Key Takeaways
- Administrative fellowships function as critical talent pipelines that accelerate leadership readiness by exposing graduates to high-level strategy and multi-million dollar projects.
Healthcare administrative fellowships offer aspiring healthcare leaders a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience and develop essential skills for their future careers. These programs provide invaluable exposure to high-level executives, complex projects, and the intricacies of healthcare systems. In this blog post, we'll explore the journey of Alex Salazar, MHA, a former administrative fellow at Advocate Health, and the insights he shares about the fellowship experience and its impact on his career.
The Advocate Health administrative fellowship program stands out as an exceptional opportunity for healthcare administration graduates. With various locations, this fellowship offers a comprehensive experience in one of the largest healthcare systems in the country. Alex's journey through the fellowship highlights the program's focus on personal growth, relationship-building, and exposure to high-level decision-making processes.
Alex's journey to healthcare administration wasn't a straight line. Initially pursuing a pre-med track, he realized early on that medical school wasn't the right fit for him. This led him to explore other avenues within healthcare, ultimately discovering the field of healthcare administration.
After completing his undergraduate studies in biology and exercise science at Wake Forest University, Alex pursued a Master's in Healthcare Administration (MHA) at Tulane University. This decision proved to be pivotal in his career trajectory. The MHA program provided Alex with a solid foundation in healthcare management, finance, and policy - knowledge that would be indispensable in his future roles.
During his MHA program, Alex completed an internship at East Jefferson General Hospital in Louisiana. This experience allowed him to apply classroom knowledge to real-world scenarios, further solidifying his interest in healthcare administration and preparing him for the fellowship application process.
The Advocate Health fellowship program offers a unique experience in one of the country's largest healthcare systems. As Alex describes it, the program provides exposure to healthcare administration on a "grand scale."
One of the key learnings from Alex's fellowship was understanding Advocate Health's hub and spoke model. This model allows for efficient resource allocation and specialized care delivery across different facilities within the system. It's a prime example of how large healthcare systems can optimize their operations to provide better patient care.
The administrative fellowship at Advocate Health served as a launchpad for Alex's career. The skills, knowledge, and relationships developed during this time have proven invaluable in his transition to a full-time role.
After completing his fellowship, Alex transitioned into a role as a Business Manager for Enterprise Real Estate at Advocate Health. Despite having no prior background in real estate, the skills and adaptability developed during his fellowship allowed him to quickly acclimate to this new challenge.
The broad exposure gained during the fellowship has equipped Alex with the ability to quickly consume knowledge and adapt to new environments. This skill has proven particularly useful in his current role, which requires him to understand and manage complex real estate projects within the healthcare system.
Throughout his fellowship and beyond, Alex emphasizes the critical role of relationship-building in healthcare administration. The ability to connect with colleagues, mentors, and leaders across the organization has been a key factor in his professional growth.
Alex shares that one of the most valuable aspects of the fellowship was the opportunity to network with leaders across the organization. He advises future fellows to make the most of these opportunities, emphasizing that a simple email introduction can lead to meaningful professional relationships.
As healthcare continues to evolve, the role of administrators will become increasingly important. The skills developed during administrative fellowships, such as adaptability, strategic thinking, and relationship-building, will be crucial for future healthcare leaders.
Alex highlights the importance of staying abreast of emerging trends in healthcare, such as the growing focus on value-based care and the increasing use of data analytics in decision-making. These trends are shaping the future of healthcare administration and will continue to influence the skills required for success in the field.
Alex's move to Charlotte, North Carolina, underscores the importance of being open to opportunities in growing markets. As cities like Charlotte continue to expand, they offer exciting prospects for healthcare administrators to contribute to the development of robust healthcare systems.
A healthcare administrative fellowship is a post-graduate program that provides hands-on experience in healthcare management. It typically lasts 1-2 years and offers rotations through various departments of a healthcare organization.
An MHA degree is highly beneficial for a career in healthcare administration. It provides a comprehensive understanding of healthcare systems, policies, and management principles that are essential for success in leadership roles within the industry.
Key skills for success in a healthcare administrative fellowship include adaptability, strong communication, analytical thinking, and the ability to build relationships. A passion for healthcare and a willingness to learn are also crucial.
To prepare for a fellowship application, focus on gaining relevant experience through internships, maintaining a strong academic record, developing your leadership skills, and networking within the healthcare industry. Tailor your resume to highlight experiences that align with the fellowship's goals.
