November 18, 2024 • 28 mins
In this episode Dr. Anthony Stanowski is joined by Dr. Christine Winn, Senior Vice President and Chief Regional Officer at Cooper University Healthcare; and Divya Patel, Administrative Fellow at Cooper University Healthcare, who is also an MHA graduate from Rutgers University.
Dr. Winn and Divya emphasize the importance of administrative fellowships in contributing important skills and experiences to accelerate long term career success.
The episode offers valuable tips for how to prepare for the fellowship interview, and how to learn more about fellowships through the National Administrative Fellowship Network, National Center for Healthcare Leaders, the American College of Healthcare Executives, and ... from CAHME.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Okay, thank you very much for that introduction,
melissa, and welcome today totwo really special guests Chris
Wynn, who I've known a long timethrough a couple different job
stops on your part, and DivyaPatel, who is currently a fellow
at Hooper University MedicalCenter.
(00:29):
I think let's begin, chris.
Let me start with you, andyou've had a really kind of
interesting career path, butwhat I want to do is go back to
when you received your MHA fromthe University of South Carolina
.
You, like me and like manyother people, you had to do an
administrative fellowship.
What do you remember from thatperiod?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Wow.
So you're asking me to go wayback.
We're both vintage.
But yeah, I remember a lot fromthat time frame because the
program at South Carolina had usdo a nine month residency
during the program and that setme off on a great path and gave
(01:13):
me great experience at an oldRichland Memorial Hospital in
Columbia, south Carolina, whichnow is part of a giant system.
But back then I had access tothe administrative staff.
They took me in, they allowed meto go to all kinds of meetings.
They sent me off on work,walking with the nursing
(01:36):
supervisor, visiting with allthe department directors, and
back then my master's thesis wason DRG 209 and how to reduce
length of stay in hipreplacement patients, and back
then it was kind of a two-weeklength of stay and what are some
(01:58):
ways that you could get it downand now of course it's
outpatient.
So it makes me feel incrediblyold but also thoughtful about
how you look at projects thatyou give to fellows, because I
think about that project and Ithink about how it trained my
thought pattern from theadministrative standpoint to
(02:19):
look at clinical operations andthink through those with
clinicians and it really gave megreat exposure to clinicians
and how to ask questions withoutbeing judgmental, and how to
think about process instead ofthinking about just outcomes.
So I think that fellowshipreally did set me off on a great
(02:42):
path and hopefully have beenable to make University of South
Carolina proud over the years.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
It's true.
And Chris, just you know again,that was where you began your
fellowship.
What's your role right now?
What are you doing now?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah.
So a very exciting role changefor me that Cooper University
Health Care has just acquiredCape Regional Medical Center,
which is a small community jeweldown in Cape May County, new
Jersey.
Role at this point is as ChiefRegional Officer.
I'm responsible for thedevelopment of the shore region
for Cooper University Healthcareand have just taken on that
(03:32):
role over the last severalmonths and so excited to do that
on behalf of the health system.
Also responsible for our MDAnderson at Cooper, partnership
with MD Anderson Houston.
So delighted that I have thoseopportunities with the health
system.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Wow, chris, it's every time I talk to you at
Cooper.
Your responsibilities changeall the time, and
congratulations on the new role.
The time, and congratulationson the new role.
And I think it's reallyexciting what Cooper can do to
kind of bring those resources toCape Regional.
That's really cool.
And I know when we kind ofscheduled this call initially,
(04:15):
it was just you and I talkingand you said, hey, anthony,
you've got to bring in DivyaPatel, because there's this
wonderful fellow that we'reworking with right now and what
we want to do is kind of talkabout what Cooper is bringing
and Divya's participation aroundin that process.
So, divya, let me firstintroduce yourself and then how
did you get acquainted to CooperUniversity?
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Yeah, so my name is Divya Patel.
I did my MHA at RutgersUniversity in New Brunswick and
I got introduced to the CooperFellowship actually through a
couple of my professors who knowthe system very well, and they
spoke very, very highly ofCooper and the great work that
they were doing with thecommunities that they serve.
(04:58):
So they said this would be agreat opportunity for you.
Apply and see where it goes.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Wow, and you applied and did you interview with Chris
.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I did yes.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
And obviously it went well.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
It did, it was fantastic.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
That's good, and so how long have you been in your
fellowship at this point?
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Four months.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Wow, wow, those first four months just really kind of
blow by at this point.
And what have been your primarythings that you've worked on in
the first third of yourfellowship?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
I've worked on a variety of things, from
evaluations to looking at Excelsheets and thinking about
strategy and how we can furthergrow certain departments or how
we can further grow certain legsthat we're kind of utilizing.
So it's honestly been a really,really, really good experience
so far, which excites me for therest of my fellowship.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Wow, that's great.
And, Chris, how do you kind ofplan where you want the fellows
to kind of work in this?
How do you kind of select theprojects that are most
interesting to them?
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, great question.
So I co-lead the fellowshipwith my colleague, kevin O'Leary
, who is the Senior VicePresident for Business
Development and Strategy.
So the two of us together covera lot of the areas of sort of
innovation and developmentthroughout the health system.
(06:29):
So our interest in the fellowis really laying out sort of the
strategic plan for Cooper,laying out all of the executives
.
So our, our plan for the fellowis the first month or so we
have them meet with the entireexecutive team, including our
(06:50):
co-CEOs.
We also then have them look atsome key senior leadership, so
key vice presidents that theycould get to know.
And then it kind of comesorganically and I think Divya
will attest to that that youknow it might be a slow start in
(07:13):
terms of projects, but thenonce things really get going in
terms of the fellow becomingknown within the organization
and us then understanding thecapability and interest levels,
we match those things togetherreally well.
And we did that intentionallybecause both Kevin was a fellow
and I was a fellow and both ofus had a very unstructured
(07:37):
fellowship that allowed for alot of exploration and from our
standpoint there's manydifferent ways to do fellowships
but from our standpoint, havingthat fellowship experience be
open so that the fellow canreally dictate do they want to
learn more about inpatient, dothey want to learn more about
outpatient, do they wantstrategy, do they want
(08:00):
operations?
And giving the fellow a lot ofautonomy and latitude to develop
their own style has, I think,been OK so far.
Divya can correct me if I'mwrong, but I think that that's
given our fellows a lot ofexploration time so that they
(08:22):
can see where their talents andskills and interests match an
organization.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
You know it's a really interesting part.
And I go back to my ownfellowship experience, which is,
you know, you get in the firstcouple months you don't know
anyone and you feel a littleoverwhelmed because everyone
just seems so much smarter thanyou at that point.
