Key Takeaways
- Administrative fellowships accelerate the development of future leaders by providing high-visibility projects and executive sponsorship.
The UI Health Chicago Administrative Fellowship offers unparalleled visibility, mentorship, and real-world leadership experience for early-career healthcare administrators. As Karl Gieske put it, “Just the sponsorship you get from being an administrative fellow and the visibility you get within the organization is just, it’s so important and it opens doors.”
Key features of the UI Health Administrative Fellowship include:
Direct exposure to senior leadership, decision-making, and high-impact projects across the health system
A culture of support: Mentorship is a cornerstone, with preceptors and executives actively invested in fellows’ growth
Project-based learning: Fellows are assigned critical initiatives that prepare them for roles beyond entry-level management
According to Karl, the “patient-first” focus is embedded throughout the fellowship. “For me, it’s always been very patient-focused—that’s why I decided to be a Navy Corman, I wanted to take care of people. And as you gain rank, you get a little further away from taking care of people directly, but then you’re taking care of the people that are taking care of people, and that becomes your why.” This shift from bedside to leadership is intentional—and fundamental to UI Health’s approach.
Karl’s nearly 11-year tenure as a Navy Corman—serving both domestically and on three overseas deployments—provided a foundation of discipline, adaptability, and service leadership. In his words: “The work ethic and the never quit mentality that’s instilled in you in the military is just kind of part of it. One of the things that we love to say on the Infantry side is ‘embrace the suck.’ There are days that were hard, obviously in grad school, and there are going to be more days ahead during everybody’s career. So, get comfortable with it, embrace the lack of comfort, and thrive in it.”
Specific ways his military background benefits his healthcare career include:
Handling adversity: From labor and delivery in Bethesda to casualty receiving in Kuwait and Afghanistan, Karl learned to operate under pressure and uncertainty.
Patient-centered values: “What I’m most proud of isn’t on my resume. When I was in Afghanistan, I took the same care of the enemy that I took care of my people.”
Team-oriented leadership: The military emphasis on “taking care of your own” directly informs his leadership philosophy in civilian healthcare.
This perspective allows Karl to bring a sense of calm, prioritization, and ethics to complex healthcare environments—qualities that are highly valued in administrative fellowships like UI Health’s.
Transitioning into healthcare administration later in life often means facing fear of the unknown, impostor syndrome, and adapting to new academic and professional cultures. Karl spoke candidly: “The fear of the unknown, I think, is what really kind of derails people. Healthcare administration wasn’t even on my radar until after I’d gotten a year of undergrad done and then kind of switched.”
Karl’s path underscores several important realities:
Career pivots are normal: After the military, he even attended pro baseball umpire school before returning to healthcare as a patient care tech.
Impostor syndrome is common: “A lot of us suffer from impostor syndrome—do we really belong here? Just getting over that and gaining that confidence as you go is what makes it all worth it in the end.”
Support systems matter: Karl credits his wife’s encouragement for pushing him to apply to grad school, despite self-doubt: “I said, well, I don’t know if I’m smart enough to do that. She said, just try it. Take the GRE, try it, apply.”
His advice for others? Break intimidating transitions into manageable steps. “When it gets hard, get through the next day. If that’s too overwhelming, get through the next meal…get through that next minute and that’s your small win. Build off that small win.”
A sense of injustice—and a desire to lead with integrity—drove Karl to pursue his MHA and the UI Health Administrative Fellowship. He describes a pivotal moment during the pandemic: “I just literally had come out of a room, I’m sweating, my face hurts from the N95, and the news I get is that one of the leaders in the organization had taken a massive bonus…in the midst of our 401K match being cut and part of some of our benefits being cut.”
In that moment, Karl realized, “If I’m ever in that position to have to make that decision, that’s not the one I’m going to make. I want to take care of the people that are doing the work. That was really the nexus.” He emphasizes that leadership is not just about making tough calls, but about “taking care of your people.”
