<p>hello everyone this is Cole from the American Journal of healthc care strategy and I'm joined this evening with Anu Anu please introduce yourself hi so my name is anui Mara I am currently an administrative fellow at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Medical Center I got my masters in healthcare administration from the University of Illinois Chicago and my undergraduate degree in environmental health from the University of Georgia I'm very excited to be here [Music] we're very excited to have you you have a great career with different kind of aspects to it and and it's all culminating right now with your fellowship of course so I want to start back during the actual undergrad and talk about that environmental health degree what caused you to get that what was what were you interested in that led you to to get that degree yeah so when I initially started my Healthcare journey I feel like this might be similar for a lot of people but you kind of start in the medicine track either Premed things like that so that's kind of where I started and public health was an area that I was interested in so I did the environmental healthpublic health Prem medicine track at the University of Georgia but halfway through getting my undergraduate degree I realized that that wasn't really the space that I wanted to be in in the sense that I didn't want to be a physician but I knew knew that I still wanted to work in that healthc Care Health Equity space so post undergrad I worked for the Georgia Department of Public Health where I tapped into that environmental health and a little bit of the population Health stuff that I learned in my undergrad degree but from that experience I really learned that to further my career I knew I wanted to stay within Healthcare and healthcare administration would kind of be the place that I could make my my way through my career path and kind of grow and so I want to ask the mha program did it pose any challenges specifically I'm thinking in the finance area because you know that's a little bit different than the environmental health right it is it definitely is and a lot of my peers did come from like an MBA or business sort of background so it was interesting kind of maneuvering that for example when I started my master's program I didn't have a LinkedIn so but a lot of other people in my cohort had LinkedIn they already had like 200 plus connections things like that so I really started from the beginning um because I was that Premed track like I mentioned but I think with my background in environmental health and one thing about my specific mha which is so nice is that it was um situated in the College of Public Health at UIC so a lot of the courses that we took still had that public health Health Equity Focus like we still took biostatistics we still took classes around like epidemi ology things like that so there was that Focus as well but the financial aspect and and of course like the business aspect of the my mha was definitely the most challenging area for me but I think with the proper guidance and teachers and I also had a great cohort with friends I was able to maneuver it and be okay so you can start in one place and still be completely finding another very good advice as well because we want to make sure that you know PE one of the big things we just need this industry to be more diverse and and I'm not just talking about you know race or gender but also diverse experiences diverse backgrounds you know we want people from all walks of life to come in and be part of healthcare administration so I love how you're saying you can start in one area and then you can still succeed and one on that note one of the important questions you said you didn't have a LinkedIn coming into you know this uh how how have you done that with connections how have you done with this it's a different kind of networking right we're not so much shadow in like you know when I was a Premed similar to yourself you probably did lots of shadowing lots of things like that the connections with Administration are a bit different you know what challenges have you overcome with with that change I think one of the biggest challenges for me was definitely networking especially as an early careerist and someone that was younger doing their Master's it was definitely something that I kind of had myself to do but at the end of the day in in areas like the different networking events that Chef the Chicago Healthcare EX itive Forum it's AC Chicago chapter they had different networking events that were students specific so I think those types of spaces um and taking advantage of that especially when you are a student is really important to build that networking background and build that uh foundation for when you kind of want to do more in your career and it really helped a lot for me as well like coming from that stem background and not having done that before just kind of starting at level one and first starting maybe with like working with a friend like going with someone to kind of that you know you can talk to if you're feeling a little overwhelmed or someone that you can be like okay we will both approach this person and talk to them together I think kind of starting at one spot and then working your way up to those more higher level executive level networking events was the way that I went about it and I think that really helped with kind of overcoming that sort of situation for me absolutely absolutely it's crazy too with covid you know you're not doing the in-person networking as much and so I did some networking but when that started being over and we started really going into it I was very nervous going into a lot of these things so it was just you know finding the kind of events and situations that made me more most comfortable so then I wanted to kind of talk about one of the interesting things is is this contact tracing position that you've had can you tell me about how you ended up getting that because it's actually a supervisory role right yes it was actually it it's a funny story and I think with any time in your career when like you work as hard as you can and someone believes in you that really helps push you forward so for me I actually started just as a contact tracer on the team right when covid was at its peak so I believe it was like April of 2020 so it was a lot of hard work and there were days that I would also have to go into the office and I think my supervisor at the time saw how dedicated I was to continuing to work as hard as I can and just trying to make those calls and make those connections with people and provide any sort of care that I was able to provide so when she transitioned into a role with the CDC she asked if I would like to step into the role of supervising the team and that was within like two months of me starting as a contact Tracer so I think not only the fact that I'd been with the team since it's fruition essentially and then also kind of showing up from day one really helped with pushing kind of bringing like the start of my career and then has has been growing since I mean congratulations on that success that's that's incredible that people see that that drive that you have did it pose any challenges being a supervisor specifically because I assume was that one of your first kind of leadership roles it was it was my first one it was right out of underg God so it was definitely tough I think because the team that I worked