And where do you go?
But it's that connections youmake, and then you know you
start to kind of go well, do Ido want to go into operations?
(08:50):
Do I really want to kind of gointo some of the management
services like marketing orinformation technology?
And so, divya, you've beenthere a couple months now.
Where are you leaning?
Operations, staff support,couple months now.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Where are you leaning operations.
I think Chris, chris knows this.
But I came into the fellowshipnot knowing exactly where I
wanted to go.
I I look, I looked at Chris andKevin.
I'm just like, listen, I'm notsure where I want to go, I don't
know where my interest lies,but I have like a general idea
and they really did support mein that matter and they really
allowed me to explore what Iwanted to explore.
(09:25):
And through all of myexplorations I genuinely see an
interest in process improvement,because that's been sort of a
little bit of my background,since I do have a black belt but
also operations.
So I do see an interestinvolved and that's something
that I've kind of been craftingand going towards.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Oh good, and you mentioned the black belt and I
know you know most people onthis call will know what it is,
but a couple of people are goingto go well, wait a minute.
Black belt versus you know whatyou're involved in Lean Six
Sigma and talk a little bitabout what you had to do to get
a black belt.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yeah, so it was actually through Rutgers
University MHA program.
They did a great job inoffering these types of classes
and it's an elective it's notmandatory the black belt courses
but I loved my green beltcourse so much that I wanted to
go ahead and go ahead and get myblack belt.
The professor was so nice andthe way the course was set up is
(10:22):
he teaches you in depth on whatthe green belt course teaches,
which is he teaches you in depthon what the Greenbelt course
teaches, which is all themethodologies and all of the
different techniques that youuse.
But then also he asks you as astudent to seek out your project
, which was something that wewere kind of confused on, but we
were able my team when I workedthrough my project we were able
(10:42):
to secure a really good project.
That good project that wasoverseas, actually in India, so
we were able to work on that,while you know, getting our
black belt, which was actuallyreally amazing.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Wow.
Well, so that was funny becausewhen I was looking through your
background I did see that youdid something around Lean Six
Sigma in India and I'm goingwell.
How did that happen?
But that was the connection inwith Rutgers and I wanted for
our listeners out there.
Rutgers is a CAMI accreditedprogram.
They've been accredited now for, I think, probably about five
(11:14):
or six years at this point andjust an exceptional program that
I'm really really proud as kindof joined and gone through this
process with CAMI and Divya.
You're also involved.
You've got your fingers inanother, different world as well
too.
The National AdministrativeFellowship Network To me, what
(11:38):
was exciting when I kind of readabout this is the importance of
developing that network foryourself, not just at Cooper,
but you know, in a broader sense.
So tell me what led to youparticipating in this.
Tell me a little bit about theNational Administrative
Fellowship Network, how it beganand where it's kind of moving
from here.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Yeah.
So for the first four months ofthis fellowship, I joined the
administration.
I joined that national networkto kind of get in better touch
with other co-fellows that areall across the nation.
So, because we want to be ableto have a safe space where we
can speak to each other, andthat's genuinely what this
organization was founded on wasa safe space where we can
(12:22):
collaborate with each other,where we can speak to each other
, where we can learn off of eachother.
And I got involved as thepresident of that organization.
I stepped down fully.
However, that organization hastaught me so much on the
importance of networking, theimportance of growing your
(12:46):
foundations and reallyunderstanding what it is you
want to do and how you want tostructure your fellowship post.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
That, I think to me.
What's fascinating about itbecause I know you, know you're
in there, but I've known acouple other people who are
involved in it is it's a groupof people that are.
When you talk about growingyour network, it's not all about
handing your business card tosomeone and go how can you help
me get faster?
It's ahead.
Your approach and the wholething around the National
(13:11):
Administrative FellowshipNetwork is helping other people
succeed, and when you help otherpeople succeed, that's really
the best way to build yournetwork.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
No, yeah, definitely.
I 100 percent agree and eventhough I stepped down, I will
say this that has led me to anabundance of opportunities, not
only within ACHE and Jay as apart of the membership committee
, but then also getting in touchwith my program, the MHA
program, and getting a part tobe in there, while getting to be
a co-chair in their innovationsand entrepreneurship committee,
(13:42):
which is something reallyspecial and I'm really excited
about.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Oh cool.
Well, that is really neat.
If anyone wants to learn moreabout the National
Administrative FellowshipNetwork, I know there's a
LinkedIn group about it, but isthere any place that people
should go to?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
They also just launched their social media.
So they're also on social media.
They're on LinkedIn, they're onInstagram.
It's a great network and theyhave podcasts that they're
always attending the fellows are.
They have great.
They have podcasts that they'rethat they're always attending
the fellows are.
They have great types ofarticles that they're releasing.
So it's a really, really goodnetwork.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Good, well, there was a project that you did I want.
I want to want you to talk alittle bit about and you know,
as I was reading through yourbackground and your profile, I
saw that you had restaurantworker and then after that, the
important part of that wasrestaurant worker campaign and I
was like, well, let me, let mekind of read a little bit more
about that.
But it was a fascinating.
(14:40):
Look in New Jersey about theimpact of the pandemic and tell
me a little bit about thatresearch that you did there and
what happened.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Yeah, so that research was actually something
that came spontaneously.
I wasn't expecting it to comein my direction at all, but it
was basically about how thepandemic had affected different
types of restaurant workers,because when the pandemic hit,
you saw a loss in customerscoming in which affected a lot
of these restaurant workers.
It affected their hours, itaffected their pay and maybe
(15:16):
even management.
So I was really able to workwith this non-for-profit and
really advocating for thoserestaurant workers, kind of
being on the customer serviceside of things, so getting to
speak to them one-on-one,getting to understand their path
and getting to understand wherethey're coming from, what areas
were affected for them and how,as an organization, we can help
(15:40):
to further help them evenfurther, whether it's talking to
their managers or even bringingabout new policies that can
help change their lives for thebetter.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Wow, what a great way to kind of spend some time and
understand the impact of.
Wow, what a great way to kindof spend some time and
understand, you know, the impactof the pandemic on a group of
folks and, yeah, they werereally, really hit hard during
that process.
What was interesting to meagain, as you kind of look
through it and I'm going tobring this up and I hope I don't
embarrass you a little bit, butyou were a cashier at the
Rainbow Food Mart and as I sawthat, I thought you know what,
(16:10):
when I was beginning my career,I actually was a security guard
at Veterans Stadium in JFK Park,which neither of those stadiums
exist anymore in Philadelphia,but it provided a good,
different, interesting set ofexperiences to me.
So you had the same thing atthe Rainbow Food Mart.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
No, I definitely did.