For prospective fellows, having a clear “why” is crucial:
Reflect on your motivation for pursuing healthcare administration
Connect purpose to action: Let personal values inform your leadership style
Be authentic: Karl’s honesty in his fellowship interview set him apart—“My answer is part of what got me the fellowship because it was raw and I was able to be my true authentic self.”
Karl found graduate school less intimidating than expected—because he focused on adaptability and incremental progress rather than perfection. “I was lucky, I had no idea what to expect. I went in completely blind and, almost on a whim, so I think that benefited me. I didn’t have a chance to psych myself out.”
Tips for success in graduate school or high-stress environments:
Don’t overthink it: Jump in and adapt as you go, rather than psyching yourself out
Break big tasks into small wins: Focus on getting through the next minute, then the next hour, then the next day
Lean on your training: Transfer discipline and coping mechanisms from previous experiences (military, sports, etc.)
Embrace discomfort: Accept that challenge and occasional setbacks are part of the growth process
This mindset shift—embracing uncertainty and building momentum through small, consistent steps—can make all the difference, especially for career changers or those returning to academia after time away.
While not strictly required, an administrative fellowship like UI Health’s can dramatically accelerate your career trajectory in healthcare leadership. Karl is direct: “I don’t think I would be prepared to step into a potential next role that I’m looking at without it…just the sponsorship and the visibility you get are so important, and it opens doors.”
Key reasons the fellowship matters:
Accelerated exposure: Access to senior leaders, strategic projects, and internal opportunities
Professional sponsorship: Mentors and advocates who actively invest in your development
Career clarity: Space and resources to find your “why” and align your skills accordingly
Karl also acknowledges that alternative routes exist: “There are some just incredibly talented and brilliant people out there that don’t do fellowships and they do very well.” For him, though, the fellowship was a way to bridge the gap between bedside clinical work and executive management, especially as an older, nontraditional student.
Military organizations thrive on hierarchy, chain of command, and a culture of precision—while civilian healthcare administration requires more negotiation, influence, and relationship-building. Karl reflects: “Everything is very regimented, there’s a direct chain of command, and you don’t talk to person C without going to person A and B. That’s just how it is.”
Key differences:
Decision-making: In the military, decisions are often made rapidly and executed without question; in healthcare admin, decisions are more collaborative and data-driven
Communication: Civilian healthcare requires “reading the room,” navigating politics, and building consensus
Confidence: Trusting your own judgment, even when the path isn’t spelled out
Karl is candid about his own ongoing growth: “It’s definitely still a struggle of mine…knowing my place and being able to trust that I wouldn’t be in this position if those leaders didn’t trust me. So having that confidence and being able to make those decisions for myself is something I’m still working on.”
Repeated exposure, honest feedback, and embracing discomfort are Karl’s top strategies for building public speaking skills and confidence with senior leaders. “The more you do it, the easier it gets. There’s no magic answer to how to get comfortable with it, you just kind of got to keep rolling with it.”
Karl’s journey:
Case competitions: Participating in four grad school case competitions served as a “pressure cooker” and accelerated his learning curve
Practice under pressure: Presenting to senior executives gets easier with each attempt
Feedback as growth: Harsh feedback—like being told he spoke too fast—was difficult but led to improvement
For those feeling nervous about public speaking or networking with leaders, Karl’s advice is simple: “Keep showing up, seek feedback, and trust your preparation.”
Karl Gieske’s story is a testament to the power of purpose-driven leadership, humility, and relentless growth. The UI Health Chicago Administrative Fellowship is more than a stepping stone—it’s an incubator for leaders who see service as their mission. As you consider your own journey in healthcare administration, remember Karl’s advice: “Take care of the people that are taking care of the people…When it gets hard, get through the next day. If the next day is too overwhelming, get through the next meal, the next minute. Build off that small win and just keep moving forward.” Whether you’re a mid-career changer, a new graduate, or an aspiring executive, the combination of self-awareness, adaptability, and authentic purpose is your greatest asset in healthcare leadership.
