-appropriate educational materials, classroom presentations, and outreach resources for schools. The impact of the project is to promote empathy, inclusion, and improved self-esteem for children with craniofacial differences through increased awareness and understanding among school-aged children.

Interprofessional Interns

Uzonna Abiri
Nursing MN
Community partner: GWEP

Sanah Ali
Public Health MPH
Community partner: Hennepin Healthcare Mobile Health

Madison Baysinger
Public Health MPH
Community partner: UMN Cleft and Craniofacial Clinic

Mikalyn Frye
Nursing BSN
Community partner: Mower County Public Health

Dina Ghandour
Medicine MD
Community partner: Hennepin Healthcare Mobile Health

Asmaa Issa
Nursing MN
Community partner: Minnesota Nurses Association

Julia Kaiser
Dentistry DDS
Community partner: Essentia Health

Chaeyeon Kim
Pharmacy PharmD
Community partner: Essentia Health

Gayatri Kulkari
Public Health MPH
Community partner: BigFork Valley

Taviah Levenson
Public Health MPH
Community partner: GWEP

Antoinette Lighe
Public Health MPH
Community partner: GWEP

Alex Litterer
Pharmacy BS
Community partner: Mower County Public Health

Stephen Martin
Medicine MD
Community partner: Aspirus St. Luke's

Nathan Monsein
Medicine DPT
Community partner: RADIAS Health

Ella Mullin
Nursing MN
Community partner: UMN Cleft and Craniofacial Clinic

Melissa Mutchler
Public Health MPH
Community partner: Aspirus St. Luke's

Gurnoor Pannu
Dentistry DDS
Community partner: BigFork Valley

Pei Yu Shih
Public Health PhD
Community partner: Minnesota Nurses Association

Patrick Torralba
Public Health MPH
Community partner: Mower County Public Health

Jessica Tran
Nursing BSN
Community partner: GWEP

Sushan Zhang
Dentistry DDS
Community partner: UMN Cleft and Craniofacial Clinic

Medicine MD
Community partner: RADIAS Health