I will.
I'll never be embarrassed of itbecause, even though it was my
first job, it taught me thevalue of connecting with people.
It taught me the value ofcustomer interaction and now, on
the flip side, when I'm inhealthcare, it teaches me the
importance of of bedside mannerand the importance of you know
having that emotional connectionor even just that friendly
interaction with patients asyou're walking through the halls
(16:56):
or you're rounding or anythingin that manner.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yeah, no, absolutely, and I felt the same way too.
It was a very interesting partof my life and career that some
of those lessons kind of stickwith you and especially, like
you said, how do you interactwith the public, which is a
fascinating way to do it.
Let's go back to the fellowshippart.
So the National AdministrativeFellowship has something called
(17:22):
a fellowship playbook.
Tell our listeners about whatthat is our listeners about what
that is.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
So the fellowship playbook it's basically like a
booklet that the fellowshipnetwork was able to create,
which better outlines how to goabout the application process,
how to navigate interviews, howto navigate writing your
personal statements, perfectingyour resumes, when is the
appropriate time to start thatapplication process?
(17:55):
Is it too early, Is it too late?
So it's really like acomprehensive booklet.
Almost.
That kind of entails all ofthose factors really, and even
so, more than a booklet, it'sactually a Zoom session.
So we do a series of eventsthat are every summer when
fellowship season is at theirpeak.
(18:16):
So typically, you know, whenapplications are saying, hey,
like we're doing fellowships,the podcasts and everything
start to kick off.
And we do, like you know, Zoomsessions.
We do team sessions withstudents that are interested in
this, answer any and allquestions that they might have.
So we really try to makeourselves available for all of
that.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah, no, but what an incredibly great way to kind of
get back and get forward to thenext generation.
Chris, I'm going to turn to youhere because you've interviewed
a lot of fellows you know, notjust here at Cooper but in the
other kind of jobs that you've,roles that you've had in
different hospitals and healthsystems.
What have you seen have beenthe most successful ways for
(18:58):
fellows to be prepared whenthey're coming in for an
interview?
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Yeah, I think having a good understanding of what a
fellowship is and what they arelooking for to get out of the
fellowship.
I think that it's hard when afellow is interviewing and
they're just looking for aposition, because a fellowship
(19:24):
is really for a special kind ofperson that's trying to sort of
sort through what they want todo in healthcare.
And if that isn't the goal, andthe goal is just to get a
position and get your foot inthe door you may not be prepared
to do a variety of projects andto get out and meet people and
(19:46):
as Divya has done sosuccessfully and as Divya has
done so successfully be able tokind of take small projects and
big projects.
And so I think the fellows thatdo best are the ones that are
sort of excited about thatpotpourri of opportunity versus
just getting their foot in thedoor in a hospital.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
It is so true and I think you know when I've talked
to students about it, one of thequestions that I get is geez,
you know, I graduated with mydegree, I can go right out and
earn X.
Why should I take a lowersalary in doing a fellowship?
And my comments are what you'lllearn in that one year the
(20:32):
experiences you have you'llnever get ever again for a long
time.
I still remember when I was inmy fellowship or residency at
the old graduate hospital,sitting in the boardroom and
hearing the discussions going onand how that got me to think a
lot differently about healthcare.
(20:53):
And it took me a long time toget back in the boardroom from
there.
Divya, it won't take you aslong as it took me, but those
lessons kind of sunk in and Ifigured out where to go.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yeah, they stay with you.
I think the opportunities tohave access to the C-suite are
not as plentiful when you're ajunior administrator somewhere
within a health system as whenyou're a fellow and you get to
pick the brain like Divya canwalk down the hall and have
(21:33):
access to any of the SVPs ofCooper University of Healthcare,
which is not really typicalwhen you're just coming out and
getting into a position.
So I do think that that's agreat point, anthony, for
fellows or for MHA students toconsider a fellowship.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Oh, it's true.
And the thing is is you'redoing everything from the lower
end of the scale up until thevery high end.
You'll find yourself.
You know, I remember in myfellowship being in a you know
getting ready for a meeting once.
You know, getting ready for ameeting once, and I'm there with
(22:14):
my, the person who was mypreceptor, and the physician who
was the director of theemergency room, and we're there
and my preceptor turns to thedoctor and says, dr Laus, would
you like a cup of coffee?
And he says yes, and she goesAnthony, would you get Dr Laus a
cup of coffee?
So it was everything fromgetting a cup of coffee to being
at the boardroom and doing apresentation.
(22:35):
And you know you look at thatas how do I, how do I really
kind of understand what's goingon in that process?
That really kind of sets itapart.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yeah, and Anthony, wouldn't you say that it also
shapes you a little bit in termsof whether you now would ask
somebody to get coffee?
I think some of those lessonsabout how you treat people no
matter what role they have in ahealth system.
I think you do learn as a youngprofessional, whether that's
you're a fellow or it's yourfirst position I think you learn
(23:08):
how maybe it was how you weretreated and how maybe you don't
want to treat other people fromthat experience.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Well, I think that.
And then, you know, I also kindof say in there, one of the
things that I picked up fromthat was also to kind of be
prepared for the wants of otherpeople and what, what.
I think what I think mypreceptor was doing at that time
was stay attuned.
So when she asked him thatquestion I should have said, Dr
(23:39):
Lax, can I get you a cup ofcoffee?
And I think that would havethat.
To me that was the moreimportant part of it.
And you know, I think that'sagain the lessons you learn and
laws of civility and stuff thatyou go through Absolutely.
And you know, you see that inyour team right now and I've
(24:02):
seen it with the CAMI team,where we're in a group, and I'll
see the team volunteer and getcoffee for people without being
asked, and it's really animportant part of it.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Divya where do you want to go from here?
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I know you said you're exploring a couple
different things within Cooper,but a couple years out from now,
where do you see yourself being?
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Well, that's funny.
You ask that because actuallywhen I was meeting with a lot of
the C-suite, they all asked methe same thing.
So it was really it's like afull circle moment, because back
then back I shouldn't even sayback then, but like four months
ago if you had asked me this Iwould have told you I genuinely
don't know where I see myself infive to 10 years, but it was
(24:46):
actually what our chiefambulatory officer now told me.
What our chief ambulatoryofficer now told me.
She said if you were offered aposition no questions asked, any
amount of salary, you name itwhat would that be?
But what do you would like?
Genuinely asking, without anyties, nothing on plain paper,
(25:07):
what would you write down?
So I told her that it would beoperations.
