Iowa Team Travels to UAB Case Competition

An informal photo of the Iowa UAB Case Competition team. From left: Marisa
Polonsky (MHA '19); Dan Gentry, MHA Program Director; Zoe Ribar (MHA'18),
Rob McDonagh (MHA '18), Kim Ogden (MHA '18), and Garrett Danelz (MHA '19)

A favorite tradition of the Iowa MHA program is sending a team to the Health Administration Case Competition at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The competition was held on March 1 and 2, and Iowa was represented by team captain Zoe Ribar (MHA ’18), team members Rob McDonagh (MHA ’18) and Kim Ogden (MHA ’18), and first-year observers Marisa Polonsky (MHA ’19) and Garrett Danelz (MHA ’19). This year’s case focused on a real rural hospital in the town of Jellico, Tennessee.

Although Iowa’s team did not advance, the competition was a great learning experience. Reflections from the team members are shared below:

Team Captain Zoe Ribar (MHA ’18):

“The Iowa MHA program focuses on practical applications of the health administration topics we study in the classroom, and my experience in the UAB case competition underscores this emphasis. Case competitions are an opportunity to both apply what we learn in the classroom, and to design innovative solutions to a relevant challenge in healthcare. Of course, this is not without stress, anxiety, and an excessive amount of work hours. That said, I have realized significant professional and personal growth from these stressors, as we all do when we overcome barriers. I have learned to be creative, to be confident in my ideas, to embrace competitiveness, and to lead.

My second-year classmates and I are graduating soon. We are all looking forward to a successful career in healthcare, but I believe it is also natural to question if we are on the right path. In my mind, difficult and practical experiences like the UAB case competition give us important insight into our future careers and reaffirm our choices and capabilities.”

Team Member Rob McDonagh (MHA ’18):

“Participating in the UAB Case Competition has been one of the highlights of my MHA experience, and I will remember it long after graduating. I would encourage as many students as possible to participate in future case competitions. Pursuing an MHA is not just about learning in the classroom – it is also about applying your education to the real world to impact the health and wellbeing of communities.

Learning more about the plight of rural healthcare in America through this case was a striking experience that will stick with me through my career. The other most enriching part of the UAB Case Competition was learning more about other teams and my own teammates. Hearing other teams present their own solutions for the hospital in Jellico expanded my critical thinking skills, and I am excited about the possibility of collaborating with these students in the future as we all start our careers. Equally important is that Zoe, Kim, and I spent every day together for a month working on the case. Zoe and Kim made every step of the process worth the effort, and we built a bond that will surely last throughout the rest of our careers.”

Team Member Kim Ogden (MHA ’18):

“Participating in case competitions has been one of the most challenging, and rewarding, experiences of my graduate career. The UAB case this year was extremely relevant and gave us the opportunity to dive into the challenges of rural healthcare. In addition to gaining a wealth of knowledge, the process of competing in the case competition honed our communication skills and allowed us to address real-life problems in a way that cannot be replicated in the classroom.

Case competitions are also about building relationships. There's nothing quite like spending three straight weeks together with your team members to create an infinite number of inside jokes! We also spent the evening after our presentation networking with other health administration students, which was one of the highlights of the competition. Overall, this case might have challenged me to work really hard, but it also made me laugh really hard with a great group of people, and that made it an awesome experience.”