Travel Nurse Works to Increase Health Care Access, Address Medical Disparities With Online Master’s

USC graduate, Stephanie Abrenica
With a nursing background, Stephanie Abrenica found it eye-opening to dialogue with her EMHA peers in different health positions and work environments, offering her new perspectives on medicine. (Photo / Courtesy of Stephanie Abrenica)

Stephanie Abrenica, who is graduating from the Executive Master of Health Administration (EMHA) online program this spring, hopes to tackle the pervasive, ever-growing gaps in our health care system.

If there’s anything that the last few years have reminded us all, it’s the vital role health care professionals play in our community. Their tireless work helped shepherd us through a global pandemic, often putting themselves at risk to help others recover and stay safe.

That was certainly the case for Stephanie Abrenica, a registered travel nurse and student in the Executive Master of Health Administration (EMHA) online program who is graduating this spring.

Abrenica has worked at multiple health care facilities throughout her career, and she is currently a nursing supervisor and charge nurse at Bay Area Health Care in Oakland, as well as a travel nurse on the medical, surgical and telemetry floor at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center.

While Abrenica has certainly made strides in the medical field, she was looking to diversify her skill sets and expand in her management knowledge, leading her to discover the EMHA online program at USC Price School of Public Policy.

“I was really looking for a program that would help me be a better health care professional and really advance my education in any way possible,” explained Abrenica, who previously earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Dominican University of California in San Rafael.

Designed for clinical and administrative professionals, the EMHA trains students to effectively improve health services and address emerging challenges in the field. It also prepares graduates to successfully tackle financial and economic health care issues throughout their communities.

Read more about Stephanie’s story