<p>[Music] hello everyone this is Cole from the American Journal of healthcare strategy and here with me is an administrative fellow from UI Health Carl please go ahead and introduce yourself hello everyone thanks for joining us tonight Cole thank you so much for having me my name is Carl gizi I'm one of the two administrative fellows at UI Health in Chicago Illinois got my my Master's Degree my mha from UIC just last year so really happy to be here and share a little bit of the story congratulations on that we love having people on from the Illinois and Wisconsin region up there I've never gotten out there myself but I've been really hoping to have an excuse to go out there soon I know that the uh AC conference is in Chicago this year does that make it easier for you to attend the AC conferences most definitely I've been able to go this will be my second time going I went as a program assistant couple years ago and it was just such an incredibly enriching experience so looking forward to going back it's nice that it's in our backyard um saves a little bit on hotel cost but know we're spoiled too with the food so if you find one reason to ever come out here it's got to be for the food I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have to come out there soon hopefully uh next year is when I'm planning to do my first AC um hopefully so you had a bit of an untraditional I guess is you know I guess untraditional is what it's called path into healthcare administration you started off off in in the military for about 10 years right I did yeah I did almost 11 years in military medicine it kind of brought me on both coasts and then you know three deployments as well it's interesting um the Marine Corps doesn't have their own medical components so they use navy doctors nurses and Corman which was my job to be their their Frontline medical staff so I actually got my career started out in Bethesda Maryland I worked in labor and delivery there did my first deployment from Bethesda to Kuwait I worked in a uh expeditionary medical facility in casualty receiving kind of at the height of the Iraq War so we'd bring people in stabilize them then get them shipped off to Lun do from there they'd be stabilized further and then shipped back to the states after that I ended up going out to a first Marine Division in Camp pendlton California and I was more of a combat Corman so I integrated with a a Marine Corps unit uh did two deployments from there one to Afghanistan in southern Helmand and then finished my career up at Great Lakes so I ran the the primary care clinic that was on board Navy boot camp actually wow so you've probably seen a lot of different things um over in the United States but as well as overseas you've probably been through a lot of different experiences um most definitely it's yeah it's been it was it was rich to say the absolute least and yeah definitely something I I'll never regret well we're really happy to have you you know on to to discuss all of that one of the first questions I want to ask you is you know you some of the students in your same position probably not in your exact same position but those who switched careers later in life I guess switched careers even though you're kind of continuing on but you know they go back to undergrad they they go through grad school you know you said you'd never regret it I want to know how has your past experiences helped you in ways that you might not have expected I think a big part of is just a different lens um attacking grad school later in life is I think it was the right time for me to do it um I look back I turned 25 in Afghanistan you know sitting on a post and it was kind of a a weird point in my life where I go you know here I am I'm a quarter of a century years old years old and you know what am I really doing with my life and now like I said it's just a little bit of a different Drive um going to grad school a little bit later too um I had a little bit more to to fight for being having a baby that was born during my grad school time and you know having a that it's just a little bit extra motivation so um definitely that part of it just coming in from a different angle and also I think the work ethic and the the never quit mentality that's instilled in you in the military is you know just kind of part of it you know one of the things that we love to say on the Infantry side is embrace the suck and there are days that were hard obviously in grad school and there are going to be more days ahead during everybody's career so uh get comfortable with it and you know embrace the the lack of comfort and thrive in it why do you think people struggle sometimes starting something new or going going back to something different after having experience because you've kind of been through that yourself why do you think it's a struggle for some people yeah that and that's a great question and I mean to your point is right after I got out I you know went to pro baseball empire school and thought that baseball was going to be my career thought I was going to Chase the Dream and then know two years on the road doing that professionally I I really kind of missed Healthcare so I started as a back at the bedside as a patient care Tech while I went through undergrad and even that it's the fear of the unknown uh when I started undergrad my program was to it was in physical therapy as a a PTA and even that was scary you know again coming in as somebody who's older and it's like I said just the fear of the unknown I think is what really kind of derails people so healthcare administration