with they were actually all older so I was one of the youngest people but they were all such great people that they really respected me and I always was able to be like a good manager supervisor so I think like we had that mutual respect there was one little situation and I I think that women do face this sometimes in the workforce especially as a younger woman in a in a certain career situation there can be older men that can be a little more restrictive or they can try to push you down things like that and I think the best way to go about it is to just continue to work as hard as you can and then once it gets to a certain point definitely talking to whoever is your manager your supervisor and bringing it up and being like hey this is a situation that I'm not personally comfortable with like do you mind either stepping in intervening or like taking whatever necessary steps to help me through this and I've after going to my manager with this issue that I was having with a cooworker it was totally resolved within the the next week so I think there are times as a woman especially a younger woman or a woman of color that you do face these types of things in any area not just within Healthcare a healthcare administration but usually you have someone that you can trust that you can go to for advice and support my wife has faced similar problems so I want to ask if if you're comfortable with sharing when you before you go to your you know your supervisor or before you discuss things with your cooworker what kind of mental preparation are you doing yeah I think mental preparation wise for me when I was going through through it like whatever feelings you're feeling within that moment are completely valid I think at the time I felt as though maybe this is just this one instance and this treatment will go away after X amount of time like that usually doesn't happen and being CED with the person that you are kind of facing this issue with and being like hey like this is not a comfortable space for me so I'm going to be reaching out to our supervisor to help mediate going forward is I think the best way to go about it and that's the way that I went about it I think also sharing what you're kind of going through with a trusted person is important as well someone kind of removed from the situation um talking through those issues and and those feelings that you're having is also a great way to kind of navigate what you want to do next and then I think for people like you I think like asking these types of questions and having these conversations is the best thing that you can do um to learn more and and grow and kind of align yourself as an ally with these different groups and like for me I think that's something that I really love about like working at Cincinnati Children's right now it's an area where diversity equity and inclusion are so celebrated and not just by you know the Dei office here but like by everybody at the institution and it's so integrated in everything that happens so I think there are ways that like as a person you can continue to align yourself with those spaces like for example at Children's we have these different employee resource groups and there's one that's specifically for women it's called wise but not just women are there like there are also men that are listening to those stories and that are there to to help and to just lend an ear or helping hand things like that so I think just growing and being an ally in those spaces is just as important as like doing that internal work thank you for sharing that thank you for sharing that personal kind of story as well so I noticed that you first had an internship at a children's hospital and then you had a fellowship at you know at the Children's Hospital did you always you know want to work within a children's hospital and and what are some reasons for that yeah so when I was in high school I was actually a volunteen at Children's of Atlanta and I've also volunteered in adult Healthcare spaces as well but I just love working at Children's Hospitals being able to impact the life of a child in any sort of way is so inspiring to me and kind of motivates me to continue to do the work that I do so my internship at Larry was the first experience I had with Hospital Administration in a pediatric environment and I think that kind of helped fuel my fellowship journey and my applications for different programs and most of my applications were actually in the Pediatric space because I knew that that was an area where I wanted to stay and where I wanted to grow my career and one thing about Pete's that I really love too is that all of the administrators that I've met with both at lurry and at Cincinnati Children's have just been so welcoming and kind and ready to give advice and they're so eager to like help young minds and to help you figure out what you want to do with your career things like that and I can't say I've had as much experience in the adult space but with pets I think there's this culture of compassion that I really love and that I want to continue to grow my career in that's really nice so when you you know you had these great experiences what was the application process like for the fellowship you know how many programs did you apply to and were you specifically targeting the Pediatric uh institutions yeah so I applied to around 15 fellowships it I was in Chicago at the time so I applied to most of the fellowships in the Chicagoland area that I was interested in and then outside of Chicago I mostly applied to only pediatric fellowships so I knew that Peds was kind of the area that I wanted to stay in with my career and so I assume you're pretty happy with the the way it turned out yes I'm very happy I got number one choice so I could not be more grateful and so tell me about if you don't mind you know why this was your number one choice and then what it's been like working there with the envir you've already alluded to it a bit but you know just kind of go through all the different reasons yeah so I think with fellowships it's it's definitely like you are applying for a job so you are putting your best foot forward but at the same time they're you're interviewing them as much as they're interviewing you and with my interview interv with Cincinnati Children's right off the bat I knew that the people that I was talking to were people that I wanted to continue to talk to they were very welcoming they were very kind and I can't say that other interviews that I had were the same like you can just kind of tell with fit and it's the same thing for them they can also tell with fit on the fellow's side so for me when going through that interview process I think I not only could tell by the personalities of the interviewers that I was talking to but also just the mission that since children's has and their key areas that they want to grow in so one thing that I'm specifically passionate about is pediatric behavioral health and mental health and Cincinnati Children's is the largest provider of Behavioral Health Services for aeds in in the country so I think those aspects of the fellowship too like the values of the institution linning with my own values was something that I was really excited about as well and Cincinnati Children's is also number one in the country so the best place to learn it does it does is it a yeah is it so is it a one or two year you already told me this but I want it's a Oney year so our