Key Takeaways
- Prioritize targeted applications for fellowships to ensure cultural fit and alignment with long-term career goals.
Danielle Young, MHA's path from graduate student to Director of Practice Operations at a leading academic medical center exemplifies the power of mentorship, strategic career decisions, and the willingness to dive into healthcare operations wherever needed. In a recent conversation with The Fellowship Review, hosted by Vrushangi Shah, MHA, Danielle shared her reflections on early internships, admin fellowships, and rapid professional growth in healthcare administration—while offering actionable insights for others aspiring to leadership roles in healthcare.
Before attending graduate school, Danielle Young knew she wanted to remain on the delivery side of healthcare operations. As an undergraduate and graduate student at Saint Louis University(SLU), she honed her passion for hospital-based roles. SLU's program included a structured internship matching process, something that would ultimately shape her career in healthcare administration.
Rather than rushing into the first internship that offered her a placement, Danielle held out for an experience that resonated with her goals in healthcare leadership. Eventually, she landed at SSM Health St. Mary's in St. Louis, working in business development and operations before transitioning into the medical group side. The internship introduced her to multifaceted projects—including operations, finance, and patient care workflows—paving the way for her future focus in hospital administration and healthcare operations.
Although many graduate students at SLU explore consulting or roles in the insurance sector, Danielle was unwavering in her desire to stay in the provider space. She knew she wanted to experience the full complexity of hospital operations through a healthcare administration fellowship.
Danielle applied to only a handful of admin fellowships instead of casting a wide net. Her approach to finding the best hospital administration fellowships was deliberate: by focusing on six to eight fellowships, she could tailor each application and ensure the culture and structure aligned with her career aspirations in healthcare leadership. She recalls phone interviews with multiple programs but only one on-site visit—at Loyola Medicine, the site she felt was an ideal fit for her health administration fellowship from the beginning.
Danielle's fellowship year at Loyola Medicine was project-based, an arrangement she personally preferred over a rotational model in healthcare fellowships. She was part of a one-year program that also integrated mentorship opportunities with senior leaders, including the CEO of Loyola Medicine and an executive from the parent organization, Trinity Health.
One of Danielle's most notable fellowship projects was the regional clinical ladder for nursing, which aimed to ensure a unified professional development structure for inpatient, outpatient, and operating room nurses across Loyola's system. This project touched on various aspects of healthcare operations, including human resources, quality improvement, and organizational development. Loyola had recently acquired another community hospital, adding complexity to the project.
She fondly recalls the director of professional practice presenting her with an "honorary nursing degree" as a lighthearted acknowledgment of her immersion in the nursing world. The project not only unified professional standards for nurses across multiple sites but also prepared Danielle for future roles by developing her empathy and operational acumen in healthcare administration.
When her fellowship ended, Loyola was in the midst of strategic changes. Eager to retain fellows but short on immediate administrative fellowship jobs, leadership placed Danielle in an Interim HR Manager position. Though not part of her long-term plan in healthcare administration, this stint taught her critical people-management and conflict-resolution skills.
Soon after, Danielle transitioned to Business Administrator for the neurosciences and digestive health programs. This role blended strategic planning, faculty compensation, research, and academic administration. She learned to integrate clinicians' perspectives into operational strategy, a skill that would become invaluable in her later practice management roles and overall healthcare operations expertise. This position also exposed her to aspects of healthcare finance and healthcare policy that would prove crucial in her future roles.
A moment that proved pivotal was when the Vice President of Ambulatory Services spotted Danielle in a hallway and said, "Walk with me." Though initially concerned she might be in trouble, Danielle quickly discovered she was being invited to apply for an upcoming Practice Director position, a significant step up in healthcare leadership.
She got the job—stepping into the role of overseeing orthopedics, surgery, and eventually more clinical areas. She started just before the COVID-19 pandemic, which accelerated her growth exponentially in healthcare operations and transformation:
After three years, Danielle felt she had reached a plateau in terms of new learning opportunities. She considered multiple job offers but held out for the right fit—eventually finding it at Rush University Medical Center.
Today, Danielle serves as Director of Practice Operations for Surgery, Urology, and OB/GYN at Rush University Medical Center. In this role, she oversees outpatient operations, collaborating with nurse managers, supervisors, and perioperative scheduling teams to manage everything from patient experience to optimizing the utilization of operating room blocks.
