Experience is a great teacher. But for Nicole Wolfe, transitioning from working directly with patients as an occupational therapist to creating company-wide standard operating procedures as a healthcare administrator meant that she’d need more than just experience.
“I wanted to have a better foundational knowledge of what is driving the decisions that we’re having to make in health care.”
She wanted the concepts delivered through the Graduate Certificate in Population Health.
“My search ended right there,” says Wolfe. “I mean it just absolutely fit what I was looking for.”
From Clinician to Healthcare Administrator
As an occupational therapist, Wolfe began her career in Kansas working in home healthcare treating patients who had suffered traumatic brain injuries.
Wolfe remained in home health, even as she and her husband moved from Kansas to Texas to Louisiana.
She had experience writing programs to support consistency among therapists and full transitioned to a new role when the Louisiana agency she worked for grew into a national home health company.
"As we acquired new agencies and staff, there was a need to create consistency for therapists and patients across the United States,” she says. “That’s when I crossed the threshold from hands-on, in-home therapy to managing therapy programs for the company to ensure that we were confident with the way that our patients were being cared for.”
To continue developing programs, policies and procedures for the growing company, Wolfe did everything she could to stay on top of changing regulations and structures, whether it was through her own research or making sure she was in the right meetings.
However, Wolfe wanted to supplement her experience and independent learning in order to be proactive in her position.
“I thought, ‘How can I better predict what my company needs to do and be in five years?’ It's really to go back and learn and build the foundation that I never had,” she says.
Building the Foundation
For Wolfe, time investment was as important as the accessibility of the program she’d pursue.
UL Lafayette delivered on both fronts.
Students can complete the 12-hour program online in as few as two semesters.
Moreover, the graduate certificate program is specifically designed for clinicians, administrators, managers, and analysts in health care and public health who want to advance their understanding of the policies and strategies that shape health outcomes.
“I didn't want to take more than a year to complete what I needed to do and what I wanted to learn, and my desire was for something that was either online or hybrid so I didn't have to be away from home,” says Wolfe. “Lo and behold, I found that UL Lafayette had a program 100% online that I was able to juggle better with my family and my job."
And once she enrolled in the program, she found the content also delivered.
“I've gotten a lot out of the coursework,” she says. “I've been able to apply everything that I've learned to what I do. It's been interesting.”
Now, Wolfe is moving forward with a new position in a new company, where she’ll have the opportunity to leverage her decades of experience alongside the knowledge she’s gained through the Graduate Certificate in Population Health.
“It's a great opportunity to apply what I've been able to do in the past to drive them toward the new day of health care,” she says. “I have greater confidence in driving change and decisions, because I better understood the why and not just the technical aspects of the changes in health care.”