After completing a fellowship, opportunities may include roles in hospital operations, strategic planning, finance, or specific service lines within a healthcare system. Many fellows go on to take leadership positions in healthcare organizations or pursue further specialization in areas like healthcare IT or population health management.
<p>hello everyone this is Cole from the American Journal of healthc care strategy today we have a great guest on from one of my old hometowns there of Charlotte North Carolina Alex Alex please introduce yourself hey Cole thank you so much for having me uh my name is Alex Salazar and I'm currently a business manager for uh Enterprise real estate for Advocate Health [Music] it's great to have you on we've been you know trying to meet with everyone from Advocate which is a challenging task since there's so many fellows that have come from Advocate and such a big organization I want to ask real quick where is it in the country that you are originally coming from I see Memphis University High School and then Wake Forest University so can you give us a little bit of a geography uh explainer there sure I uh grew up in Memphis Tennessee um we hopped around a little bit before that but Memphis is kind of where we set our roof went to college at Wake Forest in Winston Salo North Carolina then went to T Lane for my masters in healthcare administration um in New Orleans and then went to Milwaukee Wisconsin for my administrative Fellowship Advocate and now continuing with Advocate but now back in North Carolina in uh Charlotte that is excellent very cool and then where is I noticed also on here you and me were talking about this earlier where is East Jefferson General Hospital where you were an administrative resident and an MA project manager where's that located East Jefferson is in uh mety uh Louisiana which is a major suburb of New Orleans so I think it's about 10 15 minutes West um very large residential area very cool yeah so you you've been around you've gotten exposure to different Health Systems but what what I was looking at here which is really interesting is you have this Bachelor's in biology kology and exercise science right that's a pretty specific degree you know the exercise science program I'm familiar with at Wake Forest we had a similar one at UNCC Charlotte what steered you to go into healthcare administration you know after that degree absolutely so to be completely honest with you I followed a traditional path like most and that I wanted to be a physician out of uh under graduate school however for me I realized about two weeks into my freshman year that I was not very cut out for school uh the training that would come with going to medical school everything progressing that just was not for me um I was stubborn enough to continue with the quote unquote Premed degrees and was able to get my degrees in biology and health health and exercise science just to be able to kind of see them through um but then I realized that college didn't last forever and I needed a plan going forward so I did my own level of research able to stumble upon healthcare administration as an industry and realized really the ability um the healthcare administrators have at a larger scale um a good healthcare administrator has the ability to make changes that will affect hundreds thousands of patients down the road and really be able to improve the livelihood and experience that they have for years and years to come um that coupled with the relationship building aspect that you need to have in a collaborative team setting um really made me feel like I would be a tune to working in such an industry so that's a good bit of a leap of faith um went to two lame with no healthcare administration background whatsoever and immediately fell in love um classes went well but it really all took off once I started my internship and then it was game over I fell in love with my work I fell in love with learning and developing and everything kind of took off from there wow congratulations on on having such a great success ESS and also having such a beautiful kind of passion and Mission behind what you're doing that's wonderful what was tan like you know it's a it's a school that we've heard of a lot it's you know and of course their their tropical you know I think it's tropical medicine or tropical Health um College there is is you know well known in the tropical medicine industry um what you know was that experience like you know what did it really spark your interest even further so for me personally tlane um was a realization of kind of how the larger healthcare administration scope worked uh in general it made me realized that for the aspirations which I have um a masters is very key in being able to best position myself towards there um the classwork was fine the education um you know not I wasn't the most cut out for it but I did all right in my classes um but the big selling point of the program is that they have what's called an integrated Residency program meaning that uh tlane creates relationships with local Health Systems um and being able to get their students in for um Extended internships um so that's kind of how I was able to start a relationship with East Jefferson and then ended up doing really great work for them so two lane was really great um and kind of what I needed it to be for myself in my own development um because it really was able to set the ground uh set the pace for everything that I needed to accomplish down the road why is that master's degree do you think is Central why should we kind of make that the standard for healthcare administration I think that it's important because Healthcare is such a particular industry with so many legislation uh legislative decisions so many business-minded um people involved and there really is such a mix of different disciplines being put into each other you can come out with a biology background and have the ability to comprehend a clinical paper but if you're given a balance sheet you're not going to have any idea a of how to process that you could go to business school and be able to pick up base knowledge in accounting or Finance but then when it comes to an industry such as Healthcare which historically does not perform very well in business metrics you're going to be very confused as to why some patients