In a dynamic collaboration between OSF HealthCare’s Data Analytics team and Illinois State University’s Department of Mathematics, throughout the fall 2023 semester, students were treated to a series of insightful talks that illuminated the intersections of data analytics, automation, statistics, and their critical applications in the realm of health sciences.
The collaboration went beyond conventional learning boundaries, providing students with a unique opportunity for job shadowing in data analytics, automation, and statistics roles at the JUMP Trading Simulation & Education Center at OSF in Peoria on November 14, 2023. This hands-on experience aimed to enrich students’ understanding of how their academic knowledge translates into practical contributions.
Student feedback from those experiences has been overwhelmingly positive, emphasizing the value of such collaborations in bridging theory and real-world application. The OSF-Illinois State partnership exemplifies a proactive approach to nurturing the next generation of professionals in data science, mathematics, and statistics, fostering a culture of innovation and practical problem solving.
The crescendo of the fall 2023 semester was the eagerly anticipated OSF-ISU Data Science Competition, titled “OSF 30-Day Readmission.” The competition, jointly supported by OSF and Illinois State, challenged 14 teams to create predictive models determining whether a patient discharged from OSF HealthCare would be readmitted within 30 days. The competition was intense, with six finalists emerging from a pool of strong contenders, boasting impressively close scores.
Below are the results of the OSF-ISU Data Science competition:
- Winner: Vaughn Wampole (an undergraduate student in the actuarial science program)
- First Runner-Up: ACT_MATH team whose members are Emmanuel Ansah (a graduate student in actuarial science) and Ehiareshan Obeahon (a graduate student in the pure and applied mathematics program)
- Second Runner-Up: Martin Asare (a graduate student in the applied statistics program)
Congratulations to all the participants for their outstanding contributions to the OSF-ISU Data Science competition. Their dedication and hard work truly shone through.
The success of the OSF-ISU Data Science Competition was celebrated at a vibrant online awards ceremony on December 6, 2023. The event featured opening remarks from Provost Ani Yazedjian, Mark Hohulin (senior vice president of OSF Health Care Analytics), and Professor Benton Duncan (mathematics department chair).
The winner and runner-up teams presented their outstanding works, followed by engaging Q&A sessions moderated by Chris Franciskovich (vice president of OSF Advanced Analytics) and Professor Maochao Xu (mathematics department graduate director). The ceremony, culminating the collaborative efforts throughout the semester, drew a large and enthusiastic audience.
As the curtain falls on the fall 2023 semester, the OSF-Illinois State collaboration left an indelible mark, fostered academic growth, and provided students with invaluable real-world experiences.
The success of the Data Science Competition and the engaging awards ceremony set a promising tone for future collaborations between OSF HealthCare and Illinois State University.