I genuinely want to see myselfin maybe five to 10 years either
at a VP of operations and thenslowly work my way up to chief
of operations, because I'vegenuinely loved working with the
chief of operations here andI've loved working with Chris
(25:30):
because she was once theambulatory operations chief.
So working with both and beingable to kind of have exposure
again to a lot of the C-suitehere, I've grown to love that
kind of department andoperations as a whole.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Yeah, and I can't think of a better operator than
Chris, and I used to work for acompany called Aramark and what
Aramark said is, if you'recalled an operator, that's the
highest praise you can have fromAramark and I think it really
kind of shows you can motivatepeople and you can get the job
done.
(26:05):
So good choice, Let me.
Let me go to another question,Chris.
I mean a lot of times when youtalk to fellows or students who
are going for their fellowshipsor their residencies, they aim
for the big names, and the bignames are that the Cleveland
(26:26):
Clinic, Mayo Advocate, you knowHenry Ford, they're kind of out
there.
You know, in the Philadelphiaregion it might be the
University of Pennsylvania andthe like.
And then you've come toorganizations like Cooper, which
is in its own right an amazinginstitution in Camden serving a
(26:49):
population in need but also kindof breaking out of it with the
MD Anderson and the expansioninto Cape May, with Cape
Regional Advice to students inchoosing a place of residency,
(27:11):
if I can ask you to talk aboutthat.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Yeah, that's a great, great point.
I think one of the things thatI'll say about Cooper, our
mission is to serve, heal andeducate, and so I think we live
that mission daily.
So I think we live that missiondaily.
We're a two point two billiondollar organization.
If you're looking in cities, Ithink viable choices on are on
(27:53):
both sides of the river inPhiladelphia in terms of you
know you may not want to look atRutgers and New Brunswick, but
that's a wonderful organizationas well.
So I think, for studentsevaluating different places,
getting to know what the youknow, as Divya did, what the
mission is of the organization,how that mission aligns with
your own personal values,looking at the kinds of projects
that the fellow has worked onin the past, I'll you know, I'll
(28:16):
never forget that back in thedays when I was a fellow, you
know, I would talk withcolleagues and they would be
like in an office somewhere youknow, looking at a spreadsheet
or filing stuff and not doingsomething that's meaningful work
.
I think a fellow to be wouldwant to look at those project
(28:38):
lists and kind of see what wouldI be involved in, how would
they use me, because certainlyyou may want to just do things
that are in an office and that'sfine.
But if you want some exposureto departments, physicians,
operations, analyses, meetings,then look for those kinds of
(29:03):
experiences and then match youryou know lists up to where you
think, just like with college,where you think you might be
able to get in a couple ofstretch places, and then you
know some places where you thinkyou would have an opportunity.
But I do think that there are ahost of organizations in the
(29:25):
Philadelphia area like Mainlinehas some great opportunities for
their fellow you know.
Certainly we we did that onetogether, anthony, back in the
day at Paoli and I do thinkthere's lots of opportunities
like that that might get maskedby some of the larger
(29:46):
institutions.
But at a, at a, you know, amedium-sized institution, you
may have greater access to moreprojects, more C-suite exposure
than you would at a bigorganization.
So there's trade-offs for sure.
But I think those two thingsthe mission of the organization
(30:08):
matching with your personalmission, and then the project
lists are some things that couldtranscend.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
I couldn't agree with you more.
I think we ran in.
What Chris was referring towhen we talked about the Paley
part is when I was at Aramark wehad an administrative
fellowship program.
When I was at Aramark we had anadministrative fellowship
(30:38):
program and we took studentsfrom around the country, from
CAMI accredited programs, and weplaced them at our partner
institutions.
And I remember we had anincredible opportunity up at
Susquehanna Health System, whichis in northeastern Pennsylvania
and where they were opening upa brand new hospital and they
needed a fellow to kind of helpthem along with the process and
so many people kind of turned itdown because it wasn't the
brand that they were looking forand it was like geez, you know,
(31:01):
to be able to be part on theground floor to open up a brand
new hospital is an incredibleexperience in there and we did
eventually get a great fellowthere and they had a wonderful
experience.
But that part is in there.
So, divya, let me kind of, youknow, ask you in this area you
probably interviewed at a coupleof different places for
(31:23):
fellowship what made you chooseCooper?
Speaker 3 (31:27):
The mission and the way they're able to serve the
population that they serve.
Because if it's something thatI've learned alongside when I
was working as a CNA tovolunteering at hospitals or
throughout my MHA it's I lovegiving back to people.
I love giving back to theunderserved minority groups.
I love giving back to people.
(31:48):
I love giving back to theunderserved minority groups.
I love giving back to people ingeneral, and the way Cooper has
been able to do that throughtheir mission, their vision and
their initiatives that they'reable to do was something that I
really saw myself workingtowards as well.
So, like Chris said, if you'relooking at fellowships, it
doesn't matter the name of theorganization, but more so along
(32:09):
the lines of what they're doing,how they're doing it, how it
all ties back to the mission andvision.
But then also, what kind ofthings can they offer you, what
kind of projects can they offeryou?
Because it can make a world ofa difference.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Absolutely Well, good advice and good choice, and I
got to say, probably no onebetter to be a mentor for you or
a preceptor than Chris Waynejust one of my favorite people
over the time.
So well, with that, I want totalk about two resources
available that Cami provides topeople.
(32:44):
One of them is, if you go ontoCami's website, wwwcahmeorg, in
our white papers area, we did agreat white paper two years ago
back in 2022, with NCHL aboutadministrative fellowships, and
I would encourage anyone to kindof go into there, take a look
at that white paper.
(33:05):
There's some great analysis inthere and some great approaches
to kind of look for and you canget a sense about.
You know what makes a fellowsuccessful.
We kind of look at some NCHLdata in there and we also look
at things like salary and andthen job opportunities that kind
of go forward from there.
(33:25):
So that's one the second part.
On the CAMI website, if you goto wwwcamiorg and look at the
advanced search tool you canlook at different programs that
we have and within that you cansee where the fellows, what the
fellow salaries are by thedifferent programs.
(33:46):
So it kind of gives you a senseabout what the median salaries
are for people doing fellowships.
And it also if you're picking aprogram to do as an MHA program
or an MBA in healthcare oranything in healthcare
management, it'll kind of giveyou a sense about geez, you know
certain programs like SouthCarolina and Rutgers and where I
(34:09):
came from, widener, really kindof encouraged a fellowship, but
others not so much.
So you know a good, good placefor people to kind of go and
look through.
Well, with that I just reallywant to thank you both for your
time today.
This was a fun conversation forme to do Divya your time today.
(34:31):
This was a fun conversation forme to do.
Divya, it's great to meet youand so much success to you.