She works closely with department administrators on growth plans, physician recruitment, and market expansion, utilizing her skills in healthcare analytics and performance improvement. Her role also involves staying up-to-date with healthcare technology and information systems to ensure efficient operations. The immediate synergy she felt during her condensed, day-long interview process confirmed this was the next logical step in her career in healthcare leadership. Nearly two years in, Danielle is thriving and praises her team for their dedication and expertise in clinical operations.
Danielle is a proud Chicago native and highlights the city's unique blend of culture, affordability, and unmatched healthcare ecosystem.
Chicago's robust healthcare scene has allowed her to transition between major systems without uprooting her life, further facilitating her professional development in healthcare administration and operations. The city's healthcare landscape offers opportunities to engage with various aspects of the field, from population health initiatives to cutting-edge healthcare technology implementations.
Reflecting on her journey from administrative resident to healthcare leader, Danielle underscores the value of being open to opportunities—especially those that may not appear glamorous.
She also advises aspiring leaders to focus on fit and authenticity when applying for health administration fellowships or jobs. Overextending oneself with too many half-hearted applications can dilute genuine passion and preparation. Lastly, Danielle's career proves the importance of trusting mentors who see your potential in healthcare leadership:
Danielle Young's progression—from an earnest intern at SSM Health to an Administrative Fellow at Loyola, and now Director of Practice Operations at Rush—showcases a trajectory defined by curiosity, mentorship, and resilience in healthcare administration. Amid organizational reshuffles, budget changes, and a global pandemic, she consistently stepped up, demonstrating her commitment to healthcare transformation and innovation. Her story is a testament to what's possible when you blend strong academic foundations, a willingness to learn on the front lines, and the grit to manage complex healthcare operations.
For those considering similar paths in healthcare administration fellowships, the message is clear: say yes to growth opportunities, embrace the breadth of hospital operations, and lean on the mentors guiding you toward the next big leap in healthcare leadership.
Danielle Young's journey exemplifies how rolling up your sleeves in even the unlikeliest roles can prepare you for leadership at the highest levels in healthcare. From quality improvement initiatives to driving organizational development and process improvement in clinical settings, her experience spans the gamut of healthcare administration. As the field continues to evolve, embracing areas like regulatory compliance, population health, and emerging healthcare technologies will be crucial for future leaders in this dynamic and rewarding field.
<p>everyone thinks of the really exciting and glamorous pieces of like wanting to be in the room with the CEO and things like that some of the again most impactful experiences were the the Small [Music] Things good evening everyone my name is rangi Shaw with the fellowship review through the American Journal of healthcare strategy today I am thrilled to be joined by Danielle young welcome to the show thank you for having me yeah so we're so excited to jump right in and and like we were talking kind of offline so exciting that you and I have some although we've never met we do have some commonality with our education and our internships but before you know jumping to all of that I want to give you the opportunity to tell our listeners a little bit about your background awesome so I'm Danielle young um I grew up in the Chicago land suburbs in the West suburbs I went to slooh for my bachelors as well as my masters in healthcare administration um my then was a admin fellow at loyal of medicine and I'm currently the director of operations the Departments of surgery Urology and Obi gy um at Rush University Medical Center within the Rush Medical Group how exciting um and of course we'll get to your fellowship at lyola as well as what you do currently but I do want to take a step back and look back to your time at slooh as a graduate student um of course such a great program with great resources and professors what I want to specifically ask you about though is um acquiring and administrative internship so like many graduate programs there is a summer internship component and of course you did yours at SSM health so what was that experience like and share with our listeners you know what your biggest takeaway was yeah so fortunately at slooh they have kind of a matching program there are internships that opt in to work with the program um and based on you know the students interest and what the internship is looking for they kind of match you with three to interview with and then you know looking for that Mutual fit um it's funny because SSM was not in my first three um that they matched me with and uh you know the others just didn't feel like a really the right fit um and I remember it being very stressful and like what do I do I I I need this internship right um so fortunately again it worked out even for SSN that they interviewed three people and it wasn't the right fit um so I was very fortunate that um happen dance it all kind of worked out so I was at SSM House St Mary's um I started in business development and operations and then um was able to stay on but I was very very glad that exec SL was so supportive um you know at that point in you know professional development it felt like the end of the world and was kind of the first time I felt like I had to say no to an opportunity that didn't feel like the right fit and I'm glad I had that experience at that point because it's really positioned