Inside Michigan Medicine’s 2-Year Administrative Fellowship: Projects, Immersion & Mentorship

Michigan Medicine’s Administrative Fellowship is designed for ambitious early-careerists who want both breadth and depth—real projects, real mentors, and real exposure to system-level decision-making. In this conversation with first-year fellow Trent Garrett, MSHA, MBA, we unpack how a dual-degree path led him to Ann Arbor, why an atypical internship at Press Ganey paid off, and what day-to-day life looks like inside a two-year, project-driven fellowship that culminates in an “immersion” year. Expect candid advice on choosing programs, surviving interviews, and building a network that lasts. As Trent puts it, “there are going to be opportunities for you to learn and grow… based off of what you are looking for post-fellowship.” If you’re exploring administrative fellowships—or you lead one and want to sharpen it—this is your insider’s guide.

Who is Trent Garrett—and what uniquely prepared him for fellowship?

Trent is a first-year administrative fellow at Michigan Medicine whose nontraditional path (animal sciences → MBA/MSHA) gives him a distinctive systems lens.

Trent grew up in Panama City Beach, Florida, earned a bachelor’s in animal sciences at the University of Florida , and then made what he calls a “hard pivot” to health administration at University of Alabama at Birmingham, completing a dual MBA/MSHA. That shift was informed by hands-on clinical work during the pandemic, where he witnessed both the resilience of teams and the friction of fragmented processes. The experience sharpened his purpose: understand the clinical environment deeply, then use management training to remove barriers to great care.

Leaders consistently favor fellows who can translate clinical realities into operational solutions. Trent’s journey maps to that ideal: frontline exposure, analytic training, and the humility to learn in complex environments.

How did UAB’s dual-degree program set him up for success?

UAB’s three-year MBA/MSHA sequence (two didactic years + required fellowship year) provided both foundational business fluency and leadership development

For Trent—who came in without prior finance or business coursework—the dual program mattered. It layered core finance, strategy, and operations on top of healthcare management, with structured professional development baked in. He emphasizes the intentionality of UAB’s design: two years of classroom rigor, followed by a required fellowship year to apply it in practice. Even though Michigan Medicine’s fellowship spans two years, the habit of integrating theory with applied learning traveled with him.

Which internships shaped his lens—and why did Press Ganey matter?

A PCA role during COVID gave Trent empathy for clinical burdens; a consulting internship with Press Ganey gave him a cross-market vantage. Together, they grounded his administrative approach.

Trent started as a Patient Care Assistant at UF Health to “understand the scope of each role,” from nursing to medicine. Working through the pandemic surfaced “systemic issues” and sparked his drive to catalyze change. He then took an internship with Press Ganey Consulting, which became a high-leverage bridge between analytics and improvement. Over that summer and school year, he supported clients across:

• Academic medical centers
• Rural health centers
• Safety-net hospitals

The common thread: learning to see patterns across settings and connect survey insights, operational redesign, and change management. Cross-site exposure accelerates judgment. Seek experiences that mix clinical empathy with systems-level consulting or improvement work.

How should candidates choose where to apply—and stay sane doing it?

Be ruthlessly selective. Apply only where you’d say “yes” immediately, and cap your list to avoid burnout. “It is not easy… that was a very stressful time.”

Trent distilled his approach to three moves:

1. Define the must-haves. He prioritized continuous learning and the academic tripartite mission (clinical care, research, education).
2. Do the homework. Summer webinars, outreach to current fellows, and a living spreadsheet for deadlines, rankings, and fit signals.
3. Limit the spread. “If you apply to more than 15 places, I’m going to fly to you and we’re going to have a serious conversation,” a mentor warned—and Trent listened.

Practical toolkit:

• Build a single source of truth (webinar dates, contacts, deadlines, interview status).
• Color-code for fit (mission, mentorship, project model, geography).
• Pre-decide your no-go criteria (e.g., limited exposure to senior leadership, no defined preceptor model).

What actually wins interviews?

Preparation and authenticity—in that order. “Come prepared, but also be your authentic self.”

Michigan Medicine clicked for Trent during the onsite: “All of the current fellows were just phenomenal… so personable, so intelligent and brilliant… I just fell in love with the institution and how detailed and intentional everyone was.” He also sanity-checked fit by asking: Are these people I want to work with?

Simple prep stack for candidates:

• Know your three stories that demonstrate learning agility, stakeholder management, and impact.
• Practice the why-us/why-you answer linking your values to the program’s structure.
• Bring thoughtful questions about mentorship cadence, project scoping, and exposure to system priorities.

Leader insight: Authentically signal your culture during finalist days—fellows are interviewing you, too.

How is Michigan Medicine’s fellowship structured?

It’s a two-year program: Year 1 is project-based breadth; Year 2 is a deep-dive immersion in a specific area. “The Michigan Medicine Administrative Fellowship Program is a two year program.”

Year 1—Project-Based Breadth In the first two weeks, fellows receive a curated list of vetted project proposals. Each entry outlines the background, scope, preceptor, and mentorship plan. “The first two weeks… you get a list of submitted project proposals… and then who your preceptor for that project would be and how they would mentor you.” Areas span clinic operations, faculty affairs, graduate medical education, and more. Fellows choose to build range.

