Mentor Spotlight

Mentor Spotlight: Cora Burgoyne

January 7, 2021

Alumni, Career, Homepage News, News

Cora Burgoyne is a public health professional in Denver, Colorado. She is dedicated to improving public health outcomes in our communities through systems change, strengthening the internal infrastructure of health organizations, pragmatic use of resources, and cross-sector collaboration.

While attending KU, Cora, c’17, g’19, was a peer advisor, teaching assistant and research assistant. She earned an undergraduate degree in psychology and a master’s of public health from the KU Medical Center.

Cora spent a year as a member of the Americorps VISTA program followed by an internship with the Unified Government Public Health Department in Kansas City, Kansas, before moving to her current position in Colorado.

Cora is available to assist with internship and job strategies, questions about apply to and navigating graduate school, mock interviews, and more. She enjoys hiking with her dog, coffee & coffee shops, photography and discovering new places. Connect with her on KU Mentoring.

We’re highlighting Jayhawks who serve as mentors to fellow alumni and students to celebrate National Mentoring Month.

What do you do at your job?

During my “day job” as a clinical policy coordinator I lead the redesign of clinical policy management processes for the entire health system. I work directly with a variety of personnel including nurses, regulatory specialists, physicians and quality directors in preparing and maintaining policy and procedure documentation, and I assist in the translations policy specifications into compliant and comprehensive documentation.

Over the last 8 months I have served as a COVID-19 Emergency Response Project Manager. In this role I have managed multiple physician-led workgroups to find system solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic including ethical issues, testing capacity, and critical patient care. I have served as a liaison between workgroups and Enterprise Incident Command (EIC), and I have built system-wide programs to assist hospitals in utilizing associates across the enterprise (Helping Hands).

How have mentors played a role in your success?

I had many mentors in undergrad and graduate school. Academic advisors at the Undergraduate Advising Center (UAC) undoubtedly helped shape my undergraduate experience. Rosa, Alex, John and Hannah (just to name a few). I think I changed my mind about my major 12 times, and each time, every advisor supported me and helped map out what that path looked like.

My faculty advisor during my graduate program, Megha Ramaswamy, inspired me daily to critically think about the world and dive deeper into my specific passions within public health and healthcare.

What advice would you give a younger version of yourself?

When at KU, if you are uncertain of your path or what career interests you, say yes to every opportunity. College is a lower-stakes environment to truly explore and get involved in a variety of activities. I found that by saying yes, I was able to figure out what really didn’t interest me and therefore was able to narrow down what my passions were.

Need a mentor? Want to serve as a mentor? KU Mentoring is open to students, alumni, faculty and staff, and friends of the University of Kansas. Professionals who are looking for opportunities to connect with KU and provide assistance to Jayhawks are also welcome. Learn more about KU Mentoring.