The WellStar Health Administrative Fellowship with Poojan Karnik

Why the WellStar Health Administrative Fellowship Was the Right Fit

The WellStar Health Administrative Fellowship offers more than a traditional entry into healthcare management—it’s a launchpad for personal and professional growth. Poojan Karnik explains directly, “I was an intern at WellStar, so they fortunately wanted me back and here I am… This is a year-long fellowship and I couldn’t have had a better time.”

Factors that Influenced the Decision:

• Proximity to Family: Poojan selected UNCC for graduate school primarily due to family location: “I just wanted to be close to my family… UNCC being the top ranked program that it was, it was really close to home and it also offered me enough scholarship to go and not feel bad about going out of state.”

• People Over Prestige: She emphasizes that the community mattered most, not just the ranking: “Education is somewhat similar everywhere; it’s the people that Make It or Break It for me.”

• Trust in the Organization: Even before starting her fellowship, WellStar’s authenticity stood out: “Everybody that I talked to before accepting the fellowship, especially my current preceptor… were just so authentic and everything they said. It was never like a misalignment and so it made me trust them.”

Key takeaway: For applicants, cultural fit and organizational values may matter as much as formal program prestige.

From Pre-Med to Healthcare Administration: A Story of Redefining Success

Why choose healthcare administration over medicine? Poojan’s decision wasn’t just pragmatic—it was personal. She openly admits, “I don’t think I had the endurance to keep going [in medicine]… I just don’t think that I would have been happy.” For many, her honesty will resonate.

Pivotal Reasons for the Shift:

1. Personal Well-being: Recognizing the immense demands of medical school, she decided her happiness and family bonds came first.

2. Discovery of Strengths: She flourished in management roles: “I was really good at management… I really liked doing the backend work instead of the Frontline work and I never realized that I would enjoy it so much.”

3. Representation and Exploration: As an immigrant, Poojan’s career options seemed limited until she discovered healthcare administration after undergrad. “I think I literally Googled ‘healthcare jobs but not doctor’… and that’s how I fell in love with this.”

In her words:
“With physicians you have one-on-one contact and change lives that way, but in healthcare administration… I’m changing a lot of people’s lives at once or at least I would be after being in the industry for a bit—and that felt really good. That really hit my morals and my values.”

How WellStar Defines (and Defends) a Values-Driven Culture

What values set WellStar apart? According to Poojan, “All values-driven, where I think everybody embodies those values that we have of serving with compassion—every voice should be heard.”

Elements of WellStar’s Culture That Stand Out:

• Acceptance and Individual Purpose: “I’ve never felt like WellStar has shared that sense of purpose as in told me what my purpose should be. It was always they’ve just accepted what my purpose is.”

• Authenticity from Leadership: WellStar’s leaders, including preceptors, modeled the values they preached—earning trust through action, not just words.

• Flat Hierarchy: “There’s no true hierarchy or any telling people what to do—it’s just accepting people the way they are, and I really like that.”

• Bidirectional Influence: Culture is set by both leadership and employees: “It happens from the top down and also goes the opposite way. We meet in the middle.”

Practical Examples:

• Individual fellows are encouraged to set their own goals and pursue projects that align with their interests.

• Interns are respected and treated as future leaders from day one: “I was already receiving the respect… I might not have deserved at that point because I hadn’t proven myself.”

What Makes the Corporate Administrative Fellowship Track Unique?

Not all administrative fellowships look the same. At WellStar, fellows can select from multiple tracks—including Corporate, Ambulatory Care, Service Lines, and Operations. Poojan clarifies, “I’m on the corporate track… we’re kind of just an umbrella track where we can fit into any lane, any part, and that’s what drew me.”

Key Differences in the Corporate Track:

• System-Level Thinking: “Corporate track is more fast and wide and it gave you a good snapshot of system-level thinking… marrying all of [our hospitals] together because all of their markets are different.”

• Diverse Project Experience: Fellows work on everything from hospital operations to HR and legal projects, gaining a 360-degree view.

