University of Iowa Competes in the 2019 Ohio State University First-year Health Administration Case Competition

By: Sal Lopez (MHA '20)

This past week, three colleagues (Lauren Bline, Madeline Cornell, and Tyler Ust) and I had the exciting opportunity to participate in The Ohio State University’s Health Administration Case Competition. The case competition was restricted to first-year MHA students and everyone on our team shared the experience of this being their first case competition. We received the case prompt about three weeks prior to the competition – our goal was to develop a strategy to make Baptist Health, a northeast Florida health system, the market leader in bariatric surgery.
Bariatric surgery was a completely foreign topic to our group; requiring us to do extensive research on the topic. After many nights of reading fascinating academic journal articles and distance communication, our team developed a strategic framework and presentation we were excited to deliver. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Tyler could not travel with us to Ohio. Our team was saddened to hear this news, but gratefully, Madeline stepped up to the plate and was on-boarded to our team in less than a week prior to the competition to help deliver our presentation.
After much preparation, it was time to travel to Ohio. We were accompanied by two second year coaches – Mackenzie Schutz and Bobby Skogsbergh. Upon our arrival in Columbus, we ran through our presentation with our two-coach audience prior to attending the Leadership Development Symposium Dinner.
The dinner was held at High Line Car House in the Brewery District of Columbus, Ohio. It consisted of a networking hour, presentation from Kyle Dorsey, and drawing of our first-round presentation times. Our team drew the ideal 8:00 am time-slot for our first-round of the competition.
The next day, we arrived at the Ohio State Union bright and early to deliver our presentation. I was very proud of our delivery and how we managed the five-minute Q&A following our presentation. Though our team did not advance to the final round, the case competition was a great learning experience. We were challenged to develop an extensive strategy in an area of healthcare we were previously not familiar with. Additionally, we learned more about project management, effective teamwork, and executive presence. 
Our trip to Ohio concluded with one last networking event – dinner with alumni. Three Iowa Alumni, Anthon Brooks, Tasos Papachristoudis, and Elena Chiappinelli, shared advice about what to expect after graduation and where their careers have taken them. It was an excellent way to close out the trip. We returned to Iowa feeling grateful for the experience, the support from the entire HMP department, and our two coaches who made our trip to Ohio one to remember.
University of Iowa's 2019 OSU First -year Health Administration Case Competition Team & Coaches
Lauren Bline (MHA '20), Madeline Cornell (MHA '20), Sal Lopez (MHA '20),
Coaches: Robert Skogsbergh (MHA '19), Mackenzie Schutz (MHA '19)

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