I think you've got a goodfoundation of a start everything
from the Rainbow Food Mart upto Cooper University and then
beyond.
You know.
Much success and please stay intouch.
I'd love to hear where thingskind of go with you and Chris, I
know you and I will always bein touch, so absolutely Thank
(34:55):
you for participating with ustoday.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Okay, thank you very much for that introduction,
melissa, and welcome today totwo really special guests Chris
Wynn, who I've known a long timethrough a couple different job
stops on your part, and DivyaPatel, who is currently a fellow
at Hooper University MedicalCenter.
(00:29):
I think let's begin, chris.
Let me start with you, andyou've had a really kind of
interesting career path, butwhat I want to do is go back to
when you received your MHA fromthe University of South Carolina
.
You, like me and like manyother people, you had to do an
administrative fellowship.
What do you remember from thatperiod?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Wow.
So you're asking me to go wayback.
We're both vintage.
But yeah, I remember a lot fromthat time frame because the
program at South Carolina had usdo a nine month residency
during the program and that setme off on a great path and gave
(01:13):
me great experience at an oldRichland Memorial Hospital in
Columbia, south Carolina, whichnow is part of a giant system.
But back then I had access tothe administrative staff.
They took me in, they allowed meto go to all kinds of meetings.
They sent me off on work,walking with the nursing
(01:36):
supervisor, visiting with allthe department directors, and
back then my master's thesis wason DRG 209 and how to reduce
length of stay in hipreplacement patients, and back
then it was kind of a two-weeklength of stay and what are some
(01:58):
ways that you could get it downand now of course it's
outpatient.
So it makes me feel incrediblyold but also thoughtful about
how you look at projects thatyou give to fellows, because I
think about that project and Ithink about how it trained my
thought pattern from theadministrative standpoint to
(02:19):
look at clinical operations andthink through those with
clinicians and it really gave megreat exposure to clinicians
and how to ask questions withoutbeing judgmental, and how to
think about process instead ofthinking about just outcomes.
So I think that fellowshipreally did set me off on a great
(02:42):
path and hopefully have beenable to make University of South
Carolina proud over the years.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
It's true.
And Chris, just you know again,that was where you began your
fellowship.
What's your role right now?
What are you doing now?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah.
So a very exciting role changefor me that Cooper University
Health Care has just acquiredCape Regional Medical Center,
which is a small community jeweldown in Cape May County, new
Jersey.
Role at this point is as ChiefRegional Officer.
I'm responsible for thedevelopment of the shore region
for Cooper University Healthcareand have just taken on that
(03:32):
role over the last severalmonths and so excited to do that
on behalf of the health system.
Also responsible for our MDAnderson at Cooper, partnership
with MD Anderson Houston.
So delighted that I have thoseopportunities with the health
system.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Wow, chris, it's every time I talk to you at
Cooper.
Your responsibilities changeall the time, and
congratulations on the new role.
The time, and congratulationson the new role.
And I think it's reallyexciting what Cooper can do to
kind of bring those resources toCape Regional.
That's really cool.
And I know when we kind ofscheduled this call initially,
(04:15):
it was just you and I talkingand you said, hey, anthony,
you've got to bring in DivyaPatel, because there's this
wonderful fellow that we'reworking with right now and what
we want to do is kind of talkabout what Cooper is bringing
and Divya's participation aroundin that process.
So, divya, let me firstintroduce yourself and then how
did you get acquainted to CooperUniversity?
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Yeah, so my name is Divya Patel.
I did my MHA at RutgersUniversity in New Brunswick and
I got introduced to the CooperFellowship actually through a
couple of my professors who knowthe system very well, and they
spoke very, very highly ofCooper and the great work that
they were doing with thecommunities that they serve.
(04:58):
So they said this would be agreat opportunity for you.
Apply and see where it goes.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Wow, and you applied and did you interview with Chris
.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I did yes.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
And obviously it went well.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
It did, it was fantastic.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
That's good, and so how long have you been in your
fellowship at this point?
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Four months.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Wow, wow, those first four months just really kind of
blow by at this point.
And what have been your primarythings that you've worked on in
the first third of yourfellowship?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
I've worked on a variety of things, from
evaluations to looking at Excelsheets and thinking about
strategy and how we can furthergrow certain departments or how
we can further grow certain legsthat we're kind of utilizing.
So it's honestly been a really,really, really good experience
so far, which excites me for therest of my fellowship.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Wow, that's great.
And, Chris, how do you kind ofplan where you want the fellows
to kind of work in this?
How do you kind of select theprojects that are most
interesting to them?
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, great question.
So I co-lead the fellowshipwith my colleague, kevin O'Leary
, who is the Senior VicePresident for Business
Development and Strategy.
So the two of us together covera lot of the areas of sort of
innovation and developmentthroughout the health system.
(06:29):
So our interest in the fellowis really laying out sort of the
strategic plan for Cooper,laying out all of the executives
.
So our, our plan for the fellowis the first month or so we
have them meet with the entireexecutive team, including our
(06:50):
co-CEOs.
We also then have them look atsome key senior leadership, so
key vice presidents that theycould get to know.
And then it kind of comesorganically and I think Divya
will attest to that that youknow it might be a slow start in
(07:13):
terms of projects, but thenonce things really get going in
terms of the fellow becomingknown within the organization
and us then understanding thecapability and interest levels,
we match those things togetherreally well.
And we did that intentionallybecause both Kevin was a fellow
and I was a fellow and both ofus had a very unstructured
(07:37):
fellowship that allowed for alot of exploration and from our
standpoint there's manydifferent ways to do fellowships
but from our standpoint, havingthat fellowship experience be
open so that the fellow canreally dictate do they want to
learn more about inpatient, dothey want to learn more about
outpatient, do they wantstrategy, do they want
(08:00):
operations?
And giving the fellow a lot ofautonomy and latitude to develop
their own style has, I think,been OK so far.
Divya can correct me if I'mwrong, but I think that that's
given our fellows a lot ofexploration time so that they
(08:22):
can see where their talents andskills and interests match an
organization.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
You know it's a really interesting part.
And I go back to my ownfellowship experience, which is,
you know, you get in the firstcouple months you don't know
anyone and you feel a littleoverwhelmed because everyone
just seems so much smarter thanyou at that point.
And where do you go?
But it's that connections youmake, and then you know you
start to kind of go well, do Ido want to go into operations?
(08:50):
Do I really want to kind of gointo some of the management
services like marketing orinformation technology?
And so, divya, you've beenthere a couple months now.
Where are you leaning?
Operations, staff support,couple months now.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Where are you leaning operations.
