The Value of Mayo Clinic's Administrative Fellowship: An Interview with AFP Alumna, Praneetha Elugunti

To learn more about the Mayo Clinic Administrative Fellowship Program or apply for the class of 2021-2023, visit jobs.mayoclinic.org or search #MayoClinicAFP on LinkedIn.?We also encourage you to reach out to current and former fellows, including Praneetha Elugunti and Alyssa Na.

As a gentle reminder, this year’s applications will close on September 7, 2021.

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TRANSCRIPT

(1:34) Alyssa Na: Praneetha, what attracted you to Mayo Clinic and when you think about your experiences within Mayo, what are the ones that have had the most impact on your career?

(1:45) Praneetha Elugunti: Thank you so much for having me. First and foremost, it's an honor to be a part of this series amongst other great leaders both within and outside the walls of Mayo Clinic. You ask a great question regarding what drove me or what attracted me here. You know first and foremost from the outset is the mission and the primary value of the needs of the patient comes first, it is the central line of what drives all of us and I think that that's something that really resonated with me. I recall being a part of the Administrative Fellowship Program interviews and going to the final round of interviews which was an onsite visit in Rochester and really being in the Gonda building. Up in the lobby of Gonda I remember that I probably spent about 15 or 20 minutes just standing there and soaking up the experience and it was tantalizing cause you could feel the magic of Mayo Clinic and understanding that every single person within this organization was working towards that primary value of putting the needs of our patients first. In the same journey I was also fortunate to view and tour other health systems and what I think really distinguished Mayo Clinic is that those primary values, that statement wasn't just words that were written on the side of a wall. You saw it was truly embedded and integrated into every single thing that folks do here in this organization and I really was driven to want to be a part of something like that, to be part of a larger team that was working towards this mission.

(3:36) Alyssa Na: Absolutely. When I think about when I first experienced the hustle and bustle on Gonda, it's not like any other and so I am very similar to you in that there was the magic. It's so easy to get pulled into an organization when you're able to see how everyone is contributing towards that same mission and same goal. Now Praneetha, you kind of already touched on this but when you think about Mayo Clinic’s values and their RICH TIES, of these 8 values, which of them resonates the most with you and why?

(4:09) Praneetha Elugunti: Absolutely, so obviously our Franciscan and Mayo values date back to the 1880s with the partnership of Mother Alfred and Dr. WW Mayo. All those 8 values of RICH TIES support our primary value of the needs of patients come first. I think what is important is that those values are just as important today as they were in the first 150 years of our history, they are the common thread that holds us all together. Now, having said that, of those 8 values, two that really resonate with me are excellence- making sure that we are delivering the best outcomes and the highest quality service through the dedicated effort of everyone on the team. That really resonates with me because it's a checkpoint for me as a leader to ensure that we are holding ourselves accountable to the highest standards. It allows us to continuously improve and most importantly it's because our patients come to us wanting the best and they deserve the best, so it is really about putting it into the context of being service oriented to meet the needs of our patients. Furthermore, on the note of continuous improvement, our value of innovation or the idea of infusing and energizing an organization through innovation by combining the talents of all our staff is another one that really resonates with me. The Mayo brothers have said it over and over again that learning never stops and neither does innovation. Innovation has been a part of Mayo Clinic's DNA since the beginning and has taken on many forms whether it's new surgical procedures that are less invasive, defined better outcomes, or new protocols for patient safety, or even administrative innovations. It allows us to not only do what we do best but also allows us to distinguish ourselves for the future as we look to be a global authority in the care of serious and complex diseases.

(6:36) Alyssa Na: Wow, very well said, I could not agree more. When I think about those 8 different values, I think a lot of the ones that resonate with me are also the ones that you've really touched on, specifically innovation. Given the current climate with COVID and a lot of the racial tension, I think innovation and respect are so important right now. Now, when thinking about these different values, they obviously closely intertwine with a lot of the different opportunities that are afforded within Mayo Clinic, one of which is the Administrative Fellowship Program, and so what value do you see in pursing an Administrative Fellowship today?

(7:19) Praneetha Elugunti: Yeah, you're absolutely right you know when we think about the RICH TIES in our values the teamwork aspect is absolutely integral to what we do and I really see that as an immense value to the Administrative Fellowship Program today in the past and continuing on into the future. I think some of my best memories out of the fellowship have been the opportunities to be deeply involved in various aspects of our organization and the ability to gain perspective on how all these little pieces of a puzzle come together to really move this large institution. Furthermore, just creating long lasting relationships that still serve me today, you know, at the end of the day we're in the business of serving people and what traditionally might have been a manual rolodex is now transitioning to a virtual rolodex of contacts within the organization as well as those outside of our organization. I think that really allows us as leaders to drive value and to truly be successful, you know, I think that the cornerstone of Mayo Clinic’s success has been this deep-rooted understanding of relationships.

(8:49) Alyssa Na: Yeah, I could not agree more. When you think about these different relationships that you've had within Mayo Clinic either as a direct result of the Administrative Fellowship Program or experiences outside of that, what do you feel your purpose is within health care are and maybe talk a little bit about how your lived experiences, identities, and strengths have shaped this purpose or your vision for healthcare.

(9:15) Praneetha Elugunti: I mean that's again that's a fantastic question. I personally really believe that the purpose of any health care leader is service. We've talked about it a lot within our values as well, there are those really deep-rooted Franciscan values of being service oriented and in a servant leader. In regard to my lived experience, I was really impacted by health care at a very young age. I saw my grandfather really from when I was born to well into my adult life go through multiple serious and complex diagnoses, so the evolution of the care, as well as the patient experience through his journey and just being a part of that. My family has been a beneficiary of excellent service and care by a multidisciplinary team of health care providers along the continuum of care and that has really shaped my perspective on what it means to be a leader and to pay it forward and really to help create and further the delivery of care for our patients at large, not just one patient population or one disease group, but how we look at healthcare as this rounded complex figure.

(10:45) Alyssa Na: I think a lot of us can relate to you as far as having a personal connection with healthcare, especially if we are fortunate enough to have the excellent service afforded to us, so thank you so much for sharing. Now, the next question I want to ask you is specific to you in your professional career. You've held a couple different roles within the organization here and so when it comes to your professional career what would you say you're most proud of and what was its impact?

(11:15) Praneetha Elugunti: There are many things that I am very grateful for, but the one that I'm the proudest of in my career journey I would say is discovering the field of Healthcare Administration. Traditionally, as I was finishing out my college and other educational pursuits, I really wasn't sure what the detail and the discipline of Healthcare Administration was and what that looks and feels like it really wasn't as tangible to me. My experiences I just shared with you at that point in my life had only been to see healthcare careers that were in a more traditional patient care related professions, you know, physicians, nursing, allied health staff and so forth. It really wasn't until I volunteered at a large hospital in my hometown of Atlanta where is really exposed to the field of health care and was able to see tangibly how decisions made at a leadership level impacted not only the staff, not only the care team, but the patients. That really allowed me to develop a passion for this field and in that split, it has led me on this beautiful career journey that I'm on today. So, I would say that I'm very proud of the fact that I went down a path that was perhaps less ventured in my circle of influence. It really has shaped, again, my perspective on how we view healthcare. I often ponder that, you know, had I gone into a more patient centric career field, I think you would have still served the same purpose, which was to help patients. But, I'm really proud of the fact that as an Administrator I'm able to help hundreds if not thousands of patients at a time as opposed to perhaps that one to one patient interaction and that's something that I'm really honored to be able to do every day.

(13:29) Alyssa Na: Absolutely. When I think about health care, obviously I think about the providers, those providing that direct patient care and I never necessarily thought about those that are working behind the scenes to essentially keep the lights on of the hospital. I was really fortunate enough to be able to cross paths with someone who was working in this space, which you know is a perfect segue into this next question and topic of this idea of mentorship and so you've already touched on it throughout a couple of these different questions, but could you speak to the different formal and informal mentoring relationships that you've had here at Mayo Clinic and how have these mentors defined your career or leadership philosophy?

(14:09) Praneetha Elugunti: Absolutely, I think I said it a little earlier, that we're in the business of relationships and the business of serving people, and in my experience mentorship holds this significant value for not only professional growth but also personal growth. I have been extremely fortunate to have mentors from within the Administrative Fellowship Program, but also to have grown and developed mentorship relationships organically from colleagues within Mayo that maybe supervisory, maybe leaders in other parts the organization, or even my peers, and those that I had the opportunity to lead and simultaneously developing a network of connections and mentors outside of the organization. One of my goals is to always take away a nugget like a meaningful, impactful nugget from my mentorship relationships. One of the leading philosophies that I've gained is one from a very dear mentor and someone that I'm also very excited to call a friend is, John Nordrum, who was my first official boss post the fellowship program, who is now also the Vice Chair of education at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. He really taught me this principle of the job of a successful mentor is to take your mentees, pour into them and really then have them stand on your shoulders and elevate them to stand taller and achieve professional and personal growth higher than one's own current position. That has really shaped how I think of my leadership philosophy and how I see leadership development. It is akin to the aphorism of “a rising tide lifts all boats up” and that we as an organization will improve through the transfusion of great talent, which ultimately benefits all of us and most importantly our patients. It really is about helping others achieve their personal and professional success and even at times when they themselves might not see that for them and I think that that has been really empowering as a leader to not only be able to experience that but also take that philosophy and pay it forward for our future leaders.

(17:01) Alyssa Na: I think that's wonderful and that is great Praneetha, especially when we think about how the healthcare landscape is changing. These relationships are central to developing that future workforce, especially when we think about innovation and what the future of healthcare actually looks like. So that is a perfect segue into the next question I wanted to ask you. Now as we transition into or discussion about looking forward, when you think about innovation and the future of healthcare what do you think are some game changers that might revolutionize and disrupt healthcare?

(17:36) Praneetha Elugunti: I’m really excited to say that I have a small part in this piece now, but I really do think that digital transformation and AI are game changers now and of the future. With my role currently supporting the Center for Digital Health, I'm working to transfuse the digital landscape and to facilitate and accelerate digital solutions to meet the needs of our practice for today and for tomorrow at our Arizona campus. With that I'm also assisting with advancing our AI efforts, we're very fortunate in health care given the vast amount of data that we possess, to have endless opportunities to leverage technology and deploy more precise, efficient, and impactful interventions at exactly the right moment in a patient's care. I'm really intrigued and excited about advancing the use of AI and healthcare I see it as an opportunity for us to answer questions and match technology with our business needs through the use of these repetitive data points that we have within our systems. Oftentimes, I think that there's this misconception that AI or digital transformation is going to have robots that replace human jobs and really it couldn't be further from the truth, what we're doing is building tools that will enhance what we're currently doing but allows us to work smarter, not necessarily harder for the future and I think being in that position is really energizing.

(19:31) Alyssa Na: Absolutely, I think that Mayo is really at the forefront of these different discoveries as far as accelerating healthcare goes and creating and taking advantage of new opportunities that do come as a result of having access to immense melts of data. When we think about how we can combine innovation to inform the strategy of the future of healthcare, how do you think health systems and health Administrators can best work together to advance the health patients and their communities?

(20:07) Praneetha Elugunti: Yeah, that's a powerful question. If I had a crystal ball I would be in a much better position, but I really do think that you know in terms of how we advance the health of our patients in our communities further I think that partnering with nontraditional competitors within the landscape to leverage new digital technologies and furthering the advancement of science is the new way forward. I strongly believe that collaboration is the new mechanism to advance the health of our patients and communities. In the recent past, we've seen a lot of collaborations and partnerships amongst not only health care organizations through your traditional mergers and acquisitions, but also the infusion of new industries such as technology. I really do think that that collaboration of taking what we're really good at, which is healthcare, right, we know how to deliver healthcare and infusing these new industries in with healthcare is really going to best position us for the future.