wasn't even on my radar until after I'd gotten a year of of undergrad done and then kind of Switched uh to the Healthcare Management route uh only because the Community College I was going to had an agreement with with one of the four universities that were near me but it's scary and gr school was a whole different kind of level of fear never really thought of myself as as going to grad school again going back to when I was 25 years old sitting on Post in Afghanistan grad school is the furthest thing from my mind coming out of the 2019 baseball season grad school was the furthest thing from my mind working as a patient care Tech during covid in critical care grad school was the furthest thing on my mind until you know one specific day that really kind of changed my entire outlook on it but it was scary and it's uncomfortable and it's difficult uh to make those types of decisions especially when you're a little bit older especially when you're pivoting to to something totally new I think something that I've heard a lot and a lot you know from other people as well who maybe go that that route straight from high school school to undergrad to grad school which is incredible the maturity that it takes to do that at that age will never ever cease to amaze me because it couldn't have been me you know so so to see that is super inspiring to me but I think a lot of us suffer from impostor syndrome do we really belong here and just getting over that and gaining that confidence as you go is I guess that's the what makes it all worth it kind of in the end can you tell us if you're comfortable sharing what that day was that kind of redefined what you were thinking and then you said you know I'm gonna go and go to grad school and change up my whole kind of career definitely you know it I'd always thought about the nursing route as well or the PA route um I'm getting chills thinking of that day um I remember a day though during Co I was working in critical care um in the ICU at the the hospital I was working at and I just come out of a code and you know was trying to scarf down some lunch real quick and the charge nurse that was on that day had mentioned that one of the the leaders in the organization had taken a massive bonus and this was kind of a slap in the face of the people doing the work because this was in the midst of our 401K match being cut and part of some of our benefits being cut and our Co differential pay being cut so it seemed really toned deaf at the time and for lack of a better term I was just angry about it you know I just literally had come out of a room I'm sweating my face hurts from the n95 and that's the news I get and kind of in a in my anger I looked this person up figured out what their credentials were and it was like well I could do that and then if I'm ever in that position to have to make decision that's not the one I'm going to make I want to take care of the people that are doing the work and that was really the Nexus and again that kind of comes back from lessons I learned in the military one of the things they preach is you got to take care of your people you take care of your own and that's just something I've kind of taken with me so that's that was kind of the turning point and you know went home that night took a shower and was just kind of fuming and said I think might go to grad school to my wife and she said you should do it I said well I don't know I'm actually I don't know if I'm smart enough to do that she said just try it take the GRE try it apply and that's kind of how oh look where we are now good for you my my wife does the same thing I I say oh I'm not going to do this I'm not gonna apply for this and she's like you know you got just do it you know just do it so that's it's h it's wonderful to have that support and I was goingon to ask you that question as well about that perspective that you had I know a lot of people probably including myself to be honest a little bit would would have said oh you know what can I do to get that bonus but you had that different perspective and I I was going to ask where that came from and it makes sense from the military that that taking care of of your people perspective like you said that's a beautiful perspective to have and I think that we need I I mean I need to be more like that in all honesty with you you know it's it's challenging when you work so hard and you feel like you're not being you know compensated enough to not want to say oh I'm going to get this that I can be well off but instead you're saying I want to get this so I can help other people be taken care of that's wonderful has that helped you in your fellowship applications and in your application to grad school having that purpose has that benefited you I definitely think so I mean that's so much of my why and you know as we're at this point in the fellowship as all the other you know most of the other fellows in the country are we're looking at the next step now and some of that is is is really reflective because you're really trying to figure out you know I think we all had a why why did we we apply to grad school why did we pursue a fellowship and now it's why am I in healthcare and I think you know for me it's always been very patient Focus that's just that's why I decided to be a Navy Corman I wanted to take care of people and then you know as you grow up even in in the military you as you gain rank you get a little further away from taking care of people and now you're taking care of the people that are taking care of people and that becomes your why taking care of your people and that's still just very close to me it's very you know important to me to to have that connection so you know take care of the people that are taking care of the people is is kind of how I describe it and I think having that purpose is is really powerful when you can connect it to who you are as a person I think that's probably the most beneficial thing I remember during the hardest question I was asked during um my interview for my fellowship came from the CEO of the organization and he said uh he asked a question what are you most proud of on your resume and I was absolutely not prepared for that question which you was I'm sure partially by Design but I think my answer is is part of what got me the fellowship because it was raw and it was kind of one of those moments where I I was able to be my true authentic self with him and I said my what I'm most proud of isn't on my resume what I'm most proud of is that when I was in Afghanistan I took the same care of of of the enemy that I took care of my people so when I was treating my Marines they got the same level of care as I gave to the the Taliban members who had been just been trying to kill us so that just I think that was a good reflection of my true drive and passion for healthcare and taking care of people and medicine and just doing it right and doing the right thing even when maybe you don't have to because realistically nobody probably would have known if I if I cut a corner on on a an enemy you know but I would have known and that is something that just kind of goes so against what I what I believe about medicine that I you know I just couldn't do that I wanted to go back to something you said that you had said that you know to your wife oh I don't think I'm smart enough to do this this you know mha I've said some more things to my wife has it was it hard was it harder than you expected was it easier than you expected what was the grad school like I think I was lucky I didn't know what to expect so everything was just kind of roll with it and take it how it is and you know adapt to the situation and um you know do it was about doing what I can and even obviously boot camp is much shorter than grad school but there are days and but it's for anything it's for life you know it when it gets hard get through the next day if the next day is too overwhelming get through the next get through the next meal if that's overwhelming get through the next hour and if you have to break it down by a minute just get through that next minute and that's your small win build off that small win get through the next minute take that next step forward so I think I was lucky that I had no idea what to expect I went in completely blind and you know for almost on a whim so I I think that almost benefited me a little bit I didn't have a chance to psych myself out and worry about how hard it was going to be it was almost like it all happened so fast and it was like oh well here we are it's time to go you don't really have much of a choice so good for you so that's also another tip don't you know don't psych yourself out I think that's good yeah um and yeah you had that you had that fortitude that you've been trained with and that that helped you out which is that's that's great I like what you said about taking it minute by minute that's uh that's very good advice there are some days that that's just what you have to do and every minute is a win um and you build off those wins and the minutes turn into hours and the hours turn into days the days turn into weeks etc etc so you build off those little winds and you you just keep moving forward and that doesn't mean you're not going to get knocked back because you are at some point but you know it's just about getting back uh to getting that momentum going forward so you you know you graduated Summa kadi of your undergraduate program which is excellent you know you've you did well in grad school a good a good mha program and so one of the questions I've been asking people especially people like yourself with lots of experience and with good academic credentials do you feel like you could have done the job that you're going into without a fellowship that's a great question I think it's possible and that's actually something that came up in another interview is what if you don't get a fellowship what do you do and it was well I have to figure something out I have miles to feed I have myself to take care of I I've got a mortgage you know something will be figured out and that doesn't mean it has to be you know forever but something will be figured out one way or the other I don't think I would be prepared to step into a a potential next role that I'm looking at without it um I think just the the sponsorship you get from being an administrative fellow and the visibility you get within the organization is just it's so important and it opens doors it's super helpful to have people that are watching out for you and looking for you that doesn't mean that it's impossible by any stretch of the imagination for somebody to work their way up into that at all there are some just incredibly talented and brilliant people out there that don't do fellowships and they do very well I have friends from my program that didn't do fellowships and they're doing just incredible things and I love hearing about what they do so for me I'm not sure I think you know my motivation to do a fellowship was was multifaceted it's as somebody who's a little bit older I needed to I felt that I needed to kind of jumpstart my career and obtaining a fellowship was a way to do that and it's