Upon graduation, our new alumni will pursue careers across a wide array of industry settings and in an increasingly diverse mix of geographical locations. We place graduates inside of healthcare delivery settings such as integrated delivery systems, hospitals, group practices, and long-term care, as well as outside of healthcare delivery settings such as health insurance companies, consulting firms, pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturing.
Historically, about half our graduates begin their careers inside the Greater Pittsburgh area, while the other half spread out as far away as the east and west coasts. Wherever you want to be—career setting or geographic location—the Pitt MHA program can help you get there. This page provides a snapshot of the job placements of our most recent alumni in addition to our current students who have already locked in administrative fellowships.
- Kia Kai (MHA/MBA '21), St. Elizabeth Physicians Administrative Fellow
-
I am the current Administrative Fellow for St. Elizabeth Physicians, a multi-specialty physician organization that serves the residents of Northern Kentucky, Southwestern Ohio, and Southeastern Indiana. This fellowship appealed to me because I was looking for a fellowship position that had opportunities beyond the typical hospital operations focus that many other fellowships offer. I feel strongly that as healthcare trends towards ambulatory care services, it will be even more important for future healthcare leaders to have exposure to the strategic operations of medical groups that are working to integrate healthcare in the outpatient setting. St. Elizabeth Physicians is a physician lead organization and has been nationally recognized for its outstanding quality improvement efforts. In 2020, they were awarded the prestigious Acclaim Award by the American Medical Group Association (AMGA), and they continue to drive innovative approaches to healthcare with their quality improvement initiatives. In my position, I’ve had opportunities not only to observe organizational support departments in action but to also actively engage through project management and process improvement efforts as a team member. The leadership team has shown immense interest in supporting my development and has given me opportunities to demonstrate my leadership and management abilities. I’m currently acting as the interim practice manager for an endocrinology specialty office where I oversee approximately 50 associates and providers. The fast-paced environment is full of problem-solving opportunities and employee engagement. I absolutely love what I do, and I cannot wait to see where the organization will take me!
- Peter Adams (MHA/MBA '21), UPMC Administrative Fellow
-
After graduating, I accepted a position as an Administrative Fellow at UPMC, a leading healthcare organization with national and international reach. I am in the Health Services Division Pittsburgh track which focuses in UPMC’s Pittsburgh region facilities but provides exposure across the organization. My prior experiences with UPMC, including my MHA practicum with STAT MedEvac and mentorship from a senior UPMC leader facilitated by the MHA program, led me to pursue UPMC’s fellowship. I consistently experienced a welcoming culture and leaders who supported me and pushed me to grow both personally and professionally.
The first year of the fellowship is rotational and has given me exposure and project work across five hospitals and numerous functional areas in just a few months. The opportunity to work with and learn from such a variety of leaders and staff has been immensely valuable. For my second year, I have accepted a role in surgical services at one of UPMC’s specialty hospitals where I will have responsibility for perioperative efficiency and throughput initiatives. This second-year opportunity allows me to continue to develop my knowledge base and leadership skills in a mentored role with direct management responsibilities.
Pitt’s MHA/MBA program facilitated meaningful experiences and connections with local healthcare leaders and alumni. These experiences and mentorship enabled me to be competitive and ultimately selected for a fellowship at UPMC.
- Christian Trent (MHA '21), Hartford HealthCare Bone and Joint Institute Fellow
-
Since its inception in 2017, Hartford HealthCare’s Bone & Joint Institute (BJI) offers an unparalleled network of coordinated clinical services as the first new stand-alone orthopedic hospital in the state of Connecticut. This one-year, project-based, administrative fellowship has provided an outstanding opportunity to “look under the hood” of a developing integrated health system. I was drawn to the fellowship role with BJI because I wanted an opportunity to lead as the institute’s first administrative fellow, and to gain new valuable professional experiences dedicated to a hospital-based, surgical specialty service line from both an inpatient and outpatient perspective. Since joining the organization upon graduation from the MHA program at Pitt in May 2021, I have had the opportunity to achieve the following:
Analyzed the institute’s existing processes and procedures to make strategic recommendations to enhance operating room efficiencies, clinical orthopedic programs (trauma, spine, and joint), patient experience, and quality management.Developed change management plans with the activation and operational alignment of a new institute-built business intelligence tool—analyzing key issues and identifying data optimization opportunities using lean six sigma methods.
Transform the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of care delivered by partnering with Avant-Garde Health to produce clinical, operational, and financial insights to measure the cost of care and opportunities for value improvement.
I am eternally grateful to the faculty and staff at HPM for their shared knowledge and wisdom during my time at the University of Pittsburgh as this opportunity with HHC would not be possible without the professional foundation provided in the MHA program.
