Last Thursday, I welcomed 30 new students to our Health Care Leadership MBA joint degree program. These students are high achievers and are pursuing an MBA in addition to either their physician's program at KCUMB or their Doctor of Physical Therapy program at Rockhurst University. As we took a bit of time to get to know each other and learned about their backgrounds and goals, one of the questions I asked was why they were wanting to pursue an MBA as well as their DO or DPT degrees. Their responses were quite interesting and inspiring.
The room was filled with students who have wonderful undergraduate degrees from some of the best schools in the country. Most of the degrees were filled with bio-, chem-, -physio type of prefixes which (besides making my head spin) means that they have had a heavy dose of science courses in preparation for their doctoral path. What everyone articulated though was the understanding and desire to figure out the business, economic, and public policy models in health care today. Almost everyone spoke about the need to understand these issues because of how it will impact their lives and careers and their ability to effectively serve and lead in their profession.
At their young age, I was impressed that they already understood that if they didn't get the education and information necessary to deeply understand how their field works and functions, that they would never be able to manage and take charge of their own career. And as I've told hundreds of students over the years, if you're not in charge of your career, someone else is doing it for you.
It's very inspiring to see 30 new student leaders who already understand that concept and are ready to do the work necessary to prepare themselves for a powerful, impactful life.
No comments:
Post a Comment