I think Chris, chris knows this.
But I came into the fellowshipnot knowing exactly where I
wanted to go.
I I look, I looked at Chris andKevin.
I'm just like, listen, I'm notsure where I want to go, I don't
know where my interest lies,but I have like a general idea
and they really did support mein that matter and they really
allowed me to explore what Iwanted to explore.
(09:25):
And through all of myexplorations I genuinely see an
interest in process improvement,because that's been sort of a
little bit of my background,since I do have a black belt but
also operations.
So I do see an interestinvolved and that's something
that I've kind of been craftingand going towards.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Oh good, and you mentioned the black belt and I
know you know most people onthis call will know what it is,
but a couple of people are goingto go well, wait a minute.
Black belt versus you know whatyou're involved in Lean Six
Sigma and talk a little bitabout what you had to do to get
a black belt.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yeah, so it was actually through Rutgers
University MHA program.
They did a great job inoffering these types of classes
and it's an elective it's notmandatory the black belt courses
but I loved my green beltcourse so much that I wanted to
go ahead and go ahead and get myblack belt.
The professor was so nice andthe way the course was set up is
(10:22):
he teaches you in depth on whatthe green belt course teaches,
which is he teaches you in depthon what the Greenbelt course
teaches, which is all themethodologies and all of the
different techniques that youuse.
But then also he asks you as astudent to seek out your project
, which was something that wewere kind of confused on, but we
were able my team when I workedthrough my project we were able
(10:42):
to secure a really good project.
That good project that wasoverseas, actually in India, so
we were able to work on that,while you know, getting our
black belt, which was actuallyreally amazing.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Wow.
Well, so that was funny becausewhen I was looking through your
background I did see that youdid something around Lean Six
Sigma in India and I'm goingwell.
How did that happen?
But that was the connection inwith Rutgers and I wanted for
our listeners out there.
Rutgers is a CAMI accreditedprogram.
They've been accredited now for, I think, probably about five
(11:14):
or six years at this point andjust an exceptional program that
I'm really really proud as kindof joined and gone through this
process with CAMI and Divya.
You're also involved.
You've got your fingers inanother, different world as well
too.
The National AdministrativeFellowship Network To me, what
(11:38):
was exciting when I kind of readabout this is the importance of
developing that network foryourself, not just at Cooper,
but you know, in a broader sense.
So tell me what led to youparticipating in this.
Tell me a little bit about theNational Administrative
Fellowship Network, how it beganand where it's kind of moving
from here.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Yeah.
So for the first four months ofthis fellowship, I joined the
administration.
I joined that national networkto kind of get in better touch
with other co-fellows that areall across the nation.
So, because we want to be ableto have a safe space where we
can speak to each other, andthat's genuinely what this
organization was founded on wasa safe space where we can
(12:22):
collaborate with each other,where we can speak to each other
, where we can learn off of eachother.
And I got involved as thepresident of that organization.
I stepped down fully.
However, that organization hastaught me so much on the
importance of networking, theimportance of growing your
(12:46):
foundations and reallyunderstanding what it is you
want to do and how you want tostructure your fellowship post.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
That, I think to me.
What's fascinating about itbecause I know you, know you're
in there, but I've known acouple other people who are
involved in it is it's a groupof people that are.
When you talk about growingyour network, it's not all about
handing your business card tosomeone and go how can you help
me get faster?
It's ahead.
Your approach and the wholething around the National
(13:11):
Administrative FellowshipNetwork is helping other people
succeed, and when you help otherpeople succeed, that's really
the best way to build yournetwork.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
No, yeah, definitely.
I 100 percent agree and eventhough I stepped down, I will
say this that has led me to anabundance of opportunities, not
only within ACHE and Jay as apart of the membership committee
, but then also getting in touchwith my program, the MHA
program, and getting a part tobe in there, while getting to be
a co-chair in their innovationsand entrepreneurship committee,
(13:42):
which is something reallyspecial and I'm really excited
about.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Oh cool.
Well, that is really neat.
If anyone wants to learn moreabout the National
Administrative FellowshipNetwork, I know there's a
LinkedIn group about it, but isthere any place that people
should go to?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
They also just launched their social media.
So they're also on social media.
They're on LinkedIn, they're onInstagram.
It's a great network and theyhave podcasts that they're
always attending the fellows are.
They have great.
They have podcasts that they'rethat they're always attending
the fellows are.
They have great types ofarticles that they're releasing.
So it's a really, really goodnetwork.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Good, well, there was a project that you did I want.
I want to want you to talk alittle bit about and you know,
as I was reading through yourbackground and your profile, I
saw that you had restaurantworker and then after that, the
important part of that wasrestaurant worker campaign and I
was like, well, let me, let mekind of read a little bit more
about that.
But it was a fascinating.
(14:40):
Look in New Jersey about theimpact of the pandemic and tell
me a little bit about thatresearch that you did there and
what happened.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Yeah, so that research was actually something
that came spontaneously.
I wasn't expecting it to comein my direction at all, but it
was basically about how thepandemic had affected different
types of restaurant workers,because when the pandemic hit,
you saw a loss in customerscoming in which affected a lot
of these restaurant workers.
It affected their hours, itaffected their pay and maybe
(15:16):
even management.
So I was really able to workwith this non-for-profit and
really advocating for thoserestaurant workers, kind of
being on the customer serviceside of things, so getting to
speak to them one-on-one,getting to understand their path
and getting to understand wherethey're coming from, what areas
were affected for them and how,as an organization, we can help
(15:40):
to further help them evenfurther, whether it's talking to
their managers or even bringingabout new policies that can
help change their lives for thebetter.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Wow, what a great way to kind of spend some time and
understand the impact of.
Wow, what a great way to kindof spend some time and
understand, you know, the impactof the pandemic on a group of
folks and, yeah, they werereally, really hit hard during
that process.
What was interesting to meagain, as you kind of look
through it and I'm going tobring this up and I hope I don't
embarrass you a little bit, butyou were a cashier at the
Rainbow Food Mart and as I sawthat, I thought you know what,
(16:10):
when I was beginning my career,I actually was a security guard
at Veterans Stadium in JFK Park,which neither of those stadiums
exist anymore in Philadelphia,but it provided a good,
different, interesting set ofexperiences to me.
So you had the same thing atthe Rainbow Food Mart.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
No, I definitely did.
I will.
I'll never be embarrassed of itbecause, even though it was my
first job, it taught me thevalue of connecting with people.
It taught me the value ofcustomer interaction and now, on
the flip side, when I'm inhealthcare, it teaches me the
importance of of bedside mannerand the importance of you know
having that emotional connectionor even just that friendly
interaction with patients asyou're walking through the halls
(16:56):
or you're rounding or anythingin that manner.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yeah, no, absolutely, and I felt the same way too.
