Mill-All Team Spotlight: Tami Corsi’s Yale Certification

Education, Transformation & Leadership are the three pillars of The Millennium Alliance, and we’re so honored to have a team of staff that take this with them in their day-to-day lives. Tami Corsi, our Senior Healthcare Alliance Executive, has been an innovator and leader with us for over 3 years. Always on the quest to sharpen her skills, Corsi completed an executive education healthcare management course with the Yale School of Management, and received her certification with a 94% average. We asked her a few questions about the experience, her takeaways, and advice on pursuing executive education while balancing a busy life.

Q: You recently completed a course with Yale’s School of Management for Healthcare. What inspired you to pursue this course, particularly with regards to healthcare?

TC: It probably makes sense to start at the beginning! When I started at The Millennium Alliance, healthcare was nowhere on the radar as far as interests – to the point where I wasn’t even sure what health insurance I was under. Millennium presented the opportunity to branch out into an industry with unlimited growth and potential and that is something I am so incredibly grateful for. The first event I attended was the Digital Healthcare Transformation Assembly at The Four Seasons Hotel Denver, CO. My job was to sit in the workshop room and take notes and pick out quotes from each session to post on social media. I learned more in two days from the executives discussing the future of healthcare and that pinpointed moment is where I realized there was a spark and a passion for the industry. Moving forward, reading articles and talking to delegates wasn’t enough to satisfy my curiosity. I started researching going back to school and one of the delegates I worked with, Chaka Jordan, suggested looking into certificate programs to test the waters. The Yale SOM online certificate program was a perfect fit given the time commitment, cost, and benefits. I would highly recommend the courses to anyone interested.  

Q: Can you share with us a bit about the course, and what you learned? Did you gain insights on what might be next in digital health? 

TC: The course was 8 weeks of content, 9 including online orientation. Each module was released on Wednesday morning and each student had the entire week to complete a series of videos, exercises, discussion boards, and finally a section test. The time commitment varied depending on the background of each student. For me, it took a little longer because all of the material was brand new, plus I’ve never worked inside a hospital before. Most students were participating in the course to further professional development so the content was more straightforward. One of the things I enjoyed about it was there were students from all over the world participating. I learned how other countries hospital systems work, health insurance is structured, and what they think of the current system in the United States. The biggest takeaway was that there is no one right answer. We are on the cusp of a technology boom in healthcare – with many solutions stemming from the pandemic – and as the famous saying goes, “Never let a good crisis go to waste” – Winston Churchill. 

Q: What value did you gain from this experience that you can bring to The Millennium Alliance?

TC: Taking a course like the Yale SOM Healthcare Management program really helped with communicating with attendees on their level. It was rewarding to post in a discussion group of C-Level executives and have even one person validate with a ‘good point’. The content was also well aligned with the majority of our healthcare event agendas. It’s always a pleasure working with the product and marketing teams on agenda and content creation that is industry specific.  

Q: After completing the course at the top of your “virtual class”, do you foresee continued education playing a large role in your career moving forward? 

TC: Absolutely. It would be silly to work for a company who’s whole model is around executive education and not continue my own! I’ve considered going back to school for another bachelors but that’s a huge step so in the meantime, the short certificate courses are a fantastic option. There are a couple more courses coming up in 2021 specifically around digital healthcare innovation and artificial intelligence applications in healthcare that are on my radar. Working with such accomplished executives who focus on strategy and growth has also been a massive influence on my career trajectory. I’m blessed to have the opportunity and support of coworkers and leadership who have the same drive to always improve and educate.  

Q: What advice would you give to someone that may be interested in pursuing ongoing education? All tips, tricks, and advice on time management are welcome!

TC: Do your research! Not every program will be the right fit for everyone and there are so many options out there. It’s 100% ok to consider a number of programs and weigh out the pros and cons specific to your situation. Some programs are crazy expensive, some allocate credits while others don’t, some are an entire semester and require a huge time commitment while others are a couple weeks. Ask as many questions as you need to and work with the programs counselors before signing up to gauge your interest. Once you have locked down a program, make sure to set aside time where you can focus 100% on your course. It’s very easy to put off doing the reading or discussion board till the end of the week and procrastinate. However, tackling the longest or most difficult portions first will make the content much more enjoyable when you can sit back and enjoy the discussion and not have to scramble at the last minute. My last piece of advice would be to network within the course group. The other students are most likely there for the same reason and networking can open up channels for the rest of your career. Lastly, have fun with it!