Its a sweep!
For the third time this academic year, a student team from Gillings School of Global Public Healths health policy and management department has brought home first prize in a national health care case competition. Last October, two other student teams took first place at the Humana and National Association of Health Services Executives events.
Gillings School health policy and management masters candidates Kelley Lamb, Cayla Wigfall and Eric Ransom won first prize at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's annual health care case competition on Feb. 28.
University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System sponsored the competition, which awarded cash prizes to the top three teams selected by a panel of 12 nationally recognized health-administration professional judges. A total of 32 teams participated.First held in 2007, the case competition provides students with the opportunity to present recommendations about a health management issue to a national panel of judges. It is designed to be a capstone experience that tests students' analytic, teamwork, communication and presentation skills and offers the opportunity to apply skills to a real-life case. This years case study was based on working with Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) to open 15 urgent care centers in Tennessee.
This experience was an opportunity to apply the knowledge I have acquired over the last two years at UNC, Wigfall said. Participating provided me with additional self-confidence to succeed in my career after I graduate.
Teams had three weeks to prepare a comprehensive analysis and develop a set of practical recommendations in the areas of leadership, staffing issues, operational efficiency, design challenges, finance and marketing.
When dividing the work, we discussed our strengths and interests and agreed that we wanted to focus on the patient experience. Our team spent a lot of time researching and working together to create a finished product, Lamb said.
"I think we won because we were the most prepared team, Ransom added. Our faculty and classmates pushed us to get better with each presentation.
"The UAB competition is a wonderful professional development opportunity to apply what our students are learning in the classroom at UNC and apply their knowledge to a real-life health care case study," said Peggy Leatt, PhD, professor and chair in the Department of Health Policy and Management and associate dean for academic affairs at the School. "We are very proud of our team, she said.
Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu.