A group of students in Union’s Leadership in Medicine program recently finished second in the Penn State Health Policy and Administration Virtual Case Competition.
Hosted by the Department of Health Policy and Administration and sponsored by Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, the competition featured students from 20 undergraduate institutions.
A team of students in Union’s Leadership in Medicine program recently finished second in the Penn State Health Policy and Administration Virtual Case Competition. From left: Michael Caine '27, Sophia Sangha '28, Aarya Shah '28 and Arjun Bhatnagar '27.
Students were asked to create a schedule for overlapping TKA’s (total knee arthoplasty or replacements). This would allow the attending surgeon to do more surgeries in a day as they would only need to be present for the critical portion of each surgery. Teams had to create a solution, consider financial feasibility, patient safety metrics, scalability and implementation strategies. Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center will use proposed solutions to make a difference in the communities they serve.
The students representing Union were Arjun Bhatnagar '27, Michael Caine '27, Sophia Sangha '28 and Aarya Shah '28. Their adviser was Brandy Eggan, director of the LIM program.
The case began on Oct. 16 and Union’s team presented for the first round and semifinals on Oct. 20. The final round presentation on Oct. 22 was to C-suite executives from Hershey Medical Center.
The team from Northwestern University finished first, followed by Union and the University of Miami.
The four Union students will split the $2,000 they won for second place.
“It was a joy to work alongside and lead my peers in this healthcare case competition as we applied our business coursework to a real-world healthcare challenge,” said Bhatnagar, the team’s captain. “Finishing second with a practical orthopedic scheduling solution evaluated by Penn State Health executives showed me that our ideas can make a meaningful impact in healthcare.”
Students admitted into the eight-year Leadership in Medicine program spend four years at Union, where they complete undergraduate and graduate courses. Students are then guaranteed admission to Albany Medical College.