inPractice - Winter 2019 - 8

PA COLLEGE / FEATURE

York says. "Those are skills that will be relevant no matter what
happens next year with health technology or the Affordable Care Act."

Back in 2011, Cynthia D. Clark '13 was a respiratory therapist at
Lancaster General Hospital. She loved her clinical work, but she
also had fond memories of a job she'd had years earlier: managing a
restaurant. Sometimes she missed the team-building and strategic
planning that were at the heart of her old restaurant job.
One day, a colleague suggested that Clark combine her clinical
passions and her management interests by enrolling in PA College's
bachelor's degree program in health sciences, with a concentration in
clinical management. "I thought, let me give this a try and see where
it takes me," she recalls.

Jennifer Koppel '18, who has served for 10 years as director of the
Lancaster County Homelessness Coalition, completed the MHA
program at the end of 2018. She says the program gave her a wide array of
new skills and concepts that have sharpened her performance at work.
"My background is not in health care," Koppel says. "So this program
was really the first time that I'd studied the social determinants of
health in a systematic way. And the course on leadership styles and
theories of leadership also helped me think differently about my role."

Nine years later, Clark's degree has transformed her career. She is
Clark, for her part, says that her coursework in process improvement
now a performance analytics adviser at Penn Medicine Lancaster
has helped her tackle new challenges at LG Health. "I had already been
General Health. In that role, Clark helps clinical teams meet
familiar with Lean Six Sigma," she says. "But the courses at PA College
benchmarks in areas such as patient
have covered many other techniques,
safety, employee engagement and
and they've covered dimensions of
financial revenue. The pace, variety
process improvement that I'd never even
and strategic challenges remind her
considered."
of what she'd liked about restaurant
management. "I love this job," Clark
Online and Hands-On
says, "because one day I'll be in meetings
"These PA College students always
with the hospital's top leadership, and
PA College's healthcare administration
impress me," she says. "The last
the next day I'm learning from front-line
programs are conducted almost
student I had was just on fire.
clinicians."
entirely online, which allows full-time
I would give her a project, and
employees like Clark and Koppel to
And when she goes home in the evening,
take courses flexibly and at their own
Clark logs in and works toward yet
she'd have everything done far in
pace. But York says that he and his
another PA College degree: the master's
advance of her deadline."
colleagues have gone to great lengths to
in healthcare administration (MHA), a
make sure that students form personal
program that debuted in 2015.
Towanha (Tee) Rhim, operations director for
connections. "Twice a year, we bring
medical services at Lancaster General Hospital
PA College's bachelor's and master's
everyone together in person for what
programs in healthcare administration
we call integrating experiences," he
provide crucial training for emerging health
says. "Students present their capstone
care leaders, says Tomomi Horning, DBA,
projects, and we award prizes for the
MHA, Assistant Professor and Department
strongest research posters."
Chair of the Health Sciences Baccalaureate
Koppel says the in-person conferences
and Graduate Programs. For clinicians and
were
valuable,
and
adds
that
she
still gets together regularly with
others who want to take leadership roles, Horning says, formal education
people she met through her MHA program. "A number of friendships
must complement real-world experience.
grew out of these courses," she says, "which is not what I had
"Think of it this way," Horning says. "You may be an excellent dental
expected from an online program."
hygienist, or an excellent mechanic, or an excellent librarian. But it's a
Many health care administration courses at PA College involve handsvery different skill set to take that person and make them a manager of
on projects in real-world health care settings. Towahna (Tee) Rhim,
other dental hygienists, or mechanics, or librarians. If you want to manage
others, you should go back to school and study some of the core principles the operations director for medical services at Lancaster General
Hospital, often serves as a preceptor for students in the bachelor's
of leadership, project management and organizational behavior."
degree healthcare administration program (BSHA). "These PA College
Joseph York, PhD, a professor of health sciences who helped create the
students always impress me," she says. "The last student I had was just
MHA program and who now teaches several of its courses (see p. 18),
on fire. I would give her a project, and she'd have everything done far in
says that PA College's healthcare administration programs evolve each
advance of her deadline."
year to keep pace with the changing health care industry. But at their
PA College offers several avenues for preparation in health care
heart, York says, these programs are grounded in enduring principles.
administration. At the undergraduate level, around 30 students
"We've really focused on skills that are timeless-inter-professional
complete the bachelor's degree programs each year. Students
collaboration, analytic skills, communication and critical thinking,"
earning the bachelor's degree in health sciences can also choose a

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