2020 Best & Brightest Online MBAs: Lauren Boldizar, Drexel University

Lauren Boldizar

Drexel University Online MBA Program

“Independent, creative, and resourceful, I have been navigating pediatric nursing for the past 15 years.”

Age: 37

Hometown: Medford, New Jersey

Fun fact about yourself: I run marathons for fun, and am currently training for marathon #12. My 5 AM training times allow me to discover and develop a refined and better version of myself.

Undergraduate School and Degree: BSN, The College of New Jersey

Where are you currently working? The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Cardiac Center, Nurse Navigator

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? While ICU nursing at the bedside will always be my passion, I am proud to have been a part of building a referral program for outside cardiologists to refer their surgical, interventional, and electrophysiology patients to CHOP. At the same time, I was part of being the source of patient updates and communication to these physicians, analyzing data on these physician and patient trends, and planning outreach events based on this data. I am also proud to have the opportunity to now bring some of my experience with outreach to the New Jersey CHOP Specialty care sites.

Why did you choose this school’s online MBA program? Drexel’s MBA hybrid program of both online and classroom instruction was exactly what I needed as a busy working mother. The technology that Drexel offers to its online program is top-notch and Drexel’s residency leadership courses challenged me to develop both my leadership and communication skills. My favorite residency by far was Business Negotiations, and I have treated every high-stakes conversation as a business negotiation after completing this residency course.

What was your favorite part of being in an online MBA program? The professors and my fellow classmates have been phenomenal. I instantly made a connection with my group in our very first Leadership residency, Managing the Total Enterprise, and we have been there for one other to push, motivate, and inspire one another since that first group project, which was over two and a half years ago.

How did your online experience compare with your in-the-classroom experience as an undergraduate student? I actually think communication and learning was higher quality in the online setting. I say that because I truly had to think about each discussion board post, which forced me to be more efficient and analytical in my responses to my classmates.

What is your best piece of advice to an applicant for thriving in an online MBA program? Figure out a strategy that works well for both you and your family to ensure you can manage your workload, whether that is staying at work late to finish homework, or going to a coffee shop every Saturday to get school work done uninterrupted. Do NOT get behind in your workload! Ensure that you still make quality connections with both your professors and your classmates.  Show up to every open office hour that your professor offers, even if you do not have questions. It shows a level of mutual respect and a willingness to go above and beyond, which builds professional character.

What would you change about an online MBA Program? It would be helpful to be able to make more real-life connections. As a student who took the majority of my classes online, I often missed out on the weekly luncheon/dinner networking events because I was either at work or had prior commitments with my family. It would be helpful to have more networking events on weekends strictly reserved for online graduate students. 

How has your online education helped you in your current job? Yes, I have landed more speaking engagements by being more assertive and proving my worth to the respective physicians that I work with. As mentioned above, I treat every high stakes conversation as a business negotiation. My favorite negotiations are negotiating for testing and services with our cardiac patient population with respective medical directors of insurance companies!

What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? I would love to continue to perfect my professional speaking and project management skills in some capacity, whether that being presenting the data to steering boards in a healthcare setting, or continuing to build out quality initiatives for clinicians to work smarter, not harder

Don’t Miss: The Entire Honor Roll of the Best & Brightest Online MBA Grads of 2020

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