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Hello and welcome to Health Services Administration! My name is Brad Pfeifer and I am so glad that you are here. I look forward to working with and learning from each one of you this semester. Please reach out at any time for any reason. As for by background, here goes:

I currently serve as Assistant Dean for Operations at the University of Nebraska Medical Center's College of Public Health in 2019. My primary responsibilities include overall college operations, strategic planning, marketing, human resources, administrative support, and IT. Prior to that, I was Chief Executive Officer at West Holt Medical Services, where I led the overall growth, development and operations of the organization with a steadfast commitment to the highest level of quality, customer service, and transparency.

I earned a master's degree in healthcare administration and hold an Instructor appointment with UNMC's College of Public Health, teaching within the Masters of Healthcare Administration program. I have a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln (UNL). I am board certified in healthcare management as a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives, and have held various board positions, most recently as Regent for the Nebraska & Western Iowa Chapter. Additionally, I serve on the board for Partnership4Kids, a youth development non-profit with over 30 years of experience providing college‑bound mentoring and goal‑setting programs for Omaha youth.

On a personal note, I have a wonderful spouse, six children, a Yorkie/Papillon dog, love music, golf and all things Husker Athletics!

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Hello! My name is Claire Sandeen and I am currently a Medical Receptionist at Proformance Physical Therapy in Lincoln, Nebraska. My role involves scheduling, collecting patient demographics, verifying insurance, faxing physician patient updates and operating patient billing.

I am currently enrolled in UNMC's Masters of Healthcare Administration where I hope to one day be a clinic manager or nursing home administrator!

Interesting Fact #1: I recently graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan a semester early with a degree in Exercise Science as well as a minor in Business Administration!

Interesting Fact #2: I grew up in Hastings, Nebraska where I developed a love for small towns and country music. I have to many different country music concerts such as Brett Young, Jon Pardi, Scotty McCreery and will get to see Zach Bryan this spring as well!

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Hello. My name is Edi Anthony. I have been a Registered Nurse for almost 15 years and currently work as a float pool nurse at CHI Health hospitals. I am enrolled in the College of Public Health and working on my Master in Public Health. I am originally from a small country in West Africa called Togo and have been leaving in the US for a little over 20 years now. I love traveling with my family (wife and 3 children) and enjoy going on long rides on my motorcycle.

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Hello. My name is Aleya Byrd and I live in Florida. I am enrolled in the MPH, Public Health Administration and Policy program. I currently work as a Lead in Patient Safety, Quality, and Infection Prevention at a community hospital (part of a larger healthcare system). I am a nurse and have worked in infection prevention for 12 years.

I lived in Hawaii for a few years and worked as a family planning health educator under a state health department grant. I worked with homeless/houseless, runaway youth, and sex industry workers. I provided STI and bloodborne pathogen education at a juvenile detention center and participated in street outreach to check on the youth that we would often see in the program. This was an interesting and great learning opportunity as a new grad (Bach. in community health). The exposure to different cultures, beliefs, social norms, and harm reduction programs are opportunities I am thankful to have had early on in my career.

I have never been to Nebraska (and actually have only seen very small amounts of snow 2-3 times in my life). I would really like to visit the campus before I finish the program (est. Spring 2025). I would love to visit the biocontainment unit. When we started preparing for Ebola in 2014, UNMC provided infection control resources that I was able to use at the time. My recollection of that lifeline was part of what influenced me to choose this school for graduate studies.

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Hello, all! My name is Courtney Hurd and I am a US Marine Corps veteran residing in Omaha, NE. I am blessed through the Department of Veteran Affairs to have the ability to focus solely on academia after 11.5 years away. During that time I worked to provide for my daughter, who is now a 12-year-old and in middle school.