pay less um through different CMS reimbursements or why some Physicians um aren't able to be compensated in certain ways due to the laws of anti Kickback and St um so I think that it's necessary for successful administrators just because it allows them to be able to get such a a baseline knowledge and be able to really become well-rounded to the degree that they need to be able to pick what areas they want to be able to specialize then and then go forward from there excellent I I agree I agree 100% on that um you decided of course to pursue an administrative Fellowship post uh mha I want to ask what caused you to do that right you know you could have probably gone into industry and done very well at that point you were uh you know well prepared but but what was the reason to choose that Fellowship so I'll give you a bit of a story there when I first started off um in two I met with an administrator at auctioner um he made time on his calendar for me to be able to come into his office and have a one-on-one I knew nothing about administrative fellowships at the time and he sat me down he told me you you personally need to pursue an administrative Fellowship um sure this was the opinion of one person um but it really opened my eyes as to the ability that an administrative Fellowship can lend itself to an early careerist so what an administrative Fellowship meant for me was the ability to be exposed to healthc care at a grand grand scale um so being able to work with system Executives being able to work on multi-million dollar projects really getting the knowledge and exposure of not only day-to-day work but really being able to understand how something works at a very high level um it was just for myself a very good way to continue learning and be able to find areas to best plug myself into and continue developing myself I have some people within my network that have been very successful without administrative fellowships they're absolutely not a requirement for a successful healthcare career just for myself and the way that I operate it was just about way for myself to continue and what were those first you know couple weeks like if you can just give us a taste of what that like at um at the Milwaukee um you know we've spoken with with those down at at the atrium and then of course at week Forest Baptist um as well as some up there in the Chicago area but what was it like at your particular location in the first you know couple weeks starting off yeah so for context um I had the greater Milwaukee Market as my fellowship site which is the uh largest revenue driving Market within the Midwest so very different um than a lot of the other areas there um but for myself it was drinking from a firehose it was understanding you know moving from New Orleans to Milwaukee understanding geographically where everything is understanding from the system perspective kind of the relationships between one Hospital another one for example we have St Luke's uh which worked at primarily which is the largest hospital in the state of Wisconsin um within that system we also had Sinai which is a downtown safety net hospital that's able to offload a lot of the more complicated cases that St Luke's may not want to deal with from a fiscal perspective work with more favorable reimbursement and better prepared Physicians for that sort of environment and really be able to create a dichotomy that's able to really serve patients in a really special way couple that with West Dallas a Women's Hospital graft in a surgically focused Hospital of north um and it really was phenomenal to get to see um a hen spoke model working so flawlessly uh and the work that was put in not only to maintain it but to continue to progress it the way that Advocate works as a health system um tentative as of 2024 as the system continues to grow and change is that it's not just a hub and spoke model but it's a hub and spoke Hub and spoke Hub and spoke model in the sense that the Milwaukee Market operates independently the central Chicago land market operates independently the Charlotte Market operates independently but all of these markets work together at a macro level to be able to feed into a major health system that's then able to use the leverage created by these Huen spoke models to then create a tons of benefits down the road when it comes to supply chain savings education Workforce Development and really have a a sense of Leverage through to the economies of scale um unlike many other health syst was present today I was GNA say you know during during covid or after a lot of the hubman spoke you know that had been more traditional system for doing um urban and rural and of course Specialty Care kind of blew up right a lot of that was no longer feasible and the fact that it's still working well and not just well pretty much the best right health system in the country is the advocate um is impressive and it's it must be interesting to to witness how and why it's so successful what were those next year you know that next year like for you or or the next eight eight or so months what are some of the most important lessons that you learned you know there are many Lessons Learned um within all that but the biggest one I'd say is to really value the people um when it comes to this so within an administrative Fellowship everyone will say that the biggest asset gained is the exposure so you're able to you know they say that when you're in administrative Fellowship you can send an email to anyone in the whole company and as long as you add in that email I'm a fellow by the way they typically respond and they typically engage with you um so really being able to make the most of that and be able to create lasting relationships um I'd say was the biggest lesson for me um so being able to connect with people at a very close level for example the service sign leader for oncology in the midwest um very good Mentor of mine very close friend of mine um how did her and I get connected emailed her said hey do you have any work I can do for you we started working now she calls me tells her about how her son is doing we catch up regularly and it really is just being able to maintain those relationships um not that it's difficult at all people you know that I've worked with have all been wonderful but it really is key just being able to see people