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For the second year in a row, the Master of Health Administration team at UNT Health Fort Worth took home the first-place prize for a student-led case competition sponsored by the North Texas chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

The national competition hosts a range of teams from schools across the nation with multiple North Texas programs participating. Every year, teams present their solutions to a panel of regional health care executives at an event which was hosted this year at CHRISTUS Health’s headquarters in Irving, Texas.

The UNT Health team of second-year MHA students from the College of Public Health took home the top prize for the successful delivery of their personalized solution to the case study topic.

Along with submitting the solution and an executive summary, participating teams must address the presented case study prompt as health care leaders: Enhancing Diabetes Management Under Value-Based Care Within a Mid-Texas Health System.

The top teams are then selected to present their solutions live. Ashley Mesch, Charles Bird, Westen Mulqueen, Britnie Chanheuang and Ethan Livingston were recognized as this year’s ACHENTX case competition winners.

“Not only did we want to provide the judges with our recommendations and solution to the problem at hand, but we also wanted to tell a story,” Livingston said. “We walked the judges through a real-world example of how our patient, Mark, would progress through our Diabetes Education Program and improve his quality of life.”

Winners of the case competition receive a cash prize and free admission to the 2026 ACHE National Congress in Houston, Texas. The team of students will have the opportunity to network with clinical leaders and senior executives from across the country.

While the upcoming conference marks a first-time experience for some participants, others are returning to familiar territory. As returning competitors, Livingston and Mulqueen viewed this year’s ACHENTX win as a long-awaited achievement.

However, the second-year team was not the only group representing UNT Health Fort Worth. Second-year MHA student Rosa Lozano supported first-year classmates Urooj Zakaria, Ryan Johnson, Rofiat Abubakar and William Evans to a finalist finish against peer MHA programs, reflecting our second-year cohort’s commitment to mentoring and sustaining excellence.

When following up with the first-year team, the students described the past few weeks of preparation.

“Presenting in front of health care leaders and not knowing what questions they could ask is nerve-wracking but also motivating,” Evans said. “It was a mix of emotions for our first year.”

The finalists also expressed their appreciation for the support of Dr. Allen Solenberg who served as their coach, training them for the big day. Dr. Solenberg began his preparations with both teams in mid-September. For the team of first-year students, this competition arrives just two months into their first semester of the MHA program at UNT Health.

“I’m proud of our students,” Dr. Allen Solenberg said. “They earned this by doing the work, digging into the data, refining their story and standing tall under pressure. All success belongs to them. My role was to ask hard questions so their work could shine.”

“We are very proud of both teams for representing our program well in this prestigious competition,” says Barton Gill, department chair of health administration and health policy. “It’s an honor to teach and help mold our future industry leaders.”

So what can incoming MHA students expect as first-year ACHENTX competitors?

“It helps to make sure that your recommendations are developed on the foundation of measurable data,” Johnson said.

“I felt very supported by all of our faculty when preparing [for the competition], and I now have the professional experience to complement what I am learning in my classes,” says Zakaria.

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