For as long as she can remember, Dr. Katherine Di Palo (MBA, MS ‘22) has been optimistically challenging the status quo in healthcare. Her pursuit of excellence as a clinician administrator stems from her diverse background and experience in team-based, patient-centered care. She graduated from the Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program in 2022 and works to create a system where patient needs are at the forefront.
Dr. Di Palo didn’t always intend to pursue a career in healthcare. When she began her undergraduate degree, she expected to major in financial accounting and attend law school. Before her sophomore year, however, Dr. Di Palo developed Lyme disease. As she navigated this change in health and planned her next steps, she thought about her time working in a pharmacy as a high school student. She realized that a career in science could allow her to do what she liked most about that role: solve complex problems to help others during their times of need.
Dr. Di Palo obtained her PharmD at the University at Buffalo. She completed her postgraduate residency at the James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where she valued being recognized as a provider on a multidisciplinary team and, more importantly, spending time with her patients.
“As a pharmacist, if they [patients] don’t trust you, they may not take their medication,” she explained. “Sometimes, I would spend the entire initial visit listening to their concerns and their health priorities, and they would finally agree to start a new medication after refusing it for years. To use your area of clinical expertise, you first need to connect with people.”
Her time working with socially vulnerable patients significantly informs her perspective on the role of clinicians and health care as an industry. As Dr. Di Palo took on progressive administrative positions focused on improving quality through reduced hospital readmissions at Montefiore Medical Center, she was eager to drive equity further and advance care delivery.
The Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program primarily appealed to her because it offered an MS alongside an MBA. “When looking at Ivy League programs, you usually have to choose an MBA while foregoing an MPH or an MHA,” she explained. “But in academic medicine, it’s important to know how to design and analyze a pilot to improve patient outcomes and differentiate the impact of various payment models on clinical operations. The MS component addresses the intersection of politics, research, and healthcare.”
Dr. Di Palo enjoyed several classes, including the strategy course taught by Dr. Vrinda Kadiyali, Nicholas H. Noyes professor of management and professor of marketing and economics at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. Students discussed business cases unrelated to healthcare, which she describes as memorable team-building assignments. She also valued the health policy and economics class taught by Dr. William Schpero, assistant professor of population health sciences, and the health care policy and incentives course taught by Dr. Robert Tyler Braun, assistant professor of population health sciences.
“These classes encompass the past, present, and future of the U.S. healthcare system. In my current role, that in-depth knowledge has set me apart,” she shared. The capstone project, where students solve real-world problems in the industry, was another highlight of her coursework. She describes it as the experiential learning she needed to build new networks and ultimately form her own consulting LLC.
After graduation, having cared for many patients with advanced cardiovascular disease, including her grandmother, Dr. Di Palo chaired an article on palliative pharmacotherapy for cardiovascular disease published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. She credits the refinement of her scholarly writing skills to a course on health services research formerly taught by Dr. Roger Vaughan, director of biostatistics in the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at The Rockefeller University Hospital and professor at the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
Among her many achievements, Dr. Di Palo is now the founding senior director of the transitional care excellence department at Montefiore Einstein. “I think my proposal [to create the department] features skills from every class in the program,” she laughs. She compiled pilots from her experience as a clinical manager, statistical analyses to demonstrate value creation, marketing and branding tools, and more. The 17-person multidisciplinary team provides clinical care and coordination during the transition from hospital to home, with a “no patient left behind” mentality. Looking ahead, she plans to expand her department and integrate systems of care in the Bronx and beyond.
“When I speak to prospective students, I tell them to mentally prepare to work harder than they may have ever worked before,” Katherine said. “You’re going to have a full-time job and a very demanding courseload. But for those choosing the program: if you put in the work, you will know everything you need to know to succeed in health care when you walk out.”