myself to make difficult decisions throughout my career of like is this job or is this role the right one for me and learning early on that it is okay to turn down opportunities even when you feel like it's your only one so that's kind of where that what that process was like for me yeah absolutely and right from how you responded to this question I just know you're going to have so much valuable advice as we go on and I really appreciate you drawing attention to the fact that there will be times where you will say no to things and it will be very difficult because you know there's a fear if I say no to this what if nothing else comes along um so I appreciate you highlighting that um and of course you had your SSM internship experience which I'm sure gave you valuable real world out of the classroom experience and of course you went down the administrative Fellowship route before I ask you about your application and your interview process what I'm curious to know is why Fellowship um you know you could have gone down many different routes um I know slooh does educate students on Consulting and jobs and just a lot of different Avenues so what for you stuck out about the fellowship yeah so I knew that for myself I always wanted to be on the delivery side of healthcare so I never really saw myself in consulting or on the insurance side uh truthfully I don't sleep well in hotels so Consulting sounds like my personal nightmare um but is very excited for those that that works for um so like I said I really knew I wanted to be on the hospital side and my you know internship was really you know going from undergrad straight into grad school my experience was limited right um I didn't have a ton of work experience um you know my experience in healthcare fortunately was minimal because I did not have a lot of you know didn't use Healthcare a ton because I was a healthy you know individual um and so I felt like I really didn't have the well-rounded picture I wanted of how hosel Works inside and out after just my internship um you know I was very fortunate at FSM to you know do some business development some operations and then due to some budget changes moving into the I moved into the medical group for a semester as well um so I got like small pieces it kind of felt like a mini Fellowship because they really gave me a lot of autonomy um but I really just wanted more wanted that full-time you know experience one or two years um so really my goal was to be able to really learn inside and out right from all levels what really goes into running a hospital um I personally wanted a one-year Fellowship I wanted a Project based Fellowship um because I didn't want I personally felt like rotations weren't the right fit for me where you're in places for a small stint but I also knew that I was so excited to get into my career that I wouldn't want to do like two years of that so that was kind of how I started that process and used those kind of criteria to narrow down where I was going to apply for Fellowship yeah absolutely and you you set up a perfect segue into that next question so what was that application cycle for you like um you know of course there's fellowships all across the country how did you go about narrowing the number of sites and kind of also you know please talk through not only the application but also the interview process you know any any memories that really stick out to you from that time yeah absolutely so um like I said I I I really I got good advice from a mentor or um from my internship who said you know yeah you can apply to 20 sites but you really aren't going to do well in an interview process because you can't genuinely want to work at that many places because you're looking for that right um and it's funny because I give that advice to students all the time when I work with them on their Fellowship applications um you know so I was told six to eight stay in that window um and really focus on fit based on structure based on the culture based on what that organization is doing um my family is in the Chicagoland area we had gone through a loss in my family while I was in grad school um and so I knew I didn't want to be geographically too far so I decided to stay like Midwest um so applied a lot obviously Chicago where I grew up there's so many fellowships so very fortunate to be able to look at a lot of organizations in Chicago but also decide some of those fellowships weren't the right fit for me um I knew I wanted to be an academic medicine just based on um having done my internship more more in a community hospital setting um I really missed that education component of academic medicine SSM Health St Mary's had small pieces of that with a few residencies but just really wanted that culture um so I I kind of focused on academic medical centers both adults and Pediatrics because I was kind of back and forth on if I wanted to go you know to a children's hospital so I looked at kind of both um and applied mostly in the midwest so um that was kind of my application process when it came to interview use I that is like the craziest six weeks of being in grad school right um everyone like running in and out for phone interviews um ons sites you know back then it was the first first or second year of the nav cast application um so the extension date you could only extend offers on the one date which I know that's changed now so I remember everyone being so anxious on that one day and it was like chaos of everyone running in and out of our finance class getting offers and not um so I I feel like when I think about that time I remember the chaos but when I like really reflect on the interviews um you know I I was fortunate I got a lot of phone interviews but I didn't get a lot of on ons sits loyal was my only on-site and so I and it was my Top Choice Fellowship so it was like the pressure was on I knew it was the one I wanted I felt the most confident in fit and culture and the organization I knew it personally um because