Slippery Rock College pupil Allison Bruno excursions the Allegheny Well being Community Grove Metropolis Hospital with the hospital’s president, David Tupponce, as a part of a mentorship program by means of SRU’s Well being Care Concept and Analysis Capstone Seminar.
March 10, 2023
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — It isn’t every single day a school pupil is ready to say, “I’ve a gathering with the CEO later as we speak.” However for 27 well being care administration and administration college students at Slippery Rock College, entry to CEOs, presidents and different C-suite executives is a part of their classwork.
The entry they obtain to senior executives within the well being care business is in contrast to something they might discover in even most graduate applications throughout the nation.
TUPPONCE
“That is greater than informational interviews; it is about constructing relationships,” stated David Jordan, professor of well being care administration and administration and division chair.
Jordan created a mentorship program the place college students taking the Well being Care Concept and Analysis Capstone Seminar are matched with a C-suite mentor, together with presidents, chief govt officers, chief administrative officers and chief monetary officers of well being care organizations. They meet with their mentors at the very least an hour every month.
Allison Bruno, a senior well being care administration and administration main from Apollo, meets usually with David Tupponce, president of Allegheny Well being Community Grove Metropolis Hospital.
“School seniors do not typically get to fulfill with a president of a hospital,” stated Bruno, an aspiring doctor assistant. “This can be a nice strategy to get snug speaking to directors and folks with different roles to get an understanding and the way the enterprise aspect of well being care operates earlier than really stepping into it.”
Whereas most mentors meet with their college students nearly, Tupponce and two of his colleagues at AHN Grove Metropolis meet in particular person due to the hospital’s proximity to SRU. Tupponce has beforehand taught a course at SRU and he serves on the well being care administration and administration program’s advisory board.
“It has been actually enjoyable for me to take what I’ve discovered over the past couple of a long time working in well being care, and supply the knowledge that college students are in search of to assist them on their journey,” Tupponce stated. “One of many issues I attempted to do is expose them to different issues they might not have thought of in well being care, whether or not that is extra administrative or management alternatives, or happening a specific scientific path.”
Tupponce, who began his profession in household drugs earlier than transferring to administration in 2013, stated that understanding individuals within the occupation shouldn’t be solely good for graduates to get their foot within the door but additionally when making transitions from a scientific observe to administrative roles.
“Once I began my profession, I did not have the boldness to go as much as somebody I did not know and ask for assist,” Tupponce stated. “As I’ve gone by means of my profession, what I’ve realized is that the individuals you already know and the relationships you construct will be a lot extra highly effective than making an attempt to persuade individuals that you’re good.”
Now in its second semester, SRU’s mentorship program has been nicely obtained by college students and mentors alike. Mike Herald, president and CEO of Guardian Healthcare, stated his participation reminds him how necessary mentorship is inside his group amongst Guardian’s workers.
BRUNO
“This can be a smart way for our college students to develop their private {and professional} abilities with somebody who can impart their information and experiences in a casual setting,” Jordan stated. “Well being care administration is an enormous business and college students typically marvel what they will do. Having a mentor is invaluable as a result of it helps solidify their early profession trajectory.”
Along with Tupponce and Herald, the 27 mentors embrace the likes of Angela Hogue, chief medical officer of the Major Well being Community; Eric Conley, president of Froedtert Hospital in Wisconsin; Stacey Vaccaro, president and CEO of Familylinks; and Michael Grace, president of West Virginia College Hospitals and the WVU Well being System’s chief administrative officer. Conley, ’90, Vaccaro, ’99, and Grace, ’92, are SRU graduates.
Though a lot of the month-to-month conferences happen nearly, the scholars meet their mentor at the very least as soon as in particular person. Connor Linnon, a senior well being care administration and administration main from Butler, even made preparations to fulfill his mentor, retired hospital CEO David Boucher, ’80, for a Pittsburgh Pirates spring coaching baseball sport in Bradenton, Florida, as the 2 occurred to be there on the identical time.
“We every have our assembly agendas and we talked about a few of the specialties I am curious about,” stated Bruno, who as a doctor assistant, plans to remain in western Pennsylvania and concentrate on ladies’s well being, oncology and pediatrics. “It has been nice to study extra about what I am in addition to issues I did not learn about administration. We have been speaking about getting acquainted with some physicians inside AHN in these specialties. It is actually helpful to have the ability to make these connections.”
Extra details about SRU’s well being care administration and administration program is offered on the division’s webpage.
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