A win-win relationship: College of Health Sciences, UK HealthCare rely on each other for support

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 4, 2025) — It was a normal school day for Caroline Prewitt. She was sitting in a Clinical Leadership and Management (CLM) class, absorbing the lessons taught by Mark D. Birdwhistell, and that’s when it dawned on her. That was the moment she realized just how beneficial it was to have a professor with a breadth and depth of practical experience imparting such relevant information.

“It occurred to me that not every student would have this opportunity,” said Prewitt, who at the time was a junior in the Clinical Leadership and Management program in the University of Kentucky’s College of Health Sciences. “Not every student would be able to be taught by someone who has such a unique impact.”

The class, taught by Birdwhistell, was Health Policy, Politics and Law. Birdwhistell, an adjunct professor in the College of Health Sciences, is current senior vice president for health and public policy for UK. Before that, he held senior leadership roles in both the private and public sectors, including being appointed Secretary for the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and serving as chief executive officer for CHA Health. He has more than 40 years of experience in health care, with specific expertise in Medicaid policy.

Yet some of his most professional enjoyment, he says, comes from teaching CLM students like Prewitt.

“It’s the light bulb moment when you see students finally connect with what you’re trying to tell them from a curriculum perspective, and then you can see how they parlay that into something they really are passionate about,” Birdwhistell said. “I love to see the times when a guest speaker comes and talks to them about something like health care law, and different students from time to time will gravitate to that person and speak afterward, and they can see a future career — similar to what they’ve just heard about. That feels pretty good.”

Birdwhistell started teaching in the CLM program in fall 2018, and now, he joins a long list of former and current UK HealthCare leaders who are also teaching classes in the College of Health Sciences.  

It is all part of having an academic health system like UK HealthCare, where the university’s health colleges are included in the experience and students have the chance to learn directly from experts in the field. Even more notable, this kind of knowledge can apply to a myriad of careers. 

Both faculty and students say the partnership is a win-win.  

“CLM is creating future health care leaders and UK HealthCare provides a great training site for hands-on education and growth,” said transplant administrator Melinda Fox, who teaches the course Human Resources Management in Health Care. “These students are all future leaders in our field. As a preceptor and adjunct faculty in CLM, my goal is to always pass along the great mentorship, training opportunities and advice that was relayed to me. What UK HealthCare gets is an opportunity to develop a pipeline of great staff and managers.”

Fox said she hopes students take advantage of the opportunity.

“I hope every student sees this as a huge growth opportunity and approaches it like a sponge, soaking it all up,” she said. “I hope they get some great ‘real work’ projects, interact with experienced managers that can provide advice and mentorship, and become comfortable working within a team in a professional workplace.”

A direct correlation

Prewitt knows exactly what Fox means. After taking Birdwhistell’s course, she grew interested in a career in health care. In the summer of her junior year, she applied for, interviewed and ultimately landed an internship with UK HealthCare.

“Landing my first internship at UK HealthCare was truly a defining moment,” Prewitt said. “While I was in [Birdwhistell’s] class, I developed a growing interest in the field, but it wasn’t until after his course that I truly understood the depth of his influence, particularly in health policy and government. Mark’s ability to shape the industry is something that became evident only once I had a broader perspective beyond the classroom.

“Another example is Rob Edwards, UK’s vice president and chief strategy and growth officer, who taught Strategic Vision, Mission and Plan,” she continued. “This class was particularly insightful as it provided a deep dive into the strategic planning processes of a major health care institution, offering students a practical understanding of how vision and mission statements translate into actionable plans.”

“As a faculty member in the College of Health Sciences, I so appreciate the opportunity afforded by the college to allow us to give back to the next generation of health care leaders,” Edwards said.  

Some students like Blanca Orozco, who graduated from CLM in 2023, picked the program solely because of the close relationship it had with UK HealthCare.

"CLM/CHS and UK HealthCare have an invaluable relationship that allows students to learn from current health care employees what it's like to be an administrator, manager and leader,” said Orozco, who now serves as the director of operations at Bluegrass Interpreting and Translation, an agency that provides interpreters for UK HealthCare. “Being a part of, and in such close proximity to, a large health system like UK HealthCare provides CLM students with a solid foundation regarding how things operate and how they must be managed.

“Since this program is designed for people already working in health care, our experience directly correlated with what we were learning, so we were able to incorporate the curriculum directly to our work,” Orozco continued. “The relationship between the program, the college and the enterprise is an integral part of the success I experienced. I immediately implemented the skills I was learning, and it allowed me to receive a promotion while I was still in the program, as well as a promotion after graduating from the program.”

Jessi Tran, who graduated in 2021, became a hospital operations administrative fellow and now serves as an operations manager. She says she was already networking with health care professionals as a student — then she got her first job based on those relationships, and worked in that position for three years.

