ACHE Congress

By Karly Wallace
 
On March 18-21, 2012, many of the Iowa MHA students attended the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Congress on Healthcare Leadership in Chicago, IL. This conference is an annual event where healthcare leaders throughout the world come to discuss issues related to healthcare and leadership. Most Iowa Students attended this conference as part of the Iowa Student Association of Healthcare Leaders (ISAHL).

While at ACHE Congress, I chose to be a Program Assistant. Program Assistants help put together materials for sessions and assure all the events are running smoothly. While working each session, I had the opportunity to network with fellow students, executives, and session speakers. Additionally, after handing out the materials for each session, Program Assistants were allowed to stay for the remainder of the session. I was able to hear about deigning the healthcare built environment and performance improvement. Both of these sessions were quite informative and I am glad I had the extra opportunity to learn about both topics.

In addition to my duties as a Program Assistant, I attended a blend of student focused and executive focused sessions. One of my student track sessions, "Developing Tomorrow's Leaders" was extremely helpful. I was able to pick up tips about resumes, cover letters, interviewing, networking and much more. Attending executive sessions was also beneficial because I had a chance to hear about current issues in healthcare. One of my executive sessions was about lean, six sigma, and blue ocean thinking. I was already aware of these topics; however, this session showed how they could be applied in healthcare.


When I wasn’t working or attending sessions, I was spending time with my classmates in Chicago. On our last night in town, we decided to take a recommendation of a local and visit the Billy Goat Tavern. The Billy Goat Tavern is where the World Series curse for the Cubs began. Basically, the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern wanted to take his billy goat to the World Series at Wrigley Field. He and his billy goat were not allowed into the stadium so he said that he put a curse on the team and the Cubs would not win a World Series in his lifetime. Since then, the owner has passed away and the Cubs have yet to win a World Series. That night at the restaurant, we happened to run into Quint Studer, the founder of the Studer Group. The Studer Group is known in healthcare for excelling in quality. We recognized him because we had heard him speak when we visited Rush the month prior. We invited Studer and his son to eat dinner with us, which was a great treat. He shared personal advice with us and other tips that will be useful in our future. This was certainly a time when we were in the right place at the right time and a wonderful way to conclude our time at Congress.


Iowa MHA Students at the Billy Goat Tavern with Quint Studer

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adriana Kotchkoski (MHA '24): Nihon Keiei Consulting Group

Image
Konnichiwa from Japan!   As I sit down to write this blog post, I am filled with a sense of gratitude and accomplishment as I reflect on my time as an intern at Nihon Keiei Consulting Group in Osaka, Japan. This summer has been nothing short of remarkable, offering me a unique blend of professional development and cultural immersion that I will cherish forever.   During my time at Nihon Keiei, I had the opportunity to engage in in-depth research and analysis, creating comprehensive market profiles for the healthcare sectors in the Philippines and India. These profiles laid the foundation for strategic expansion plans, and it was an honor to present my findings and recommendations to a senior consultant during insightful one-on-one meetings. These interactions were not only professionally enriching but also allowed me to witness firsthand how strategic decisions shape the course of an organization's growth.   One of the most rewarding experiences during my internship was t...
Read more

Devante Davis (MHA '24): UCHealth - Southern Region

Image
Hello my name is Devante Davis I am going into my 2 nd year as an MHA student at the University of Iowa!    I am currently interning at UCHEALTH southern region in Colorado Springs, and UCHEALTH mission statement is to Improve lives through providing quality care. My preceptor is Andrew Ritchie the Chief Operation Officer of the UCHEALTH southern region. He great a developing talent while unlocking hiding potential within his interns, and fellow! My favorite project was evaluating what the rest of the world is doing to recover from this global nursing shortage. Summarizing the data and be a part of creating a valuable plan to implement into the UCHEALTH southern region. A few other fun events I attended were the pikes peak annual racing event, viper’s baseball game, the incline!  
Read more

Naudya Chhuon, UIHC Accounting and Financial Services (MHA '25)

Image
This summer, I had the opportunity to be a part of the Finance and Accounting Services team (FAS) at the University of Iowa. My internship allowed me to better understand what it is like to work in finance and accounting, especially within the healthcare industry. From managing a vaccination clinic project to tackling financial models, I got to contribute to some and be a part of some fun projects. One of the highlights of my internship was being the go-to person for all things related to the HPV vaccination clinic with the Population Health team. This project provides Shoes for patients under 13 years old who obtain their 2 nd  dose of the HPV vaccine. I found myself at the center of communication between four different teams, which meant I got to lead meetings, and make sure we were all on the same page. Our big event is coming up in the second week of August, and I am proud of how smoothly everything has been running so far.  Another big part of my summer was getting my han...
Read more