my mom got Cancer Care there and so it it was kind of for me instantly that number one but I didn't want to only apply to one so I I really do feel like it all kind of worked out as it was supposed to um because from a statistic standpoint getting one onsite and getting that Fellowship feels a little you know crazy and unlikely but obviously it was meant to be yeah absolutely and you ended up at the right place and you know I I also want to draw attention to something you said earlier um you know you only you got the advice apply to 6 to8 and I always emphasize this right you want to put a genuine and authentic effort into your applications so the closer you get to that number 20 or higher you do lose a little bit of organization a little bit of authenticity um so I I appreciate you highlighting that and you know another thing that you said that kind of really stuck out to me um is and and I appreciate your transparency for this is you know you did tons of phone interviews but you got you know one on s it so I appreciate that because it draws attention to um when it's meant to be it's meant to be but also just how competitive the processes and how it really comes down to is it a mutually beneficial fit for the organization but also the fellow um yeah so I appreciate that um and you know moving right along so you arrive at lyola um for people who are not familiar with the lyola fellowship would you give an overview of you know and I know you hint Ed at this a little bit earlier in the episode but is it one year is it twoyear is it Project based rotation based and also you know who's your preceptor and do you have co-fellows so what's the structure of the fellowship yeah so we'll go into kind of what it was when I was a fellow and it's evolved a little bit over the last seven years since I was a fellow but um I'm fortunate to still be really involved with the program even though I've left lyola so um it is that oneye uh Project based Fellowship um so lyola is an academic medical system um three hospital system in the Chicago land area but under Trinity Health from a national standpoint um so the fellowship is technically under the Trinity Health brand um you apply through you know the Trinity Health Website and rank their programs and you can applied to just lyola when I applied um we hadn't gone into the Trinity umbrella yet for the fellowship um so it's kind of part of that process uh bringing it in later in my career um so at the time it was run you know by the fellows at lyola and that more traditional process where the fellows review the applications um so the structure is still the same in the fact that it's that one- year program uh project base there are a little bit more formal rotations now but the projects are still it's not like if you're rotating with supply chain you're only doing supply chain work um it is still overall Project based but to ensure you're spending a little bit of time with every area they've kind of added um rotations in with um Tad Gomez Who's the hospital president of the academic Medical Center is a pharmacist by background so he kind of used his pharmacy residency as that Foundation as we rebuilt the program um when senior leaders turned over um so the sponsorship you know executive sponsor is you know the CEO of the system Sean Vincent uh Tad Gomez as the hospital president and then there's also a Trinity Health uh senior leader that gets assigned to each fellow as a mentor um so it's really fun to kind of have that three levels of mentorship you know Hospital president someone who's looking at ire system and then someone who's at a system office for a you know uh system that has 90 you know Plus locations to worry about um and is more of a community based system because loyala is its only academic Medical Center um so it is kind of fun to kind of get almost all experiences even at one Fellowship academic medicine some Community medicine and then being exposed to what community is doing with some rural hospitals too yeah absolutely and I know you the word fellows and so um is it still true that they'll take multiple fellows and kind of do you also get the opportunity to work with your co-fellows or do people kind of pick their own lanes and kind of stay accordingly yeah so when I was a fellow it was a two person Fellowship it's now grown to three most years unless there aren't you know the fits um and having a co- fellow was another thing that was so important to me um because like it's the one time in your career that you get to see everything and you like walk out of these rooms and you can't go tell like this R this Frontline manager you're working with about the board meeting you were just in right there is that level of confidentiality having a co- fellow was so important to me um and is something that loyalist carried on so depending on the year they're you know three fellows I mean it is that balance of working on projects together but also having your own projects with I think is also a lot of fun um being able to work on really large projects as a team and then also having your own projects um but you know it's that fun time to you know you win together as fellows or you lose together um I've seen many groups of fellows compete with each other and end up both not looking the best at the end um I was fortunate to have one of the best co-fellows I could have ever asked for um we were similar but also different um you know we're not in the same city anymore but when it comes to career related decisions or crazy things happening at work like to this day she's still my Confidant and vice versa um and so to have that rapport with someone for my entire career is something that could never be replaced yeah I love that um and and you know I think one of the other reasons people really pursue fellowships is mentorship and I know you kind of talked about the sponsorship of the fellowship but do did you feel during your fellowship you also had an opportunity to make mentors in the various