also you know how do I how do I work at this level in a in the civilian sector you know I hadn't you know the bedside is very different from from healthcare administration obviously so how do I do that effectively and and just learn how to do that learn the the politics of the office you know for lack of a better term learn how to deal with barriers and like I said at the bedside and especially in critical care or emergency medicine it's it's very blunt and that's not always how you can be obviously in uh in the admin space I wanted to ask about the military in in healthcare for example we we were always looking to change things things we want to always look to improve the military I've heard they like to follow their their formula there's a packing order they like to follow it very closely which is one of the reasons why the US military is so good I've heard is because we follow everything to the letter is that is that a true do you think statement absolutely I mean everything is very regimented and like I said there's a direct chain of command um and you don't talk to person you know C without going to person A and B and that's just how it is it's yeah like you said it's a function of what makes us disciplined and makes us effective because you don't you need people that will just you know at the drop of a hat do exactly what you tell them to do the civilian side is not like that as much it's seldom that there are at at least on the administrative side it's seldom that there are life and death decisions made you know that in a vacuum you know they're not immediate you usually have a little bit of time to or at least from what I've seen during my fellowship there is a little bit of time to to work and gather input and gather information and data to make the most informed decision and like I said going back to those office politics something I still struggle with is knowing can I go talk to this person without I was gonna ask you yeah it's definitely still a struggle of mine and something I'm getting comfortable with being able to do you know knowing my place and you know being able to to trust that I wouldn't be in this position if those leaders didn't trust me so having that confidence and and being able to make those decisions for myself sometimes is something I'm still working on it's been a work in progress do you have any tips for individuals like myself I mean especially you know I've gotten better at it because I'm doing all these interviews and I'm meeting people and so you know if you're constantly like doing that you get better at it but like six months ago I was terrified to speak with you know my boss's boss you know so how are there any tips you can share that have helped you I think for me just the more I do it the the easier it gets I actually had a a meeting with my preceptor today uh we had our our bi-weekly one-on-one today and he um he kind of mentioned that the first time I had to present at our senior executive meeting I was just like flying through couldn't understand me because I was speaking so quickly and then I had to present something yesterday that I was a little unfamiliar with and he said it you were if you were nervous it didn't seem like it so took that Prett High praise I think something that help me too is during grad school I was able to do you know four different case competitions and that's a bit of a a pressure cooker situation um obviously our team did fairly well in them um so I was really really proud of that but that was um my first time going up in public speaking in that Arena was absolutely terrifying um and then as you you know move on in the rounds of the case comp you present to more and more senior people uh which turns up the heat a little bit to say the absolutely least but the more you do it and the more comfortable you get with it the easier it gets um there's no like I don't think there's a a magic answer to to how to get comfortable with it you just kind of got to keep rolling with it I appreciate that advice too for myself because uh you know receiving that harsh feedback at first uh that would be very challenging I really appreciate your time coming on we're trying to keep these below 25 minutes or really below 20 minutes but I really enjoy talking with you and and I hope we can have you back on again to discuss more you have such a vast kind of uh you know knowledge and experience and I feel like you're going to continue on a great trajectory I know personally I I would love to have you as you know a chief people officer or you know definitely in a leadership position so hopefully we'll be able to bring you back on soon sounds good absolutely look forward to it thank you so much for your time Co I appreciate it of course thank you</p>
Want to reach healthcare executives and decision-makers? Join industry leaders like HealthMap Solutions on our podcast.
Become a GuestDiscover related content across the AJHCS ecosystem
Articles on the same topic in AJHCS
The article argues that AI’s real impact in healthcare depends less on the technology itself and more on how it is governed. Strong oversight, leadership understanding, and coordinated systems are essential to ensure AI improves outcomes rather than creates new risks.
ArticleAbstract This article presents a comprehensive analysis of hazard-focused frameworks as a strategic imperative for modern public health administration2. As a systematic and proactive alternative to traditional reactive models, this approach enhances preparedness and response to a full spectrum of ev...
Books by our podcast guests and on this topic