- Jenn Andrews (MHA ’20), Vizient, Inc. Fellow
-
In summer 2020, I will be entering into a fellowship position at Vizient, Inc. (Downtown Chicago location), the nation’s leading healthcare performance improvement company. Vizient, Inc. has been recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the “Best Places to Work in Healthcare” and has been recognized by Forbes as one of “America’s Best Management Consulting Firms.” I was drawn to the fellowship position due to the emphasis on healthcare informatics and analytics, commitment to career development, and the opportunity to pursue a wide breadth of projects. As Vizient, Inc. has gone through several large-scale mergers and acquisitions in the recent years and with an increasing member-base, including 95% of the nation’s academic medical centers and 50% of the nation’s acute care providers, I will be able to interact with a variety of healthcare executives and organizations across the nation. Additionally, I was drawn to Vizient’s mission to strengthen each member’s delivery of care by aligning cost, quality, and market performance. The fellowship opportunity will provide me with a wide range of projects to utilize data to make actionable insights for the organization’s members. I could not be more excited to start my time at Vizient, Inc., an organization that is truly aiming to make a difference in healthcare.
- Erika Garrison (MHA/MBA '20), UPMC Fellow
-
I chose the fellowship at UPMC because it is a national leader in health care and has exciting growth in the future. I wanted to be part of an organization that shared similar values and truly lived out those values. One of the biggest factors in my decision was my experience in my residency at UPMC Children’s Hospital. I saw firsthand the culture at UPMC and was surrounded by leaders who continued to support and encourage my personal and professional growth. That support continued beyond my preceptors and even outside the walls of Children’s. Leaders and staff were eager to let me shadow and engage in a broad variety of projects.
As far as what excites me the most about the fellowship, the rotational opportunity provides me a chance to see a wide variety of functions and services across the organization. The benefits of being part of a large organization are the resources and breadth of experiences available. I am excited to learn in new areas that I haven’t been able to experience yet. In the second year, having the opportunity to have increased accountability and taking a deep dive into an area will provide a great foundation of managerial experience/exposure in my future career.
Connect with Erika Garrison on LinkedIn.
Read more HPM alumni news. - Megan Preti (MHA '20), University of Virginia Health System Fellow
-
The UVAHealth System Fellowship was my top choice, because it is both an academic medical center and one of the best hospitals in the state of Virginia. I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia, and I wanted the chance to give back to the community I had called home for four years. I am most excited about the fellowship structure. In the first year of the two-year fellowship, I will explore their service lines, while moving into an area of concentration for the second year.
Connect with Megan Preti on LinkedIn.
Read more HPM alumni news. - Ritu Pathak (MHA '20), UPMC Insurance Division Administrative Fellow
-
My aspiration to pursue UPMC’s Insurance Administrative Fellowship was due to their unwavering focus on career development. Continuous education and a constant learning environment represent UPMC’s drive towards excellence in every facet. During my search for potential fellowships to apply for, I decided to narrow down my list based on two-year duration, IDFS organization, and rotational experience. UPMC matched everything I was looking for in a fellowship, including the location. The fellowship affords me the opportunity to broaden my skillset and gain wider exposure to leadership experiencing wide-ranging knowledge of many different aspects of healthcare. I am extremely grateful and thrilled to have the opportunity to start off my career with such an incredible organization.
Connect with Ritu Pathak on LinkedIn.
Read more HPM alumni news. - Maira Undavalli (MHA '20), NYU Langone Fellow
-
I applied to the NYU Langone Fellowship because I was amazed at how well their hospital services reflected the community needs of their diverse populations. I wanted to build a career with one of the best health systems in the nation that put a significant focus on innovation and strategy with the patient in the heart of every decision they made and the process they implemented. I accepted my offer because of how well I connected with my interviewers.
I truly felt like they had a genuine interest in getting to know me, and this made my conversations with my interviewers unique. I'm looking forward to working with some of the most experienced health care leaders and work on a diverse range of projects that will allow me to be a better health care leader.
Connect with Maira Undavalli on LinkedIn.
Read more HPM alumni news. - Mike Whalen (MHA '20), OhioHealth Administrative Fellow
-
After graduating, I’ll be starting as an Administrative Fellow with OhioHealth, Central Ohio’s largest health system. I’ll be placed in the OhioHealth Physician Group, which includes providers across over 250 physician offices. OhioHealth has been named to Fortune’s list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” for 13 consecutive years, and I was really drawn to the emphasis that the organization places upon relationship building.
I’m very excited to continue my professional development in an environment that will include project work throughout the organization, in both outpatient and inpatient settings. Additionally, the OhioHealth fellowship program stands out to me with its focus on honing managerial skills, an essential foundation for leadership abilities, through placement in an interim management role for the second fellowship year.
Through local and alumni connections, I was able to fill my time at Pitt with residency experiences, which served as excellent sources from which I could pull examples to speak to my abilities and development goals during the fellowship interview process. My time at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia helped me to further develop the skills learned in my classes at Pitt, while solidifying the compassionate values that OhioHealth seeks in all its employees.
Connect with Mike Whalen on LinkedIn.
Read more HPM alumni news.