It was a very interesting partof my life and career that some
of those lessons kind of stickwith you and especially, like
you said, how do you interactwith the public, which is a
fascinating way to do it.
Let's go back to the fellowshippart.
So the National AdministrativeFellowship has something called
(17:22):
a fellowship playbook.
Tell our listeners about whatthat is our listeners about what
that is.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
So the fellowship playbook it's basically like a
booklet that the fellowshipnetwork was able to create,
which better outlines how to goabout the application process,
how to navigate interviews, howto navigate writing your
personal statements, perfectingyour resumes, when is the
appropriate time to start thatapplication process?
(17:55):
Is it too early, Is it too late?
So it's really like acomprehensive booklet.
Almost.
That kind of entails all ofthose factors really, and even
so, more than a booklet, it'sactually a Zoom session.
So we do a series of eventsthat are every summer when
fellowship season is at theirpeak.
(18:16):
So typically, you know, whenapplications are saying, hey,
like we're doing fellowships,the podcasts and everything
start to kick off.
And we do, like you know, Zoomsessions.
We do team sessions withstudents that are interested in
this, answer any and allquestions that they might have.
So we really try to makeourselves available for all of
that.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah, no, but what an incredibly great way to kind of
get back and get forward to thenext generation.
Chris, I'm going to turn to youhere because you've interviewed
a lot of fellows you know, notjust here at Cooper but in the
other kind of jobs that you've,roles that you've had in
different hospitals and healthsystems.
What have you seen have beenthe most successful ways for
(18:58):
fellows to be prepared whenthey're coming in for an
interview?
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Yeah, I think having a good understanding of what a
fellowship is and what they arelooking for to get out of the
fellowship.
I think that it's hard when afellow is interviewing and
they're just looking for aposition, because a fellowship
(19:24):
is really for a special kind ofperson that's trying to sort of
sort through what they want todo in healthcare.
And if that isn't the goal, andthe goal is just to get a
position and get your foot inthe door you may not be prepared
to do a variety of projects andto get out and meet people and
(19:46):
as Divya has done sosuccessfully and as Divya has
done so successfully be able tokind of take small projects and
big projects.
And so I think the fellows thatdo best are the ones that are
sort of excited about thatpotpourri of opportunity versus
just getting their foot in thedoor in a hospital.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
It is so true and I think you know when I've talked
to students about it, one of thequestions that I get is geez,
you know, I graduated with mydegree, I can go right out and
earn X.
Why should I take a lowersalary in doing a fellowship?
And my comments are what you'lllearn in that one year the
(20:32):
experiences you have you'llnever get ever again for a long
time.
I still remember when I was inmy fellowship or residency at
the old graduate hospital,sitting in the boardroom and
hearing the discussions going onand how that got me to think a
lot differently about healthcare.
(20:53):
And it took me a long time toget back in the boardroom from
there.
Divya, it won't take you aslong as it took me, but those
lessons kind of sunk in and Ifigured out where to go.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yeah, they stay with you.
I think the opportunities tohave access to the C-suite are
not as plentiful when you're ajunior administrator somewhere
within a health system as whenyou're a fellow and you get to
pick the brain like Divya canwalk down the hall and have
(21:33):
access to any of the SVPs ofCooper University of Healthcare,
which is not really typicalwhen you're just coming out and
getting into a position.
So I do think that that's agreat point, anthony, for
fellows or for MHA students toconsider a fellowship.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Oh, it's true.
And the thing is is you'redoing everything from the lower
end of the scale up until thevery high end.
You'll find yourself.
You know, I remember in myfellowship being in a you know
getting ready for a meeting once.
You know, getting ready for ameeting once, and I'm there with
(22:14):
my, the person who was mypreceptor, and the physician who
was the director of theemergency room, and we're there
and my preceptor turns to thedoctor and says, dr Laus, would
you like a cup of coffee?
And he says yes, and she goesAnthony, would you get Dr Laus a
cup of coffee?
So it was everything fromgetting a cup of coffee to being
at the boardroom and doing apresentation.
(22:35):
And you know you look at thatas how do I, how do I really
kind of understand what's goingon in that process?
That really kind of sets itapart.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yeah, and Anthony, wouldn't you say that it also
shapes you a little bit in termsof whether you now would ask
somebody to get coffee?
I think some of those lessonsabout how you treat people no
matter what role they have in ahealth system.
I think you do learn as a youngprofessional, whether that's
you're a fellow or it's yourfirst position I think you learn
(23:08):
how maybe it was how you weretreated and how maybe you don't
want to treat other people fromthat experience.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Well, I think that.
And then, you know, I also kindof say in there, one of the
things that I picked up fromthat was also to kind of be
prepared for the wants of otherpeople and what, what.
I think what I think mypreceptor was doing at that time
was stay attuned.
So when she asked him thatquestion I should have said, Dr
(23:39):
Lax, can I get you a cup ofcoffee?
And I think that would havethat.
To me that was the moreimportant part of it.
And you know, I think that'sagain the lessons you learn and
laws of civility and stuff thatyou go through Absolutely.
And you know, you see that inyour team right now and I've
(24:02):
seen it with the CAMI team,where we're in a group, and I'll
see the team volunteer and getcoffee for people without being
asked, and it's really animportant part of it.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Divya where do you want to go from here?
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I know you said you're exploring a couple
different things within Cooper,but a couple years out from now,
where do you see yourself being?
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Well, that's funny.
You ask that because actuallywhen I was meeting with a lot of
the C-suite, they all asked methe same thing.
So it was really it's like afull circle moment, because back
then back I shouldn't even sayback then, but like four months
ago if you had asked me this Iwould have told you I genuinely
don't know where I see myself infive to 10 years, but it was
(24:46):
actually what our chiefambulatory officer now told me.
What our chief ambulatoryofficer now told me.
She said if you were offered aposition no questions asked, any
amount of salary, you name itwhat would that be?
But what do you would like?
Genuinely asking, without anyties, nothing on plain paper,
(25:07):
what would you write down?
So I told her that it would beoperations.
I genuinely want to see myselfin maybe five to 10 years either
at a VP of operations and thenslowly work my way up to chief
of operations, because I'vegenuinely loved working with the
chief of operations here andI've loved working with Chris
(25:30):
because she was once theambulatory operations chief.
