Alumni Update: Where are they now?
Name: Courtney R. Wise
Degree(s) Received: MSG in Gerontology
Year of Graduation: 2007
Job title: Care Manager
Company: Take Care Advisor, LLC
Location (city and state): Sarasota, FL
Please briefly describe your position and your company:
Take Care Advisor is part of the Take Care, Inc. umbrella. Our company now provides private duty home health, companion services, long-term care insurance review, transportation, and geriatric care management. Take Care Advisor provides health care management to help clients and their families manage the complexities of life with unbiased professional guidance addressing health, independence, and peace of mind.
Why did you choose to study gerontology at the USC Davis School?
For me, studying gerontology at USC was a natural choice. Caring for the elderly is something that I have been doing since I was ten-years old. It developed further at the University of Florida where I received my minor in gerontology. As I was applying to graduate school and deciding upon a program to attend, the Davis School was without a doubt my top choice. I could not pass up on going to the top ranked school for my field of study. The professor I worked for at the University of Florida equated getting into this program with being accepted into Harvard business school- he simply said “Courtney, that’s something you don’t say no to!”
How did you learn about your current position? Was it through an internship, a previous job, or a connection through USC?
Upon graduation from USC in May 2007 I began researching care management. I worked for a care management company in Los Angeles until February 2008. I knew this was the direction I wanted to take with my career in the field of aging. My mother started Take Care in 1995. Her company has definitely always had an influence in my decision to pursue gerontology. In April 2008 she purchased the first care management license from an Indianapolis, IN based care management company. The model this company is using is at the cutting edge of care management incorporating the Internet to connect families, clients and care managers. They’ve even develop a Decision Support System to provide quality assurance in the care management we provide our clients. I moved back to Florida to be a part of this new venture and this exciting opportunity.
Please briefly describe how the USC Davis School’s curriculum helped prepare you for your current position.
I think the master’s program gave me a well-rounded understanding of aging. Aspects of every course have played an integral role in numerous aspects of my current job. As a care manager you must be knowledgeable about policy in terms of Medicare and Medicaid, managerial aspects when working with caregivers, and counseling when dealing with family members who are often in the position of having to make very difficult and emotional decisions. The knowledge I have gained at USC from semester to semester multiplied. Through internships and other experiences I was able to begin to see how our in-class learning could be applied to actual circumstances. I am confident that my educational background from the Davis School has provided me with a solid foundation for my lifelong career in aging.
What advice would you offer to a prospective student interested in studying gerontology at USC?
Get involved! I cannot stress it enough. By embracing the Student Gerontology Association and its various facets, you will enhance your USC experience. Furthermore, conducting research and volunteering in the community complete the trio of experiences of involvement. My involvement in other activities and especially my internship complemented my experiences in the classroom. Becoming involved in SGA was by far one of my best decisions. I joined SGA as I wanted to be involved. The effect proved to be far more beneficial than I could have imagined.
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