Alumni Career Feature
Thomas Cordell
We feature alumni with interesting careers from a variety of career areas. To find out more about the alumnus profession contact them via the e-mail provided. Or if you are interested in being featured, e-mail us at alumni@pct.edu.
Thomas Cordell
- B.S., Applied Health Studies, 2006
- Geisinger Health System
- twcordell@geisinger.edu
Tom’s Background
Tom Cordell joined his local fire department as a teenager and found interest in the medical field. He decided to take some time after high school to develop his educational plan. He worked for his parents and attended college close to home. An advisor recommended a visit to Pennsylvania College of Technology. Tom and his parents attended an open house, fell in love with the campus, and applied for admission to the surgical technology major in the School of Health Sciences.
Geisinger Health System
Tom is an education administrator with Geisinger Health System, a physician-led health care system serving 2.5 million people. Specifically, Tom coordinates the radiography residency and medical student programs at Geisinger. He works directly with the supervising physicians to ensure the residents and students are on track with work schedules, conferences, classes, and finances. Managing the application process of the student program is also a large part of Tom’s responsibilities. This immense and complex task is very time consuming, but Tom’s active college career prepared him well for this role.
Advice
Tom has two valuable suggestions for those preparing for life after college. First, he recommends working in customer service to experience as many communication styles as possible. Effective communication is key in any organization and the more experience dealing with people, the better. Tom also advises students to develop a future plan during their last semester (or before), outlining career and personal goals in order to be prepared when opportunities present themselves.
Future
Education and the health care industry will always be part of Tom’s life. He was appointed to the Geisinger Health System Ethics Committee and teaches anatomy and physiology to the radiology technology students. Tom is also a casual, part-time instructor for Penn College’s School of Health Sciences. He remains committed to his work at Geisinger and plans to purse a master’s degree in business administration with a health care focus. These opportunities would not have been possible without the proper training and education at Penn College.
