Health Care Communications and Marketing Students Professional Development Workshop

We are excited to launch a new, exclusive series of professional development workshops for our student members! Led by respected faculty members, this initiative is designed to equip you with essential strategic thinking and leadership skills relevant to today's dynamic health care environment.

Attend all three workshops to receive a Certificate of Completion/Participation and gain full access to all the resources provided from each workshop.

Workshop 1: Analyzing the Health Care Environment: Integrating Futurescan with the PESTLE Framework

Date: Thursday, January 29 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm CT 

Speaker: John W. Fick, EdD, MS, FACHE, Professor of Health Administration, College of Graduate Health Studies, A.T. Still University

Join us for a deep dive into strategic environmental analysis!
This session will introduce you to the PESTLE framework (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental) as a structured approach for analyzing the complex external environment of health care organizations. You will also explore the eight major trends highlighted in the latest Futurescan 2026 publication. Through an active learning exercise, you will collaboratively categorize these powerful trends within the most appropriate PESTLE domains, developing critical thinking and demonstrating how these forecasting insights apply directly to strategic planning.

Workshop 2: Exploring the Universe of Strategy using the Bridging Worlds Report

Date: Friday, February 6 | 12:30 – 1:30 pm CT 

Speaker: Dr. Wayne Psek, Assistant Professor, The George Washington University 

Join us to expand your understanding of the scope of strategy in health care!
This workshop introduces participants to the influential Bridging Worlds Report, a key tool for understanding the vast universe of strategic activity and the essential skillset required of health care strategists. Through a focused lecture, class discussion, and an engaging case-based activity, you will learn to map the strategic landscape. You will apply key concepts from the report to a real-world situation, enhancing your strategic thinking and preparing you for management roles.

Workshop 3: Foundations of Digital Health

Date: Thursday, February 12 | 1:00 – 2:00 pm CT 

Speaker: Anne Kathrin Eiselt, PHD, Faculty Professor, George Washington University

Join us for a beginner-friendly introduction to the future of health care!
This workshop demystifies the foundational concepts of digital health, what it is, how it works, and its crucial role in today’s landscape. Using simple frameworks and practical, real-world examples, we will explore how digital tools transform patient engagement, clinical workflows, and health outcomes. You will learn to differentiate between patient-facing, clinician-facing, and system-facing technologies, and gain a practical lens for evaluating new digital solutions while considering ethical and practical challenges like data privacy and algorithmic bias.