not just as you know people that work with you but really just is being able to create that next step and T start to take that path towards friendship and being able to learn how to best support each other not just within the workplace but outside of it and I think that's what um really made the you're special for me I I love that so much and and that's something that I've tried to emphasize with with everyone is that that you know people are the most important to the company they're the most important to each other and we need to focus on that you know it without people we might as well just you know can't all go home really um what did leadership do especially especially the senior leaders to to emphasize that people was really important to them it was the really one of the common themes throughout all of our executive meetings um at least based off areas where I've worked before I think that the level of um Mastery over HR is something that really stood out to me um for Advocate um being able to sit in meetings regarding scorecards for different sites the robustness of the data was something that always stood out to me not just taking into account common metrics such as turnover or U things such as um highle diversity metrics but you know a one that stood out to me always was um P turnover rate um specifically POC first year turnover rate and being able to really record the experience that not only team members are having but different team members are having within the same experience and see what lessons can be learn with that to be able to be to be able to give people the best experience possible because usually Healthcare is behind in that area right yeah no I mean there's always opportunity to be learning more when it comes to it um we know that in this industry at the very end of the day Co administrators are expendable you can have a CEO take a sick day off not much as going to change at a hospital um but if you know a physician is enabled to provide services nursing team goes on strike EVS workers aren't able to provide the services that they're so good at the whole system fall apart so I think it really is important to take a a sense of humility and understand that supporting these team members really is the most important thing that leadership can do because without them the whole system crumbles apart I completely agree that's one of the kind of common things that I've noticed in a lot of the leaders that I've talked with CEOs in the Philly region is is that those who have excelled in their career have done so because they know the Frontline workers they know that their you know who their families are what their struggles are in work to to help them um I want to ask real quick about some some interesting things in your resume as well here as you know I'm sure a lot of people are are excited about hearing about how great your fellowship was but you have a green belt you know of course black belt as well um certified you know Associated project management and then you've done uh pretty much all it looks like the courses from the hfma how important are these additional certifications and things to getting into a fellowship and excelling in the fellowship if you found that they've given you a boost at all I'll be honest I'd say they probably don't um I think that these were things that I kind of challenged myself and be able to learn more but being able to serve on um the fellowship selection committee this past year for Advocate being able to be a part of the process myself all that your resume really does is gets your foot in the door um really the way the process works at least the way I've been familiar with it is that people review your application say is this someone we could be interested in is this someone that we're not interested in right and all that stuff does is really gets you into the could be interested stage but then it really just comes down to how well you're able to connect with the people that you interview with your level of emotional intelligence the hunger that they are able to sense in you and your uh determination to work I think that those qualities are really what's going to get someone a lot farther along in the process and just you know having some certification or being a little bit better at one skill than other um you can have all those skills in the world but if you don't have the right attitude really for any profession you're not going to make it very far and I've had the great opportunity to be able to learn and work with and interview tons of people that share that same passion and same level of determination and I think that those are the people that really stand out within this industry thank you for sharing that because that that I mean when I interview people look at rums as well I mean there's you know of filtering that goes on that we try to avoid but a lot of times that's what happens when people submit resumés and then usually it's that personal connection that is really when the real decision is made and so I think that's that's really important to highlight um how how beneficial has the fellowship B you know you're only a couple weeks into your new role of course how beneficial has the fellowship been into your ability to adapt to the role that you're in now oh phenomenally um so right now my role is uh manager for real estate for the Enterprise I have no background in real estate I've never worked in commercial real estate residential real estate all I know is that I rent an apartment and that's kind of how that's kind of my extent um for that knowledge um but really what it's given me is an ability to be able to quickly consume knowledge and be on my feet at a pretty regular level um and then the relationships that I've been able to forge so real estate is technically an Enterprise wide role however the department here um is within Charlotte um does take on more of a business development role within the southeast meanwhile the Midwest department is a little bit more self-contained um but when things come for system level projects I'm able to call upon people I've worked with and with Wisconsin with Illinois be able to collaborate with in that um and really just be able to continue the opportunities that I've been able to gain throughout the fellowship so I'd say it really is a true continu a of that in the