2022 Student Awards

The recipients of this year’s awards represent the very best of not only our department and school, but they also are the future health care and public health professionals who will lead us into better and brighter days ahead.

-Jay Hamm, Vice President of Operations for Lexington Medical Center, Adjunct Faculty in the HSPM Department, and Chair of the USC MHA Program’s Advisory Board

	Susie B. Yates Award	Miti Patel graduated from the MHA program in May and most recently served as a graduate assistant with the Physician Network at Lexington Medical Center. Prior to this, she also worked in University Health Services during its initial COVID-19 response in Fall 2020. She is now a double graduate of UofSC and the Arnold School, having earned her bachelor’s degree in public health in 2020. After graduation, Patel will move to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to begin the UNC Hospitals Administrative Fellowship Program.
	AUPHA Foster G. McGaw Scholarship Awards	Alyssa Blickensderfer graduated from the MHA program in May after serving as a graduate assistant with McLeod Health in Florence, SC. She graduated from The Ohio State University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Health and Rehabilitation Science and a minor in neuroscience. Blickensderfer has accepted a position as Executive Assistant/Chief of Staff with MUSC Health, Midlands.
	AUPHA Foster G. McGaw Scholarship Awards	Bradford Lemmons also recently graduated from the MHA program and completed a graduate assistantship at McLeod Health. He received his bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration/Management from Furman University in 2018, where he was also a student athlete. After graduating, Bradford moved to Sarasota, Florida to serve as an Administrative Fellow at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System.
	AUPHA Foster G. McGaw Scholarship Awards	Laurel Pulling is a graduate of the MHA program, having served as a graduate assistant with Lexington Medical Center and also previously worked for University Health Services. She graduated from The Ohio State University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. After graduating from UofSC, Pulling began her career as an Administrative Fellow with Lexington Medical Center.
	Michael D. Jarrett Scholarship Award	Chantal LaFlamme is a graduate of the MPH program, who has not only excelled in her academic coursework but performed exceptionally in her graduate assistantships, most recently with the SC Center for Rural and Primary Health Care. She also co-led a student effort to increase awareness of the importance of the use of KN95 masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. After graduating, she moved to Madison, Wisconsin to assume her position as a Project Manager with Epic.