Mentor, protégé share learning experience

Remember those college days when stress levels would peak and you felt abandoned amid papers, books, and exams? Your frustrations would send your mind racing, second-guessing your major and even your decision to continue your education. Wouldn’t it have been comforting to know that you could turn to someone who has been in your shoes and ask this person for advice or to just simply listen to your problems? Who exactly is this someone? A mentor.

Through its mentoring program, the Department of Health Policy and Administration has been working with alumni and students to forge stronger relationships. This win-win situation gives the protégé someone to contact for advice and gives the mentor an opportunity to give back to the university through a rewarding experience.

For HPA senior Felecia Williamson, her mentor is part of her support system. For the past two years, she has been teamed with Jeff Sarabok, ’91 HPA, who is currently a care manager at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

“He (Sarabok) has just been really supportive, has answered my questions, and makes me think about things that you don’t see in the classroom,” Williamson says.

Sarabok, who has been offering his mentoring services since the program began, says that mentors as well as protégés reap the benefits of the program. He explains that as a mentor, he stays connected with activities occurring at the University, keeps current with health policies, and often learns about health care issues outside of his work environment.

“You are learning as much from your protégés as they are learning from you,” he says. “The mentor gets a lot out of the experience.”

Among Sarabok’s most rewarding experiences as a mentor was an opportunity to help his company recruit a person to replace him in a position he was leaving. He explains that his supervisors were looking for a person with the same skill set and background as he brought to the position when he was hired. He had to look no farther than one of his earlier protégés, who has since held the position for the past seven years.

“She is doing really well and is being very successful,” he says. “It was a productive relationship for both of us.”

Other rewarding aspects of mentoring, according to Sarabok, are providing career guidance to students and helping them understand the ethical circumstances regarding the different careers available in health care.

“I have been very involved (with the HPA department) since I graduated,” says Sarabok, who has mentored five students over the years. “I got a lot from the University, and I felt that it was my obligation to give something back.”

Sarabok assures that mentoring is not as time-consuming as one might think. Aside from the initial kick-off weekend and face-to-face meeting with the protégés, mentors spend most of their time talking to students via e-mail and telephone. He also tries to meet with his protégé when he visits University Park.

Williamson says she feels fortunate to have someone like Sarabok to use as a sounding board.  She was in contact with him several times during her internship this past summer at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, where she was working with senior management and administrators and assisting in the redesign of the medical center’s patient complaint process. She says her mentor gave her relevant advice on the project and helped her to better understand the health care environment and those who work there.

“He has worked in many job settings and levels and has a lot of insight,” she says, adding that her mentor/protégé experience helped her to realize that a career in health policy and administration was a right choice for her.

“I think the big part about HPA is that there is so much you can do with your degree,” she says. “I have found major opportunities in the HPA program. I don’t regret my choice at all.”

------------------------

Alumni interested in participating in the undergraduate mentoring program may contact Diane Collins, mentoring program coordinator, at dvc1@psu.edu or 814-865-3831, while those interested in participating in the M.H.A. mentoring program may contact Mike Meacham at mmeacham@psu.edu or 814-865-5173.