sense of I'm placed in a completely new environment I need to be quick on my toes be able to learn but most importantly be able to rely upon the people in my network to best support me um I'm sure this is a a Common Thread of people you've interviewed people you've learned from but I really wouldn't be anything um if not for the people that have been able to take a chance on me um I can't hire myself for an internship I can't hire myself for a fellowship and it's all been people that have interviewed me um been able to you know I don't know what but see something in me and be able to take a chance on me um and then it's been on me to be able to deliver results back but um I think it really is just understanding that most people within this industry um are there because someone took a chance on them on being able to understand that that is amazing yeah uh and and you know looking through your LinkedIn of course we have real insights into how much the leaders there um have have really not just you but have taken a deep interest in in all the fellows right I mean there's just this picture that you shared uh you know a week ago with uh the CEO right meeting with the the new administrative fellows I mean that's that's really important right to be able to have somebody who's overseeing an organization of you know billions of dollars in Revenue right take the time to meet with people and like you said taking the trance on on you that's so important um so I'm sure a lot of people are very motivated to to join this Fellowship you've given us some some good advice is there any other tips you have for some of the people who are looking to come on board you know when I was researching Fellowship programs for myself I was always looking for a quick cheat a quick way to kind of get ahead learn more the advice that I got a lot from speaking with current fellows and people that I nwor with networked with was be able to align your values with an organization and be at a place that you want to see yourself at with for the long term and you know applying being in grad school that didn't mean anything to me because that wasn't something tangible I could do at the moment but looking back at it that really is such an important piece to be able to work in an organization that your values do align with um I think that that's going to make your interviews a lot stronger I think it's going to make you work harder I think it's going to make you a lot happier and I think that being able to look in the mirror to yourself and be able to see who you are and what you want is just overall going to make you a much more successful healthcare administrator honestly a person so that would probably be my single biggest piece of advice for someone trying to go through the process valuable advice yes valuable advice thank you for sharing that um appreciate you you giving us such a great rundown and just on to some personal questions here real quick how are you adjusting to the Charlotte area you've been in Winston Salem not too far of course from from that how is Charlotte treating you so far oh I'm loving it I grew up in the South spent a lot of time here um Milwaukee is a great City it just wasn't where I saw myself living for the long term um so very happy to be back down here and it's great Charlotte's one of the fastest growing cities in the country right now um it's really great to see a city so invested and its own development and success and it's been treating me phenomenally so far I couldn't be happier and there's a lot of growth from what I understand with the new med school coming in I know that today they were just debating about that uh sales tax increase again to get the new train line Bill these are things that are going on that you don't have in a lot of other cities um and again you were also in in Winston Salem right so do you think that maybe students who are not from the south might want to consider looking there for for opportunities I think that there's opportunity is really a lot of places in the country right now um I think that really what appeals um for a place like Charlotte there's a couple factors um I think North Carolina in general is just a great place to live you get all four seasons the beach is a couple hours away the mountains are a couple hours away but really it's just a city just booming with so much opportunity new businesses are popping up here every single day um you have major banks that have set up their headquarters here Atrium now Advocate has been able to create a very large very important health system and the Pearl on the innovation distri District being created really is the culmination of that um so I think it's very I just had so much opportunity um really just a absurd amount that I think a lot of people fail to appreciate I think that people could definitely find great work really anywhere in this country right now I think there's so much opportunity but um I think Charlotte definitely stands out for a lot of those reasons I like that yeah know so don't don't uh ignore ignore the South don't it's really great you know having you on Alex you've been planning it for a while so thank you for being patient with me it was great to kind of you know chat with you beforehand as well I think you have a really incredible future out there and I really am thank thankful to you for for everything you've been doing for our fellows for our students um it really is so important to us so thank you so much for your time no no worries at all I think it's important to be able to get back I know that when I was in that position um I you know always more that could have been done so I want to be able to give that little bit that I can to the Next Generation hopefully keep the ball rolling and create even better administrators and then even Kos to yourself I know that the work that you're doing here is great for the Next Generation coming up um and I think that it's great that you're able to find a work that you're so passionate about so committed to oh thank you Alex let's let's have you back on again in the future okay once you become a real estate expert you can come on and school us about real estate so what in uh 20 30 years no I give you one or two you'll you'll be you'll be rolling right through one or two oh we'll see</p>
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