projects that you did in different departments kind of what was that experience like for you yeah know so many mentors that I still speak to um just timing wise when I was a fellow while I was a fellow our CEO left and so typically when the CEO changes over shortly after a lot of the senior leaders kind of change over they bring in their own team people get worried um and so uh it was very interesting timing because you know was a fellow had certain mentors and within two years A lot of them had left lyola for amazing opportunities so um you know but it's also fun to now have Mentor Center all over the country doing different things and are people that I still again go to you know the hospital president at the time um you know I've emailed I email and text with him when things are happening um you know the Vice President of Operations is a former fellow started the program at Loyola back in the day is someone I still really speak to and you know then I have mentors that maybe aren't senior leaders but were you know directors at the time or things like that and the other fun thing about loyala is how many former fellows are there um so there's also you know a a council of former fellows that you know you get to spend a lot of time with and you know I was fortunate to go out of Fellowship to reporting to our former former fellow which also was a fun experience because that individual was in my shoes you know a few years prior and was at a direct you know executive director level um so I think I've always been fortunate to have great mentors but loyal especially really puts it you know really encourages the fellows and mentors them um and you know like I said I'm still involved with the program I still get to now be on the other side of that and help Mentor fellows which is arguably my favorite part and I'm you know kind of fortunate because I could now do it at two organizations because I'm still involved at Loyola but then we have our own fellows at rush so it's fun yeah and and how incredible that you have an opportunity to build lasting mentorships with the key word of being lasting right because often times when you leave an organization or even when you leave your fellowship you see people less and less so I love hearing uh the two things that you said that really stuck out is your mentorships are you know people you still talk to but also loyola's effort to keep fellows in the organization um post Fellowship um any projects from your fellowship year that really you know were was very valuable to your learning I mean I know when I was kind of doing my own research I saw that you worked with a regional clinical ladder for nursing you have rapid response team experience rehab there's so much you did but I want to give you the opportunity to highlight any projects that really are memorable to you in your learning yeah so you brought up the regional clinical ladder which is honestly was my large project and uh one to this day that I'm so fortunate that I got to do um because I had to spend a lot of time with Frontline nurses learning about their decision-making their professional practice but also the difference right many um clinical Lads for nursing are focused on the inpatient nurse um and nursing in other areas ambulatory the O the emergency room is not the same um and so at the time the nurses in those other settings were expressing that they felt that the clinical ladder was not feasible for them in those roles because it was designed around the standard meds surge ICU inpatient nursing practice um and at the time we had loyal had also acquired McNeil hospital um so we were going from a two hospital system to a three hospital system um McNeil was a for-profit system so also got to do work on that which we can talk about later um which was fascinating but it was also about how do we bring the mcneel nurses into the loyal and Medicine fold um so I got to work on a multidisiplinary committee with nurses from all the disciplines all the hospital s all the different hospital in the system um and you know I always go back to that and say it taught me how to think like a nurse I will never be the one who can make the clinical decision but being able to put myself in a Frontline nurse's shoes and think about if I have this problem or if they have this problem how are they going to tackle it um it's helped me be a better operational leader um so I I joke that I pretend to be a nurse a lot um when it comes to decisions and you know it was a fun project it it took the whole year it was you know something that kind of carried out after my fellowship so I got to watch it be implemented um but and at the end of it they you know the director of professional practice like gave me an honorary Nursing degree um as a you know so I'm a loyal medicine nurse for life kind of thing um but just don't ask me to make your clinical decisions um but it was truly one of my favorite experiences um and I and I honestly think it it really did shape a lot of my career yeah no it sounds like it and you know we talked about just one project but I know you had so many other impactful projects um but I also want to kind of draw attention to the fact that it's been several years since you completed your administrative fellowship and you've gone through several roles in that time and so first I want to start by talking to you about the three roles that you had um you know at during your time at lyola so of course right out of your fellowship you had an inim role in HR um but then very very quickly from that point on um you know we talked about how you transition to business administrator and then practice director um you know very high level what were those roles like um how did you know it was time to move on from you know 1 to two to three um and any any kind of big achievements that you'd want to highlight that you a uh achieved in either any of the roles or all three I'll I'll leave that up to you yeah um so when I was wrapping up my fellowship um Lila