fellowship it's a one-year Fellowship yes and one I think one thing that I forgot to mention with a previous question was like the spaces of like that I specifically enjoy at Cincinnati Children's and one thing with childrens that I really love is those ergs that I mentioned the employee resource groups they are in the diversity equity and inclusion office which is where the fellowship is situated as well and I've just never been in any work environment that's been as inclusive as this hospital is for example like I'm Indian and I'm Hindu and theal is a celebration that we have in November nice and Cate that yeah they have such a large celebration for Dali and Sabin and there were dances and they had cultural food and all of the employees were dressed up in like Indian attire or like like Pakistani attire just sty attire and it was just so cool to see that at a workplace like people like VPS taking time out of their day to come down and and be a part of those cultural celebrations so I think like not only are they the leader in providing pediatric care for kids but there's also just this compassion that they have for their employees and creating a safe space that's really nice too I've only heard of one other institution that I've spoken with someone from so far out in California who had that same policy regarding the celebration of these holidays and it's so important to me that's one of the biggest things I was telling them like I really want to work for someone that does that that's incredible wow really nice thanks for sharing that I love that uh you're almost done with this Fellowship what are some of the the highlights whether it's a projects or people you've worked with what are some of the highlights of it and then what are you looking to do next yeah so I think some highlights with this Fellowship it's really what you make of it so a lot of the projects that me and my co-fellows are doing we are the ones leading them we are the project managers for these projects so we have a lot of autonomy with the fellowship and where it goes and I I really enjoy that I think as an early careerist kind of navigating what you want to do and being able to show that you know you are able to handle these highle tasks is really important because some ways that people describe fellowships as kind of like a year-long or a two-year-long interview so taking that time to um being those leadership roles even if it's just for one project or two projects is really cool and something that I was really excited about before I came here for their Fellowship one thing that I'm excited about with the my future career as well is the support that we have from Cincinnati Children's with wanting to retain us so most I think there's still 17 alumni fellows at the hospital so most if not all fellows have been offered a full-time position post Fellowship so they really want to retain us and it's apparent with how my mentor talks to me how other mentors talk to their fellows and how they kind of want us to succeed in any way that we can and yeah it's just been a wonderful experience I'm excited for the future of my career and potentially hopefully continuing to grow it at Cincinnati Children's another thing too that was really fun about our fellowship experience is that when we started we had a lot of conversations with different Executives and VPS things like that and that's pretty anal guess for most people at other fellowships that's kind of how it goes but we were able to tour the helipad we were able to tour the different ambulances we were able to do so much fun stuff and it was just because we asked like there wasn't any Rhyme or Reason to it I was just like hey would it be possible for us to go look up at the helipad and my preceptor was like we can do that so I don't know it's it's so unique like being a fellow you get such different experiences that other people at the instit tion aren't able to get and I don't know it's it's just been wonderful so far that is wonderful and I'm so happy for you that sounds like a wonderful experience so congratulations on that do you have any just any you know as a kind of a final thought any tips that you've learned through your experiences that really stand out that you want to share to to you know the younger earlier individuals you know one or two things that have been that you've learned that have really you know been meaningful for your experiences yeah I think one of the main things with any work that you do in healthcare administration is listening to the voice of the Frontline first and foremost with any project that you do I'm involved in a few different projects that have operational components and even at Larry children's I was involved in a few different projects that had those sorts of components and I think making sure that you have the people that are going to be doing the work as the primary people that you are talking to when you're making any sorts of plans or decisions things like that is the the most important thing and getting that feedback you know I would go into meetings so excited like this is this is a great idea this is what we should do and you know a nursing leader would be like there is no way that'll work so that that stuff does happen and you do feel a little bummed out but at the same time looking at it and being like okay so how do we go about making this better is something that I've learned throughout my career and something that does happen but you just kind of have to Pivot and keep going so I think making sure to involve the people that are involved in the processes that you're working on is one of the most important things to do and then if you do face any sort of I wouldn't even call it rejection I guess it's more of like a pivot like that's completely fine it happens and that's just life and work unfortunately but you just grow and you keep going when I develop this plan you know I think it's really great and so says oh we're not doing that it's like oh man so I still struggle with that um one last follow-up question for you how have you succeeded in identifying these stakeholders you're talking about especially in complex clinical environments it's you know coming from a non-clinician I guess it's not always easy for me to identify who should I talk to so what's your method for doing that I think the best way that I've been able to do that is whenever I meet with someone and we talk through what this project or this process change whatever it's going to be I'm like who else do you think would be a good person I should reach out to or who else is involved in in this process or if this area is involved who's the best person in that area that I should reach out to and kind of just going about it that way and I the one another thing about the fellowship that's so great is that like you have a mentor that you can go to who has made those connections and has a history at the organization so if I ever hit any sort of Roadblock I usually go to my preceptor and I'm like I don't know like who should I talk to about this aspect of this project and she's like this person is your go-to and even if they don't know exactly how to help me they'll be able to direct me in the right place so it's a lot of searching but usually people are more than willing to talk to you and they're willing to point you in the right direction excellent and excellent advice thank you so much for joining us so know I couldn't be more appreciative thank you</p>