While at Ohio State Lima, Brooke Kortokrax has worked in almost all the employment categories available in her job at Mercy Health-St. Rita’s, from intern to part-time to full-time. All of them have allowed her to pursue her lifelong dream of working in healthcare and all of them stem from her willingness to be open to the possibilities and clarity an internship can bring.
When Brooke transferred to Ohio State her first year, she was coming to the realization that what she thought was her dream career really wasn’t. She loved healthcare but not the nursing aspect. Working briefly as a tech cemented the change in her mind.
“I didn't really know where I wanted to go with my career because I was questioning nursing for me,” Brooke said. “I had heard about the Mercy internship and thought, ‘Well, let me start exploring different career options’ and being open to that. It really opened so many more doors for me than I would have ever expected.”
She applied for and got an internship working at Mercy’s newly opened Graduate Medical Education Center. The internship was her first chance to explore a different side of healthcare from nursing -- business. It was a fit for her.
“I've always seen myself in the healthcare realm, didn't exactly see myself on the business side, but I love it,” she said.
At the start of her senior year, when her predecessor decided to retire, opening a spot for Brooke, she jumped at the opportunity. Nevermind that to take the job and graduate on schedule she became a full-time student and full-time employee.
With the help of the academic advisors on campus, Brooke was able to expand her role at Mercy while pushing forward with her degree in business administration.
“I remember being in a panic because I didn’t know how I was going to do that with how much school I had left. I was able to meet with the advisors and work out a plan,” Brookesaid. “With the class schedules being online in the evening, it worked out. The flexibility with everybody being willing to work with me given my schedule has been great.”
As she graduates as part of the class of 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management, she is settling into her role of academic program coordinator working with internal medicine residents.
“I do a lot of different things. I truthfully believe that the business management degree at Ohio State Lima has prepared me a lot for this role because I do HR and marketing, I deal with budgets, I keep track of the credentialing and other things for the residents,” Brooke said. “I’m helping it run, doing the business work on the back end of the program to help make sure it's running and things are going smoothly.”