Year 2—Immersion (Depth) “We call it the immersion year… embedded as a full-time resource within one area or departments within Michigan Medicine.” That can mean an interim clinic manager role, a seat in Strategy, or another high-impact placement—designed to convert first-year range into second-year mastery.

Cohort Model & Culture Michigan Medicine accepts up to three fellows per year, emphasizing peer support and shared learning. Alumni remain visible, projects have demand (“leaders submit requests before fellows even start”), and the program’s decades-long history means stakeholders understand how to integrate fellows.

Bottom line for executives: This breadth-then-depth architecture de-risks early-career placement and creates versatile leaders who understand the enterprise.

What mentorship and leadership access do fellows actually get?

Monthly 1:1s with two executive preceptors, quarterly with an executive sponsor, frequent touchpoints with the program director, and weekly exposure to C-suite meetings.

The structure is unusually explicit:

• Two Executive Preceptors: the Chief Operating Officer of the Medical School and the Chief Operations and Integration Officer of the health system—each meeting monthly with fellows.
• Executive Sponsor: the Chief Governance Officer (a former health system president) meets quarterly.
• Program Director: a fellowship alumna who meets biweekly, ensuring momentum and support.

Fellows staff weekly upper-leadership meetings, seeing how enterprise priorities are debated and decided. They’re also encouraged to network upward: “We can cold call or cold email senior leaders just to have coffee chats or one-on-ones… and because we’re fellows, they’re more than open to it.”

What kinds of projects define the experience? (A real example.)

High-priority, system-visible work with measurable impact. Trent helped Michigan Medicine roll out ambient AI documentation for providers—300 initial licenses—on an accelerated timeline.

“We had implemented ambient AI documentation for providers. We had 300 initial licenses… first proposed… as six weeks, and then… asked, can we cut this in half? And… we said yeah.” Why it mattered: reducing “pajama time” by offloading documentation burden so clinicians can finish notes during the day, not at night.

What success looked like:

• Rapid deployment: Licenses installed and ready within a week in early cohorts.
• Positive adoption signals: Immediate, unsolicited feedback from providers.
• Human-centered value: “I get to go home and have a date night with my partner… I get to read to my kids before bed.”

What the project teaches fellows:

• How to shepherd technology with clinical partners, not at them.
• How to compress timelines without losing stakeholder trust.
• How to measure impact in both operational and human terms.

How does Ann Arbor—and Michigan Medicine’s locale—support fellows?

Inclusive, vibrant, and livable. “Ann Arbor is just a welcoming community.” Yes, winters are real, but even Trent’s co-fellow from Hawaii is thriving.

Trent was deliberate about choosing not just an organization, but a place aligned with his values. He found Ann Arbor to be:

• Inclusive and community-oriented, with easy friend-making beyond work.
• Rich in food and culture—from the college-town scene to nearby Detroit’s dynamic dining and music.
• Logistically smooth: Ann Arbor offers a mellow daily rhythm, while Detroit (≈40–45 minutes) adds big-city optionality.

Leader takeaway: Selling your city matters. Programs win when they help candidates imagine life outside the hospital—community, culture, and support systems.

What advice does Trent have for applicants (and for programs)?

Prioritize fit, cap the list, and be kind to yourself. “You are likely going to be told no… so be kind to yourself.”

Trent’s go-to guidance:

• Limit applications to places you’d say “yes” to immediately. (He kept it to about 15.)
• Curate your bandwidth—you’re running a marathon of deadlines, webinars, and interviews.
• Protect your peace: “After your interviews, de-stress… do what you need to do to maintain your peace.”
• Trust the match: “Everything truly happens for a reason. You will end up at the organization that… you belong to.”

For programs: Make fit discoverable. Show candidates your mentorship model, project pipeline, and leadership access—and let them meet the fellows they’ll stand beside.

Why Michigan Medicine—and what makes the fellowship durable?

Short answer: A decades-long track record, a “build-your-own-path” culture, and enterprise-level buy-in. Projects are requested by leaders—often before fellows even start.

Trent highlights the institutional memory and demand signal: stakeholders know how to use fellows. That maturity produces four reinforcing benefits:

1. Project Gravity: Leaders submit meaningful work with clear sponsorship.
2. Mentorship Muscle: Preceptors understand how to coach and escalate.
3. Network Density: Alumni stick around, creating a living ladder of support.
4. Career Optionality: “There are going to be opportunities for you to learn and grow… a lot of times it’s within Michigan Medicine too.”

The Bottom Line: Build range, then go deep

Michigan Medicine’s Administrative Fellowship blends intentional project design with access to decision-makers—and it asks fellows to own their journey. Year 1 maximizes range through a curated portfolio; Year 2 transforms that range into depth via immersion. Along the way, the program’s mentorship architecture and culture of executive access build the confidence and relationships fellows need to lead.

Actionable next step—whether you’re a candidate or a program lead:

• Candidates: Draft your must-have matrix (learning culture, mentorship cadence, leadership access, project model, geography). Use it to prune your list to a focused 10–15, then prepare authentically.
• Program leaders: Publish your mentorship cadence, list sample projects with sponsors, and invite candidates to shadow a leadership meeting. Make fit obvious.

As Trent’s experience shows, when structure and support align, fellows deliver outsized impact quickly—sometimes in as little as a week—while building the kind of careers that keep them in the system, paying it forward to the next cohort.