Place value
Taking healthcare administration to the center of the action gives students an edge
By karen barbier

Master of Healthcare Administration/Master of Business Administration graduate student Daniel Gonzalez and Lecturer in Healthcare Administration Amanda Walters tour the new space for UHCL’s Healthcare Administration program at 2151 W. Holcombe Blvd., in the Texas Medical Center. The program moved to the Texas Medical Center in May.

Graduate student Daniel Gonzalez loves movies that make a person think. He also prefers to see these films in a movie theater, complete with buttery popcorn, a soft drink, a big screen, cushioned seats and sticky, candy-covered floors.

“I prefer the whole movie-going experience,” explains Gonzalez.

Applying this integrated, full-scale philosophy to other areas in his life, Gonzalez chose UHCL’s comprehensive Master of Healthcare Administration/Master of Business Administration degree to further his career. The program, which has offered classes in the Texas Medical Center for several semesters, recently moved in its entirety to the place where many of its graduates eventually call home base for their professional lives.

“When I was looking at programs for my master’s degree, I was attracted to UHCL’s program because classes are held in the Medical Center,” says Gonzalez, who earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology at Trinity University in San Antonio. “The location exposes students to clinicians and administrative practitioners in the field.”

“We had been approached by various members of the healthcare administration advisory board who urged us to have a stronger presence in the Medical Center,” says School of Business Dean William T. Cummings, explaining one of the reasons behind the complete move of the program that officially began May 15.

UHCL Lecturer in Healthcare Administration Amanda Walters adds, “I really believe that the move will give students an opportunity to be involved in cutting-edge healthcare administration solutions. It will allow them to understand current issues in healthcare administration and get exposure to the latest trends in management by being involved through projects in different healthcare facilities.”

Gonzalez agrees and is pleased with his choice of programs. Right after he began his studies at UHCL, he landed a job at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center working with emergency management planning and Joint Commission compliance and, although he loves his job, he looks forward to exploring other administrative issues when he begins his fellowship next year at a still undecided location. Until then, he has a year of classes to complete, classes that Gonzalez enjoys.

“As with most things, you get out of it what you put in it,” says Gonzalez. “I learn something from every class I take, with some of the information more helpful than other information simply because of what I do.”

Among the locations that Gonzalez and other UHCL healthcare administration students have taken classes or worked on projects include the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Memorial Hermann- Texas Medical Center, St. Joseph Medical Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and Harris County Hospital District.

Critical support from hospital partners include Memorial Hermann Healthcare System’s loan of their Vice President of Community Initiatives Dan Martin to help with the university’s transition. Now retired from Memorial Hermann, he has continued to serve as executive-in-residence and interim director of the program at UHCL.

“Dan helped tremendously with the transition,” says Cummings. “He literally went door-to-door borrowing space for the 2006-07 academic year.”

Gonzalez is just one of many students thankful for Martin’s help with the move. It offers him an opportunity to be immersed in his field. With a family full of healthcare professionals including a wife who is a nurse, a sister trying to get in nursing school and a father-in- law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law serving as doctors, his career path seems like the logical one.

So does the move of the UHCL program to the Texas Medical Center.

“Coming to the Medical Center was a brilliant move,” says St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System President and CEO David Fine who supported the UHCL healthcare administration program while the move was in the planning stage. “The clinical environment is much better here, which is better for the students.”

Fine adds that the potential audience of future students for the program is also optimal.

The Texas Medical Center houses 45 institutions, including 13 hospitals and two specialized patient facilities. In 2004, the most up-to-date figures available, 5.2 million patients visited the center, and of those millions 10,456 were international guests. More than 73,600 employees work in the area including more than 4,000 doctors and 11,000 registered nurses.

Walters urges students to take full advantage of the experience by being involved with their fellow healthcare employees and with the many UHCL alumni already working in the field.

“Reach out to other facets of the business,” implores Walters.

Unlike many other university programs, UHCL’s facility, located on the first floor at 2151 W. Holcombe, certainly allows students to explore their life’s work in the heart of Houston’s medical community, just as Gonzalez has. He already has an understanding of some of the issues facing healthcare administrators today; namely, trying to meet the needs of the growing under- and uninsured population. Gonzalez also realizes that addressing these and other challenges can mean long hours at work, but the time does not dissuade him from reaching his goal of attaining a position of “senior leadership in a growing, dynamic healthcare facility.”

As Fine points out, students should be encouraged to find a balance once they reach their career goals. The balance is necessary for a job that demands well over 40 hours on an average work week; in most cases, between 60 and 80 hours.

Gonzalez already seems to know just what to do if things get too stressful, especially if a thought-provoking movie is showing

CLOSE TO HOME: Healthcare administration students are not the only UHCL students taking classes off campus. Learn more about UHCL’s Distance Education opportunities by visiting www.uhcl.edu/disted.