“This partnership has provided us with numerous opportunities, from having faculty come and guest speak on specific topics in their field, to adjunct professors teaching CLM courses,” Tran said. “These interactions allowed us to network with professionals and gain valuable insights into their career paths. I secured my first job as a patient transporter thanks to a guest speaker from UK HealthCare who visited our CLM class and highlighted the excellent opportunity this role offers.”

Developing the future

Birdwhistell noted that beyond the real-world learning and networking possibilities, students also benefit from a diverse mix of peers — including some who are already involved in multiple levels of professional health care.

“We have what I would call the ‘typical’ student in a class alongside somebody in scrubs — who earlier that morning had scrubbed in for somebody’s surgical procedure — and they get to interact with each other,” Birdwhistell said. “I usually have all of the students respond to our topics. I’ll say, ‘Okay, what does this mean to you?’ and we will get many different responses — from students from the pharmacy program, from the lab area, from registration. It really is the ones who are employed and typically older — they kind of step in as surrogate mentors to help the other students and show how it all really works.”

And, on more than one occasion, UK HealthCare has hired those students from practicums and internships.

“As part of the program, students complete practicums during their senior year, and more than 60% are done at UK HealthCare,” said Karen Clancy, Ph.D., current CLM program director. However, in 2022, CLM decided to provide its students with even more access to experiential education in the form of internships. So, they offered their students — and possible employers — an opportunity to get together in a speed-dating style internship interview process.

Between Sarah Kercsmar, Ph.D., then-program director and director of undergraduate studies in CLM, and her partners at the Stuckert Career Center, including Rachel Brand and Beth Hanneman, they invited more than 20 students to speak to nine local health care employers in a round-robin session, where each got about five minutes with one another before moving to the next.

Of course, UK HealthCare was there.

“When people ask me what sets our program apart, or why would you want to come here, I’m almost always going to say it’s because of the relationship with UK HealthCare and that we sit on an academic medical center campus,” said Kercsmar, who is now the chair for the Department of Health and Clinical Sciences and the certificate director for the Clinical Healthcare Certificate program. “This really allows us to let our students engage with leaders in ways that that you wouldn’t get to otherwise.

“If we reverse it, [UK HealthCare] realizes they have these students right in their own backyard,” she continued. “These students are highly trained, who have had real-life practical experiences that are preparing them to step right into the workforce, ready to go. We know that our students are job ready when they leave here — they are communicators and collaborators and critical thinkers. And they can articulate that, too. When they walk into these places of employment, they’re demonstrating those skills, and the employers can count on them.”

Real-world expertise

Prewitt, who graduated in 2023 with a business minor, is now continuing her health care path. She is a government relations intern and working for the Office of the Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, and she is pursuing a Master of Health Administration degree.

“I cannot emphasize enough how incredibly fortunate CLM and CHS students are to have such a unique partnership,” Prewitt said. “Through this collaboration, we have the rare opportunity to learn directly from executives like Mark Birdwhistell, Director of Administration Michael Hatfield, Rob Edwards and Chief of Value-based Programs, Public Policy and Community Initiatives Trudi Matthews — leaders who play a key role in keeping the hospital running smoothly and ensuring patients are well cared for.

“This access to real-world expertise from those at the top of the field is a privilege that not many students get, and it truly sets our program apart,” Prewitt continued. “Without their mentorship and support, I wouldn’t be in the position I am today.”

Helping the Commonwealth

Students like Prewitt will be able to go on to help improve the health of Kentuckians, which is the mission of the College of the Health Sciences, says Scott Lephart, Ph.D., dean of the college.

“We thank those affiliated with UK HealthCare for their time and expertise in helping to our educate our students,” Lephart said. “Here in the College of Health Sciences, we are training the next generation of health care leaders, which in turn, helps our college and university fulfill our mission to the Commonwealth. We know with the aid of those at UK HealthCare, we are able to provide the kind of real-world applications that produce the best kinds of health care professionals. Their knowledge and skills are invaluable.”

For Prewitt, she now knows her future also includes helping the Commonwealth.

“I have a deep love for the University of Kentucky,” she said, “and as someone who is proudly from Kentucky — anyone who knows me understands that I never want to leave this state, or more importantly, UK — the passion of the people here, all working toward a shared mission, is something I truly want to be a part of for the long term.”

After graduation, Prewitt said her goal is to continue working in governmental affairs, policy, and quality — areas where she can contribute to meaningful change. She said she hopes to work with UK HealthCare or a similar institution.

“Being from Kentucky, I feel a strong connection to this community and its mission, and I hope to give back in a way that supports our local and state needs,” Prewitt said.

And it all began when she made that striking realization years ago in Birdwhistell’s class.

“Those classes left a lasting impact on us all due to their roles,” Prewitt said. “This relationship with UK HealthCare is a major benefit of a CHS education. It’s rare to find an undergraduate program where health care executives are so willing to teach and mentor the future leaders of health care.

“We’re lucky to have them. This is a great place to be.”