was going through a little bit a structure change and so there weren't a ton of job opportunities but they really wanted the fellows to stay on um so fortunately HR had some gaps fortunately for me HR had some gaps so I was placed in that interim HR manager role um and again one of those things that would I go be an HR HR leader again no do I respect my HR counterparts so much more yes but I'm also again a better people manager for it um day one uh we we had to do some you know difficult uh conversations with staff and I I was thrown into the fire um a lot of my career I will go back to saying throw it into the fire as we kind of go through some of that um at the time being a fellow I was privy to some of the plans and the plan for adding a business administrator role um so I knew that was kind of my top post fellow job so I was really intentionally in the HR role to learn but also kind of wait out for those roles to be posted um CH was so supportive happy to get the extra help while she recruited on the permanent roles um but supported me and my co- fellow when our with our interview processes figuring out what was next um so again very appreciative um so the business administrator role um was really kind of a tie between on the more Department side from an academic standpoint a tie between strategy finance and just faculty Affairs um so got to learn a lot about uh research residencies being being responsible for um you know the pro foremost for faculty recruitment faculty comp compensation um all of our strategic growth you know I mentioned that we had acquired mcneel while I was a fellow so it was a lot of work on how do we integrate with mcneel how do we if there are gaps how do we cover that um and so it was quite a fun experience um I had two clinical programs neurosciences and digestive health um and you know really it was the first time we were building out true clinical programs versus only the academic model um so it was quite a fun experience I worked with honestly a great group of directors but as as well as chairs um and it was also a great opportunity for me to start getting really exposed to operations I had an interest in operations but I didn't feel like right out of Fellowship I was ready to go be a people manager of a large team um I felt like I still wanted to learn a lot um so it was a great way to learn how to like build your PO with Physicians get that consensus in buyin um and again learning about their compensation that all of those pieces their contracts later helps me a ton when it comes to operations um I was not looking for my next role when our vice president of ambulatory um literally stopped me in a hallway and pointed at me from down the hall instead of been looking for you and I'm instantly panicking like what did I do um because you know I was trying to work hard and and do a great job but I you know wasn't trying to ruffle feathers early careerist things like that so I'm instantly being like what what happened who comp like what I I had no idea um and so she literally was like walk with me and I couldn't tell you where I was going but I was following her after that um and she let me know um that a certain individual was be who would soon be my future boss was being promoted um and that his practice director position was going to be available and that she wanted me to apply um I in no world thought I was ready for the position I was like thinking I was going to be a business administrator for three years out of fellowship and I'm like a year and a half out um but when a when a senior leader is telling you to apply for a role I'm not one to say no um but that was a moment that I was like am I ready for this and one of the you know mentors that I talked about during Fellowship uh was my first call I instantly called prip and was like what do I do and she's a former fellow she gave me the advice of if someone is tapping you on the shoulder at least seek out the opportunity um so I did um and again so glad I did but of course uh moved into my practice director role for all of Orthopedics and surgery um oversaw clinics across the Chicagoland area um started that role um had a slow transition into that role because my uh the leader over Digestive Health was going on maternity leave and I was her coverage so I kind of straddled my old role and my new role and then a global pmic hit so still learning the basics of my team operations I didn't even know everyone's name yet and quickly we had to figure out how to keep people safe maintain as much operations and revenue as we could and navigate you know what we thought was a short pandemic that turned into years of change um so you know very quickly did what I think the role was going to be and what it was it changed um so again that baptism Under Fire um and so you know quickly was asked to lead um kind of our covid staffing so we would have kind of a labor pool that I led um you know had to figure out how to do screening and all of the things that feel like we did lifetimes ago but was only you know a little over four years ago um and had to make you know difficult decisions on furlows at some point had to make difficult decisions on whether or not we could you know maintain the same Staffing levels because we still weren't you know in the able to do elective surgeries in Illinois and our volumes were down um and again you know there are experiences that I I constantly think back on and you know it's like if I could do that I can do anything yeah um and during that time we restructured our Medical Group senior leadership um and my scope grew to be even more clinics adding in McNeil clinics and uh learning how to run you know Community Based versus academic practices um but I quickly learned I loved operations I loved the chaos um no two days are the same it takes a certain kind of person I always say you have to be a little bit of crazy to love operations um and I mean that in the most positive way I could ever um and it was like that and it was