Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
Why did you choose graduate school at IUPUI?
I chose to remain here at IUPUI to further my higher education pursuance because this MHA program is rich in history and strives for excellence and purpose for all students. The alumni network is also attractive being comprised vastly of a lot of senior and executive leaders in health systems and insurance plans, and in various states so you never know who you will run into. It was not simply this obvious attraction for me, but the faculty and staff members who made me feel at home and offered nothing but guidance and support.
What has been your favorite academic accomplishment since you’ve been here?
The first academic achievement I hold most dear was really getting through the first year of graduate study being the first in my family to seek out this opportunity. Second, continuing to demonstrate proficiency in my quantitative courses which have been comprised of finance, accounting, economics, and statistics. Third, I would say is being recognized nationally by American College of Healthcare Executives and being one of the seven Albert W. Dent Graduate Scholarship recipients nationally."
What do you enjoy most about life in Indianapolis?
Life in Indy has been great with being right downtown and having the accessibility to catch anything you would really want from an exhaustive list of venues, activities, sports teams, and surrounding cities with unique attractions.
Please provide some details about your work/research as a graduate student and/or any activities you are involved in.
As a graduate student I have been involved with previous work at the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center as the CNOs intern. Here I was part of the Nurse Recruitment and Retention team on improving onboarding experiences and lessening turnover, while overseeing bonuses and pay compensation. After this I worked at Corporate Headquarters for Elevance Health, formerly known as Anthem, and I was the Clinical Quality Strategy intern who conducted research to see how Elevance and relevant competitors were doing and how well in certain markets and lines of business. From this I created a database of these efforts and presented them to several audiences of organizational leaders on how to appropriately address health equity efforts and gain alignment to improve consumer satisfaction.