PEMBROKE — Youssef Houissa spent part of his summer trying to answer a question facing rural hospitals across North Carolina: How do you attract the healthcare professionals a community needs?
The UNC Pembroke senior wasn’t tackling the question for a class. Working with a team at Novant Health, he analyzed hiring trends, studied how long positions remained vacant and helped the health system better understand its recruitment challenges.
“We were almost acting as consultants,” said Houissa, who is majoring in social work. “It was super cool to be trusted to do that type of research and have it paid attention to.”…