three years later um and probably six months uh before I I moved out of that role I was getting to that point where I didn't feel like I was learning anything new I was putting out the same challenges and working on growth and Staffing models and all the pieces of operations but I didn't feel that same you know Challenge and growth and like professional development for myself and so I knew I wanted something new um and at the time I was really hoping that next step would you know open up at lyola and timing wasn't in my favor um and I was you know had to make a decision of do I stick it out and you know keep you know stay in this job and hope for that promotion or or see what else was out there in Chicago and at the time you know i' had been at loyala long enough where it was it felt okay to kind of look elsewhere um so I interviewed for several roles turned down a few um looking for that right fit um you know looked both St Louis and Chicago because I have again a lot of a professional Network in both um and you know turned down a job where it would have been running primary care because I really loved surgical Specialties and wasn't ready to let it go um you know was in another interview process where it was just such a drawn out process that after like four weeks of and like another two more rounds of interviews and every time I I would talk to the recruiter it'd be like oh we're adding all these people it just felt like a moving Target I withdrew from that process and I was like I'm just never maybe I'm staying at loyal I was like starting to feel like the universe is telling you stay where you're at um and I'll never forget um you know a cooworker saw my current role posted at rush and sent it to me um and was like you should apply to this and I hadn't seen it and I did um and you know wasn't really thinking much of it and you know ended up going through the process um and everything was condensed into a beautifully organized single day of interviewing with all the you know leaders and Chiefs and chairs and many Physicians that I work with it was a very long day um but a very well uh organized day and I and I walked away being like I want this job um but of course you know during the process uh someone was like oh there's some internal candidates a really competitive group so I actually left being like I don't think I'm getting this job but I really want this job I was wrong um and so made the change over to over to rush um you know spent about six weeks transitioning out of lyala just given my um scope and it ended at5 direct reports um running clinics across 12 Geographic locations it wasn't something I could transition out of overnight um and again would never do anything differently um you know my my BOS my last boss at is still again a good friend and you know mentor and so I would never I personally wouldn't do that to anyone um so yeah so I started at loyal at rush um it'll be two years uh on December 5th so um very very soon to now um and yeah that's kind of how I got here yeah yeah and before I ask you you know more about your current role at rush um of course you've been in it for a couple years I just want to draw attention and commend you for this incredible journey that you've paved out at lyola right um five years and six months at an organization is a good amount of time I think in in a world that's consistently moving um and I and I also want to say you know very early on you said a leader in ambulatory said walk with me um why I want to draw attention to that is uh the importance of I want to emphasize the importance of leaders who see potential in you hear about you and are willing to you know recommend your name and advocate for you and also speak to you to encourage you um and it seems like this person did this for you um and obviously that opened up such an incredible door because 105 direct reports is a lot of people um yeah no your journey at lyola sounds so inspirational and incredible um but of course we want to talk about also what you do now so what is your role specifically for those not familiar with what uh practice operations means and and what is it that you do um at rush now yeah um so from a prw standpoint um I mentioned the three departments I have surgery Urology and obig um started with surgery and Urology took on obi's Port portfolio about a year ago um so all of the outpatient operations from a day-to-day standpoint fall in my perview um so I have both nurse managers operation supervisors and a manager of peroperative scheduling that report up through me um so all experiences from partnering with our Access Center on subgroups templates all of those pieces uh to the Frontline staff you know from our front desk which we use Clinic coordinator as a title um nurses Mas for my nurse managers and then our very robust uh surgical scheduling team and all of the work around how do we well utilize the blocks in the O um you know my areas are about 60 to 70% of the volume we do in the O Rush um and so uh it's a very large piece of it um so we have to really manage the that very um you know pricey and important resource well um in addition I work very closely with our department administrator on all of the strategy growth and future plans um so we work very closely on where do we need to grow in the market what recruitments do we need um new Services p like that um so it is a nice balance of operations with some strategy um so it's a it's a very fun role I love it um I arguably have the best team I I will tell them that every single day um so yeah that's kind of a high level of what I do yeah absolutely um you have had such an incredible um career Journey so far and I'm sure there's a lot more for you to achieve and you absolutely will um kind of how love to wrap up the episode and and you know things I like to ask which I'll ask you to so you are a Chicago loyalist it seems and are are very familiar with the area um so not only looking back at your fellowship but even just living in the