HPM team takes podium finish at Seton Hall case competition

 A year after a double podium finish, an HPM team was back on the podium at the Seton Hall case competition.

The team of first-year MHA student Michaela Frey and first-year MHA/MBA student Ella Valencia came back from New Jersey with a third-place finish.

Ella Valencia, Michaela Frey and MHA program director Kevin Broom with their winnings

“The experience was overwhelming but ultimately rewarding in the end. As a first-year student who has never participated in a case competition before, approaching the case was daunting,” said Valencia.

The team was presented with a case in which a hospital faced numerous problems but had limited funds to address them.

“We had to pretty much create something out of nothing and compete with it,” said Frey. “Although that was a huge barrier, we had to keep reminding ourselves that everyone was working with the same limited information.”

Like other teams competing in case competitions, Valencia and Frey researched, created, and perfected their presentation, in addition to meeting class and other program requirements, and received feedback from their peers and HPM alumni. “Trying to balance the dedication to the case along with regular schoolwork was pretty stressful, especially wanting to do our best at both,” said Frey. “There were also big shoes to fill from the year prior. Last year’s [Pitt] teams placed first and third, so following that up as first-years was something we aimed for.”

“This experience taught me how to break down a problem and form fleshed-out solutions in a condensed timeframe,” said Valencia, who adds that seeing how the competition works has helped her improve things like thinking on her feet and communicating with project partners.”

Going up against other programs from around the country, seeing how their work compares, the duo says it also gave them confidence going forward. “I think to be successful, we needed to truly believe that our solutions were most optimal, not to come across as cocky, but to convey that we have true confidence in how to solve the problems presented to us,” said Frey. “It was really hard to have confidence in our chosen solutions because there was so little information to work with from the case.”

Case competitions encourage and support continued professional development and allow students to develop their competencies while competing directly against peers from many of the top graduate programs across the country. Teams are charged with analyzing a real-world healthcare management case and crafting detailed strategies and presentations to address the case’s challenges something Valencia encourages others to try.

"Case competitions act as an in-between of the classroom and the workforce,” she said. “You can use the knowledge that you learn in the classroom while crafting a solution. Simultaneously, you are gaining valuable workforce skills of thinking quickly, communicating effectively, and presenting data in a visually appealing manner.”