Published May 07, 2018
By Dr. Jessica Dolecheck
The Health Studies and Occupational Therapy Assistant faculty collaborated to provide
a professional business luncheon on April 17, 2018 at ULM where community healthcare
leaders attended for meaningful social interactions with student groups from Health
Studies and Occupational Therapy Assistant programs.
The faculty team received a grant through the Academic Innovation Center to fund this
event, which promotes innovation and collaboration in the areas of teaching, learning
and research.
Linda Holyfield, President and CEO of P&S Surgical Hospital, shares experiences with
students.
A total of 60 students and 10 healthcare leaders participated in the professional
business luncheon event. Some of the leaders present were CEOs, CFOs, Marketing Directors,
Compliance Officers, and Physical/Occupational therapists.
The business luncheon was arranged so that students were able to practice social networking
prior to the lunch; they then were divided into small groups per table with one healthcare
leader for sociable conversation.
Kim Theodos, Jennifer Perodeau and Dr. Stacy Starks worked together to implement business
etiquette and soft skills activities into their spring 2018 courses to help students
to prepare for the event. Students had to develop meaningful questions related to
their careers, professionalism, work ethics and healthcare workforce to ask leaders.
Dr. Jessica Dolecheck, Program Director for Health Studies, directed and coordinated
the entire event.
Health Studies faculty Theodos stated, “The professional luncheon was a success! It
was refreshing to see the students interact with the healthcare leaders, learn from
their professional experience and practice soft skill development. This was a fantastic
opportunity to connect students with our industry partners to foster strong partnerships
and establish new mentorship relationships.”
OTA faculty member Perodeau said, “This was remarkable! Such a worthy event for everyone
involved.”
Jennifer Haneline answers questions at the luncheon.
Starks, health studies faculty, commented, “It was so great to see both our students
and community leaders so engaged and excited about this event.”
Dolecheck noted, “To see our students successfully apply their newly learned skills
in real time was educationally inspiring – what an impactful experience for all involved!”
Through this dyadic interaction, students learned important communication skills such
as active listening, socializing, professionalism and business luncheon etiquette.
This student-centered approach focused on professional student development, which
is critical in producing competitive and qualified graduates for the healthcare workforce.
The Health Studies program plans to continue partnering with other health science
programs in the future for a larger professional business luncheon with a variety
of other disciplines involved.