Chicago land area now um to our listeners you know maybe there are people now interested after listening to this episode in lyola or Rush um what do you want them to know about living in Chicago um you know something that might surprise them something that you absolutely love because often times when people apply to jobs people apply to Fellowship specifically they are moving to a city or a state that they've never been to and it's a brand new area for them so what should the new bees know about Chicago yeah um I love Chicago with my whole heart it's the best because you get the feel of the big city like in New York or in La um in the midwest you get the Midwest nice um you have the ability to kind of still be in the city without it feeling like a metropolitan area so I don't live in the heart of downtown I live in you know a neighborhood within the city so I get kind of that Best of Both Worlds um you know uh we live and ride or die for summer here in Chicago because Winters can be rough I say that as it snowed for the first time today for the winter um and I'm really you know bummed about that but it is kind of our reality so when summer hits we go hard we're lucky to have aate right here so you have the opportunity to you know spend the summer on a boat if you are fortunate to know someone with one or decide to rent one um so it is kind of that fun because you kind of get that feel of like California with the water and the lake but New York when it comes to some of the food and culture Although our Bagels do not compare to New York but we we do our best here um and Chicago has a lot of strong ethnic backgrounds so um I I live in an area where there's a very strong Ukrainian pop population so um really excellent food choices Rush is right by Taylor Street where um it's an Italian you know neighborhood and we're also close to pilson which is more uh you know a lot of you know uh individuals who came from Mexico so it is a really diversity as well um but you know something to do it's a lot of fun um and arguably it's you know more affordable than some of the other major cities because of where we are in the midwest yeah absolutely and um I've only had a couple guests that either from Chicago or living in Chicago and so I'll repeat this to the listeners but I think Chicago is so underrated and every that you said I mean I've been to pilson I've been to Little India in Chicago and it is such an incredible city um so I always recommend it I mean I I love LA but Chicago is up there yeah well and from you know a healthc care standpoint it is also such a unique City when it comes to healthcare um you know we are we have five academic medical centers in one city plus multiple very strongly competitive Community Hospital you know systems with Advocate Northshore um so it is very different from other major cities when it comes to healthc care as well which is um fun and interesting compared to others um you know I'm sure there's a future of added consolidation in Chicago when it comes to you know just the trends but it lends to a lot of opportunities but also just so so much to be able to learn and keep up with um watching the market is almost just as interesting as doing my day job sometimes and seeing what's happening around us um which again it's Unique compared to when I was in St Louis and you really had you know three major systems two academic medical centers and that was really all you had to worry about yeah yeah no absolutely and I think you know to that point what I want to highlight is you know you said that at a point in time you did feel that you had learned a lot and it was okay to leave lyola what I really want to highlight in that last point is this city gives you the option of moving between Health Systems without having to Li you know uproot your entire life and I think there's value in that because after you settled settle down somewhere it's hard to move cross country um to a brand new place so Chicago has that as well a lot of opportunity um and kind of the last question that I want to end on you like I've said multiple times in Tru believe um especially after speaking to you you have had such an incredible career so far for people who are young and you know looking at fellowships and early on in in their career you know when you look back is there something that you feel made you successful or is there something that you can say you know um I would do this if I was an early careerist and got to redo this entire Fellowship cycle and career Journey again yeah I think it's you know not being above any experience experience right um everyone thinks of the really exciting and glamorous pieces of like wanting to be in the room with the CEO and things like that some of the again most impactful experiences were the the Small Things cleaning and turning over a room on the impatient side with housekeeping um you know shadowing in the O doing those pieces so always being willing to like just roll up your sleeves learn the things from the ground up I think you know whether you're an intern a fellow early careerist um is so important because yes we have great educations and great backgrounds but there's still so much to learn and I think by saying yes to almost all of those experiences it it's taught me a lot but also made me someone that individuals thought of because I was willing to roll up my sleeves do things and and say yes yeah absolutely what incredible advice and Danielle you're honesty transparency and even just valuable advice has been such a breath of fresh air um I just want to thank you uh for taking the time to spend your evening with me um I am so excited for your episode to come out I just know it's going to be very unique because um you're definitely I would say one of the more seasoned professionals but former fellows that I've had on my podcast and I'm just so excited for everyone to listen so thank you for coming on today thank you for having me</p>
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