• Mentorship and Sponsorship: Preceptor relationships matter: “I’m very relationship-driven and me and him had an instant connection… He has mentored me and sponsored me in such a way where I knew I was going to be in good hands.”

• Exploration Over Specialization: For those uncertain of their future path, the Corporate track enables broad exploration: “It’s a great track for people who might be unsure and don’t know exactly which area… they want to fall into.”

For applicants:

• Explore all available tracks and ask about rotational flexibility

• Seek mentors and preceptors who demonstrate real investment in your growth

Internship as a Stepping Stone: How Poojan Chose WellStar

Why did Poojan select WellStar for her pivotal internship? She outlines her thought process step by step:

1. Recruitment Through UNCC: WellStar was newer to the internship program, but “not only do they hire their interns—they’re actually cultivating a workforce for them.”

2. System Size and Flexibility: As one of Georgia’s largest systems, WellStar offered flexibility instead of rigid week-by-week scheduling: “They let you do it at your own pace.”

3. Leadership Buy-In: The chief of staff attended her internship interview—a rare show of investment: “For him to be present… meant a lot to me and it showed that, not only do they care about me as a person regardless of what job I’m applying for, but I’m already receiving the respect.”

Pro tip for students:
When researching programs, look for:

• Evidence of intern-to-fellow pipelines

• Leadership presence in interviews

• Flexibility and respect for interns as future contributors

Collaboration with Clinicians: Building Bridges, Not Barriers

One of the most common questions about healthcare administration is how well administrators collaborate with clinical staff. Poojan is clear: “I have worked with a lot of MDs who are now in administrative roles… they’re some of the sweetest people I’ve met.”

Key Points:

• Mutual Respect: “When you’re talking to someone, you need to talk to them as a peer… show them, like, no, I respect you as a person and I would hope that you respect me as a person.”

• Problem-Solving Mindset: Difficult conversations become easier when focused on shared problems: “This is a problem that is not us, this is a problem that’s the outside that we’re trying to solve together.”

• Willingness to Help: “If there’s something I can take off their plate and work in tandem with them instead of against them, I think relationships are just easily made.”

• Empathy and Curiosity: Understanding clinicians’ pressures and asking, “Can I help?” goes a long way.

For fellows and new administrators:

• Lead with questions, not assumptions

• Approach clinicians as collaborators, not adversaries

• Be willing to “jump in and take something off their plate”

How WellStar Supports Individuality and Drives Diversity

What’s the secret to building truly diverse and inclusive fellowships? According to Poojan, it’s all about valuing individuality: “The biggest impact [was] valuing my individuality and not having me fit into this fellow mold… WallStar has done a great job with that.”

How WellStar Fosters Inclusion:

• Role Models: “The person before me was exactly like me… she was a woman of color, very strong, established, and I loved it.”

• Diverse Cohorts: “My cohort, if you see, we’re all women of color who came from everywhere else.”

• Empowerment Over Assimilation: Fellows are encouraged to “step out and be [their] authentic self” and find their own path.

• Intentional Sponsorship: Mentors actively encourage individuality and growth, not conformity.

Action Steps for Other Programs:

• Value individuality rather than creating a “mold” for fellows to fit into

• Recruit and sponsor from a range of backgrounds and experiences

• Empower fellows to explore, question, and “figure it out” rather than prescribe every step

Takeaway: Redefining Excellence in Healthcare Administration Fellowships

The WellStar Health Administrative Fellowship, as described by Poojan Karnik, is a case study in values-driven leadership, broad-based experience, and authentic support for individuality. For aspiring healthcare leaders, the lesson is clear: seek programs that encourage exploration, honor your individuality, and empower you to build bridges—not just careers.

“Letting someone flourish like that and find their path and grow—it will really do the organization wonders,” Poojan concludes. In a field where impact is measured by both systems and stories, WellStar’s model offers a roadmap for organizations everywhere: create a culture where every fellow, and every voice, is truly heard.