Josie Gingrich, GCMM’22, has always loved education. It’s why she has worked in higher education for years, first supporting optometry students and then medical students who had transitioned to residency, and why she decided to pursue the Graduate Certificate in Medical Management in the Kelley School of Business at IUPUI.
When she enrolled in the mini-MBA program, Josie was managing residents and fellows in the Department of Urology at the IU School of Medicine. The role involved human resources, scheduling, educational counseling and adhering to accreditation guidelines. When she heard about the healthcare administration certificate at the Kelley School, Josie saw another opportunity to add to her education in a way that was directly applicable to her work.
“I’ve always worked on the clinical educational side of healthcare, but I knew the graduate certificate would give me a better understanding of what my doctors deal with and a wider breadth of knowledge about the business of medicine,” said Gingrich. “Plus, I support the next generation of physicians, and it’s useful for me to understand what they’re going to face.”
The graduate certificate would give me a better understanding of what my doctors deal with and a wider breadth of knowledge about the business of medicine.”
Much of her work in the Department of Urology involved managing the complex application process and interviews for incoming residents, which all occur at the same time. It requires a great deal of organization, which Josie says she gained in a process management course with Clinical Professor of Marketing Kim Saxton.
“Her class really taught me how to look at the whole process, identify inefficiencies or areas for improvement and make changes. My boss was a busy doctor who relied on me to handle it,” said Josie. “I could do that because I had class examples to refer to and a class project I completed on improving the residency application review process. I sent the results of that project to my boss, and he said, ‘This is great; let’s make these changes!’ The lessons were very practical.”
Shortly after starting at Kelley, Josie was offered a new role as an education program admissions and outreach counselor in the MD/PhD program at the medical school. During this time, she took the Financial Performance in Healthcare Systems course with Clinical Assistant Professor Russell Rhoads in which students analyzed an aspect of their jobs to create positive change. Though she’d worked in financial aid for many years, Josie said she didn’t truly understand the mechanics of endowed scholarships. All MD/PhD students are fully supported while they complete their degrees, so these types of scholarships that can cover expenses are central to the program in which she worked.
“I studied what professor Rhoads shared with me about endowed scholarships and researched how the IU Foundation approaches them. I put together some formulas and a presentation on how it works and how much donor funding is needed to cover a whole year of a medical student’s tuition and living expenses,” said Josie. “Now that I have this knowledge, I can speak confidently on how to create an endowed scholarship and how to manage the process. It was a whole new topic for me that now I can speak on with some authority.”
It was a whole new topic for me that now I can speak on with some authority.”
In her final project, the Immersive Capstone Experience, Josie joined a team of classmates to consult with a startup that needed market research for a new pancreatic cyst fluid test. It’s a topic Josie and her teammates knew little about, but the project gave them the opportunity to expand their knowledge base, research the competitive landscape for this product and conduct interviews with physicians from all over the country.
“I took a lot away from this experience. It required extensive research and interviewing skills because we needed to understand this very specific medical condition of pancreatic tumors to advise on a business recommendation,” said Josie. “In the beginning, I was so nervous about interviewing doctors, and by the end of the project, it was almost routine. My comfort level was much higher. Even now, I’m more likely to go directly to the source for information and find the right people to talk to.”
Josie is grateful she decided to expand her education with the Graduate Certificate in Medical Management. In fact, she’s considering applying this healthcare management certification toward the Kelley Evening MBA Program. Moving forward, she sees continuous opportunities to apply her new business skill set.
“Everything from the certificate has its place in expanding my world,” she said.