(21:19) Alyssa Na: That's great, that's so insightful, and again I really could not agree more. Now Praneetha, we know a lot more about your professional career thus far and so I'm going to switch gears a little bit. I want to know a little bit more about you as person, so can you share something with me, something new you're currently learning?

(21:40) Praneetha Elugunti: Absolutely, so outside of my professional career, personally I'm a self-proclaimed big foodie. I love trying new cuisines and restaurants, typically, I enjoy it when someone else does the hard work and I just get to enjoy the culinary experience. But obviously with the pandemic we've all had to adjust and adapt, so one of the things I'm doing right now outside of work is I am learning how to cook. I'm really going back to my roots to learn the intricacies of Indian cooking because Indian cooking and Indian cuisine has a very robust flavor profile. I grew up watching my mother and my grandmother create these delicious meals without ever having a single recipe book or writing a single thing down and it's certainly been a journey and trying to recreate some of my favorite childhood meals.

(22:50) Alyssa Na: Wow, cooking is also something that I've tried to work on throughout the past year or so, I think it's a great form of self-care and it's certainly a perfect way to learn more about your heritage and so I'm really glad that you're taking advantage of this time to really expand your skills as far as cooking goes. Now kind of on a similar note, do you have any book or podcast recommendations for those who might want to learn more about leadership development, personal development, or maybe health care?

(23:23) Praneetha Elugunti: Yeah, absolutely you know, one of my most favorite podcasts right now is called Game Changers in Medicine, by Doctor Robin Pillay. It does a fantastic job of taking what we've done traditionally, but also applying it to the modern day. I really enjoy his podcast because I feel like every time, I listen to them I walk away with new information and just new historical perspective as well in terms of why we do the things that we do. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????

(23:58) Alyssa Na: I will definitely have to check it out, I haven't heard of that podcast. Is it on Spotify, NPR?

(24:05) Praneetha Elugunti: It’s on your Apple Podcasts, that’s where I listen to it.

(24:10) Alyssa Na: Oh, perfect thank you. Now, Praneetha, we're getting near the end of our interview and I just wanted to ask you what gives you joy outside of work or what brings you hope and peace? Obviously, work is only one part of who you are as a person and so you know how do you keep yourself motivated when it comes to keeping yourself fulfilled outside of that work environment?

(24:30) Praneetha Elugunti: Family and friends are the two things that give me the greatest joy outside of work. With respect to bringing hope and peace, I really believe in this sense of being connected to a higher spirituality, something that connects you and grounds you and to me that's my faith, then having the belief that that I'm working towards something that's gonna feed my soul. I have always felt that I was placed in my life to make the world around me better and that's really again goes back to why I chose a career in healthcare and being able to help those around me and that's what I'm in the pursuit of everyday.

(24:25) Alyssa Na: Wow, wow, I love that. Now, you kind of touched on this, there's lots to look forward to as we move forward in healthcare and in our personal journeys. I want to end on this question and I wanted to ask you what are what are you most excited for in the next few years?

(25:43) Praneetha Elugunti: Well, first and foremost herd immunity from COVID, second the ability to travel, I am itching to go experience other cultures. Then lastly, I'll go back to one of your earlier questions, to borrow another nugget from another mentor, Adam Thompson, who's the Fellowship Director for our Florida campus. I'm really looking forward to honing my craft as I continue to grow both personally and professionally, I think that our ability to look at ourselves and continuously improve is what makes us better and what makes add more value to our life, so I really look forward to that.

(26:35) Alyssa Na: Praneetha, thank you so much for your time today and for this wonderful conversation. I certainly appreciate all the insights that you shared, and I really think that your pursuit and your constant strive to really inspire others and that continuous learning is really just such an inspiration for me. On a very personal level, as an early careerist I'm always looking to find other individuals who've gone down a similar path and those were able to speak to the importance of cultivating meaningful relationships and so I really appreciate you for taking the time today. Thank you!