For the second year running, a team of Ohio State Master of Health Administration students took the top prize at the annual National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE) Everett V. Fox Student Case Competition. The contest charges student teams with applying their creativity, knowledge and experience to analyze a unique case study and present their findings before expert judges, which include leaders in health care, business and academia.
NAHSE is a nonprofit association of Black health care executives founded in 1968 to promote the advancement and development of Black and other minority health care leaders and elevate the quality of health care services minority and underserved communities receive.
The winning team included MHA students Ben Almassi, Sarah Gebretsadik and Sydney Stepney.
“Competing in the NAHSE Case Competition was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that afforded us the chance to challenge ourselves, step outside of our comfort zones and build a closer friendship with one another. Being surrounded by health care executives who looked like provided us with a sense of belonging, inspiration and the drive to take our careers to the next level,” wrote Almassi, Grebretsadik and Stepney in a collective statement.
“For three weeks, we researched, held Zoom calls, and presented our ideas to faculty, alumni and our MHA peers. We are overjoyed by the results of winning, but even more elated that we saw the fruits of our labor pay off by going after our goal of being no. 1. Thank you to everyone who supported us along the way.”
The October competition was held in New Orleans. The CPH contingent at the competition included first-year graduate students, MHA alumni and members of two previous competition teams.
Julie Robbins, associate clinical professor and adviser to the NAHSE team, said the students demonstrated phenomenal teamwork in executing their analysis and presentation. The competition is an important opportunity for students of color “to connect with alumni, peers and practitioner leaders from around the country that will be part of their network and community as they move forward beyond our program,” Robbins said.
