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Seton Hall University Health and Medical Sciences

MHA Students Take Top Honors at Regional Competition  

MHA Students First PrizeTwo teams of Master of Healthcare Administration students took top prizes at the Seton Hall University - Healthcare Planning and Marketing Society of New Jersey Hybrid Case Study Challenge held at the Interprofessional Health Sciences Campus last month.

Seton Hall students won both first place and honorable mention in the competition. 

"Participating in the case study competition was a great and educational experience. It allowed me to use all the knowledge gained from my courses from the MHA program and apply it to a real scenario," said Génesis Díaz Durango, MHA student. "It gave me an insight on what current healthcare leaders are facing and what I may face soon."


For the third year in a row, Seton Hall partnered with the Healthcare Planning and Marketing Society of New Jersey (HPMSNJ) to offer the Graduate Case Study Challenge for regional CAHME (Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education)-accredited and pipeline schools. Other participating schools this year were Columbia University, Rutgers University, Stony Brook University, University of Pittsburgh and University of Scranton.

This year, the Challenge was hybrid (online or in-person) with four teams choosing online and four teams choosing the in-person option. All teams, virtual and in-person, presented to a panel of independent external judges as well as healthcare administration faculty. Finalists then moved to the afternoon session with a new slate of senior independent external judges. 

The judges for the final round of afternoon presentations were Al Faber, president and CEO of the Baldrige Foundation; Cathy Bennett, president and CEO, New Jersey Hospital Association; and Norman Tessell, former president, Healthcare Planning and Marketing Society of New Jersey. While the judges were deliberating the final ranking, both in-person and virtual attendees had an interactive question-and-answer session with Anthony Stanowski, president and CEO of CAHME.

"This is a remarkable achievement for our MHA program, but comes as no surprise," said Brian B. Shulman, Ph.D., dean of the School of Health and Medical Sciences. "The academic prowess and professionalism of our students is well known at Seton Hall and among the larger healthcare community."

The event was sponsored by Hackensack Meridian Health, CAHME and Veralon Consulting. Seton Hall's teams were coached by Brian P. Colfer, Ph.D., and Stephen Wagner, Ph.D., FACHE, FACMPE, faculty in the Department of Interprofessional Health Sciences and Health Administration (IHSA) in the School of Health and Medical Sciences.

"The case study challenge is a wonderful opportunity for students to demonstrate the practical application to their academic pursuits," said Wagner. "This is particularly important because the MHA is an applied professional degree that provides strong academic underpinnings and provides a vehicle to use critical thinking skills in real-world scenarios."

 "This is especially satisfying to faculty because you can see the progress students are making and the enthusiasm they show for the competition," he said. "All in all, it sets students up well for their current and future pursuits in healthcare administration."

Colfer added, "Another great part of the case study is the opportunity for our students to interact with graduate students from other regionally CAHME-accredited schools. I have seen these friendships last beyond the case challenge."

Final ranking of teams for SHU-HPMSNJ Case Study challenge 2021
First Prize: Seton Hall Team 1
Second Prize: Univ. of Pittsburgh – BDL Solutions 
Third Prize: Rutgers University
Honorable Mention: Seton Hall Team 2 

Categories: Health and Medicine

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