I’ve gained experience in several industries throughout my life including direct patient care, finance, title insurance and closings, disability claims, a non-profit, medical education, and healthcare compliance where I was auditing ahead of JCAHO. What I did without intention was build an array of skills, all applicable to healthcare administration. I had originally intended on becoming a clinician but am quite passionate about advocacy work, having already volunteered with organizations and personally spoken with government officials to improve circumstances for certain demographics. When I discovered the Master of Public Health program at UNMC and my present concentration of Public Health Administration and Policy, it was a light bulb moment for me. This field is where my life experiences have been leading all along and I could not be more excited to finally begin this journey.

Trying to recall interesting facts about myself did not take long as I always have fun stories about the most random things that have happened. It’s all in how you tell it. I suppose that is a good place to start as my #1! I love making memories and telling stories about them, so much so I have been told I should add "write a book" to my bucket list.

As my #2 interesting fact, I’ve attempted AND completed 18 half marathons, one of which was just outside of Paris, France. I took a train into the city and explored Paris on my own despite not speaking French beyond what I learned on Duolingo. I wandered around without any real plan; eating croissants at the Eiffel Tower, taking a boat ride up the Seine, and seeing the spire on Notre Dame less than 7 months before it burned. I fully believe everyone should get outside of their comfort zone and travel to a country where they don’t speak the language, experiencing other customs and cultures while developing an appreciation for those different from ourselves.

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Hey guys! My name is Melissa and I am a medical social worker at Nebraska medicine. I work for a non profit through the trauma department called Encompass Omaha. It is a hospital based violence intervention program. I am in the masters in public health program with a focus on healthcare administration. Two interesting things about me is that I have lived in Omaha my whole life and have never been to a husker game or valas. I also I’m Italian. I look forward to learning with you all this semester.

Melissa

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My name is Rachel McInerney. I am the Memory Care Advisor for a not-for-profit memory care community. My expertise is in the dementia disease process. I run support groups, seminars, and fundraisers for family dementia caregivers. My professional goals are to work within a hospital system improving administration practices and patient outcomes for seniors.

I have 4 children and a cat and a dog. I enjoy working out, playing with my kids, cooking, walking my dog & reading-that’s all I really have time for.

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Hello all! My name is Michael Gries and I am a radiological health physicist with the State of Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. My job entails helping hospitals and other organization remain compliant with state and federal regulation when is comes to radiation uses and dose limits. I am pursuing my masters of public health with an emphasis on policy and administration. I am in my second year of this program and I continue to meet more new, fun, and interesting people and connections in all my classes. I’m sure this class will result in the same. A couple things about me is that I enjoy being outside! You not find me out and about in -40 degree windchills but usually you can find me outside either playing golf, working on my yard, or playing a recreational sport. Last summer I picked up pickleball and I hope to continue that this upcoming spring. I also enjoy to travel and I hope to be taking trips to Chicago, San Diego, and Las Vegas this year!

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Hi everyone! My name is Blaire Kratochvil and I am a Registered Nurse currently working with case management at a local human services department. I am obtaining my Masters in Public Health. I currently live in Denver, Colorado and am loving it! I have been skiing my whole life but the one time I tried to snowboard, I broke my wrist within the first hour! Another interesting thing about me is that I love to draw and paint. If you have any suggestions of things to draw or paint, let me know!

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Hi my name is Kaneshia Copeland and I am currently enrolled in the dual enrollment program with UNO and UNMC. I am studying my masters of business at uno and masters of public health and policy and UNMC. I was a cna for 6 years, however since 2020 I started my own cleaning business. I started school in 2019 at Metro and have been going since and now on my second semester for this dual masters program. Something interesting about me is I don't come from the perfect family or even parents that went to college, so the journey has been really difficult to navigate or stay motivated to keep going, but somehow, I am still going and getting my master's which is something I never imagined doing. Another interesting fact is I also will pursue my doctorate after this. I will definitely be the first doctor in my family and just that alone is enough motivation to get me through to the end of my journey at UNMC. My goal after finishing this degree to get into administration in a long-term care facility, so that I can pursue becoming a long-term care administrator.