So working with both and beingable to kind of have exposure
again to a lot of the C-suitehere, I've grown to love that
kind of department andoperations as a whole.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Yeah, and I can't think of a better operator than
Chris, and I used to work for acompany called Aramark and what
Aramark said is, if you'recalled an operator, that's the
highest praise you can have fromAramark and I think it really
kind of shows you can motivatepeople and you can get the job
done.
(26:05):
So good choice, Let me.
Let me go to another question,Chris.
I mean a lot of times when youtalk to fellows or students who
are going for their fellowshipsor their residencies, they aim
for the big names, and the bignames are that the Cleveland
(26:26):
Clinic, Mayo Advocate, you knowHenry Ford, they're kind of out
there.
You know, in the Philadelphiaregion it might be the
University of Pennsylvania andthe like.
And then you've come toorganizations like Cooper, which
is in its own right an amazinginstitution in Camden serving a
(26:49):
population in need but also kindof breaking out of it with the
MD Anderson and the expansioninto Cape May, with Cape
Regional Advice to students inchoosing a place of residency,
(27:11):
if I can ask you to talk aboutthat.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Yeah, that's a great, great point.
I think one of the things thatI'll say about Cooper, our
mission is to serve, heal andeducate, and so I think we live
that mission daily.
So I think we live that missiondaily.
We're a two point two billiondollar organization.
If you're looking in cities, Ithink viable choices on are on
(27:53):
both sides of the river inPhiladelphia in terms of you
know you may not want to look atRutgers and New Brunswick, but
that's a wonderful organizationas well.
So I think, for studentsevaluating different places,
getting to know what the youknow, as Divya did, what the
mission is of the organization,how that mission aligns with
your own personal values,looking at the kinds of projects
that the fellow has worked onin the past, I'll you know, I'll
(28:16):
never forget that back in thedays when I was a fellow, you
know, I would talk withcolleagues and they would be
like in an office somewhere youknow, looking at a spreadsheet
or filing stuff and not doingsomething that's meaningful work
.
I think a fellow to be wouldwant to look at those project
(28:38):
lists and kind of see what wouldI be involved in, how would
they use me, because certainlyyou may want to just do things
that are in an office and that'sfine.
But if you want some exposureto departments, physicians,
operations, analyses, meetings,then look for those kinds of
(29:03):
experiences and then match youryou know lists up to where you
think, just like with college,where you think you might be
able to get in a couple ofstretch places, and then you
know some places where you thinkyou would have an opportunity.
But I do think that there are ahost of organizations in the
(29:25):
Philadelphia area like Mainlinehas some great opportunities for
their fellow you know.
Certainly we we did that onetogether, anthony, back in the
day at Paoli and I do thinkthere's lots of opportunities
like that that might get maskedby some of the larger
(29:46):
institutions.
But at a, at a, you know, amedium-sized institution, you
may have greater access to moreprojects, more C-suite exposure
than you would at a bigorganization.
So there's trade-offs for sure.
But I think those two thingsthe mission of the organization
(30:08):
matching with your personalmission, and then the project
lists are some things that couldtranscend.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
I couldn't agree with you more.
I think we ran in.
What Chris was referring towhen we talked about the Paley
part is when I was at Aramark wehad an administrative
fellowship program.
When I was at Aramark we had anadministrative fellowship
(30:38):
program and we took studentsfrom around the country, from
CAMI accredited programs, and weplaced them at our partner
institutions.
And I remember we had anincredible opportunity up at
Susquehanna Health System, whichis in northeastern Pennsylvania
and where they were opening upa brand new hospital and they
needed a fellow to kind of helpthem along with the process and
so many people kind of turned itdown because it wasn't the
brand that they were looking forand it was like geez, you know,
(31:01):
to be able to be part on theground floor to open up a brand
new hospital is an incredibleexperience in there and we did
eventually get a great fellowthere and they had a wonderful
experience.
But that part is in there.
So, divya, let me kind of, youknow, ask you in this area you
probably interviewed at a coupleof different places for
(31:23):
fellowship what made you chooseCooper?
Speaker 3 (31:27):
The mission and the way they're able to serve the
population that they serve.
Because if it's something thatI've learned alongside when I
was working as a CNA tovolunteering at hospitals or
throughout my MHA it's I lovegiving back to people.
I love giving back to theunderserved minority groups.
I love giving back to people.
(31:48):
I love giving back to theunderserved minority groups.
I love giving back to people ingeneral, and the way Cooper has
been able to do that throughtheir mission, their vision and
their initiatives that they'reable to do was something that I
really saw myself workingtowards as well.
So, like Chris said, if you'relooking at fellowships, it
doesn't matter the name of theorganization, but more so along
(32:09):
the lines of what they're doing,how they're doing it, how it
all ties back to the mission andvision.
But then also, what kind ofthings can they offer you, what
kind of projects can they offeryou?
Because it can make a world ofa difference.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Absolutely Well, good advice and good choice, and I
got to say, probably no onebetter to be a mentor for you or
a preceptor than Chris Waynejust one of my favorite people
over the time.
So well, with that, I want totalk about two resources
available that Cami provides topeople.
(32:44):
One of them is, if you go ontoCami's website, wwwcahmeorg, in
our white papers area, we did agreat white paper two years ago
back in 2022, with NCHL aboutadministrative fellowships, and
I would encourage anyone to kindof go into there, take a look
at that white paper.
(33:05):
There's some great analysis inthere and some great approaches
to kind of look for and you canget a sense about.
You know what makes a fellowsuccessful.
We kind of look at some NCHLdata in there and we also look
at things like salary and andthen job opportunities that kind
of go forward from there.
(33:25):
So that's one the second part.
On the CAMI website, if you goto wwwcamiorg and look at the
advanced search tool you canlook at different programs that
we have and within that you cansee where the fellows, what the
fellow salaries are by thedifferent programs.
(33:46):
So it kind of gives you a senseabout what the median salaries
are for people doing fellowships.
And it also if you're picking aprogram to do as an MHA program
or an MBA in healthcare oranything in healthcare
management, it'll kind of giveyou a sense about geez, you know
certain programs like SouthCarolina and Rutgers and where I
(34:09):
came from, widener, really kindof encouraged a fellowship, but
others not so much.
So you know a good, good placefor people to kind of go and
look through.
Well, with that I just reallywant to thank you both for your
time today.
This was a fun conversation forme to do Divya your time today.
(34:31):
This was a fun conversation forme to do.
Divya, it's great to meet youand so much success to you.
I think you've got a goodfoundation of a start everything
from the Rainbow Food Mart upto Cooper University and then
beyond.
You know.
Much success and please stay intouch.
I'd love to hear where thingskind of go with you and Chris, I
know you and I will always bein touch, so absolutely Thank
(34:55):
you for participating with ustoday.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
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