UA Little Rock MBA Student Gains Career-Building Experience Through Internship at Baptist Health
Gabriella O’Neil, a Master of Business Administration student at UA Little Rock, spent her summer putting her classroom knowledge into practice during an internship with Baptist Health in Little Rock.
The experience gave her new skills and confidence that will help shape her future career in accounting. O’Neil, a native of Covington, Louisiana, is pursuing her MBA with a concentration in financial accounting analysis and expects to graduate in May 2026.
Her internship at Baptist Health focused on reconciliations for Baptist Health and Baptist Health College. Financial reconciliation is an accounting process of comparing and matching two different sets of financial records to verify their accuracy and completeness. O’Neil worked extensively with financial data, making sure records matched across systems and breaking down payments to ensure accuracy over three years’ worth of transactions.
“My main project was doing recons for Baptist and Baptist Health College,” O’Neil said. “It was very time consuming, but also a very interesting and challenging task. I had to balance a lot of data, and it really pushed me to work through challenges on my own.”
The experience gave her practical exposure to accounting work in a healthcare environment, a field she hadn’t previously considered but now views as a strong career possibility.
“Healthcare is different from a strictly office position,” O’Neil said. “Even though I wasn’t on the patient care side, I felt like I was still helping the company support patients and build good relationships with them. That made the work really meaningful.”
O’Neil said she especially valued the collaborative atmosphere at Baptist Health. She was one of 14 summer interns and enjoyed being part of a team that included both fellow students and experienced employees.
“I really liked that team aspect of Baptist Health,” she said. “I got to meet a lot of people and work alongside other interns my age as well as full-time employees. It gave me a new perspective and showed me the importance of teamwork in a professional setting.”
The internship also gave O’Neil opportunities to grow her professional skills beyond technical accounting. She learned to use industry software, sharpened her Excel skills, and built confidence by working independently on complex assignments. And the practical experience she received through her internship confirmed O’Neil’s decision to become a certified public accountant after graduation.
“At Baptist Health, I got to take what I’ve learned in the classroom and apply it in real life,” she said. “That made all the difference in showing me the direction I want to go in my future accounting career.”
In addition to excelling in her MBA program, O’Neil is also a six-year member of the Little Rock Swimming and Diving Team, balancing her athletic commitments with her academic and professional goals.