AUPHA: What is your educational background and why did you choose the area(s)
of study that you did?
Oetjen: My undergraduate degree is from Penn State University and I majored in
Psychology and Management, as I felt these two areas would complement one another
well. After graduating from Penn State,
I worked for ten years at a major international airline. After this ten-year hiatus from higher
education, I decided to retool and felt that an advanced degree in healthcare
administration was the field for me, both because it is stable and it provides
the ultimate opportunity to provide customer service.
At this time I commuted to UCF from Memphis every week to take classes,
and of course, to see my beautiful wife.
After completing the program, I worked in a skilled nursing facility and
simultaneously worked on my PhD. Very
quickly I learned that I needed to focus my efforts on my PhD, and thus pursued
my passion, academe.
AUPHA: Tell us about the jobs you held before you got into academe.
Oetjen: After my four years at Penn State, I entered the workforce and spent ten
years working for a major international airline, the majority of which I spent
as an operations manager. I have always
enjoyed the operation side of any business, and thus tend to keep my distance
from the theoretical. I guess you might
say that I like to get my hands dirty.
My next career in healthcare involved working for a regional chain of
skilled nursing facilities. I felt at
home in long-term care because, as an administrator, you get to maintain that
personal contact with your customers and their families. Sometimes too much contact; however, as a
people person, I require that to survive.
It wasn’t too long after that that I enrolled in my PhD program at
UCF. And after that, you might say, it is
history. I have found my true calling
and passion–teaching tomorrow’s administrators.
AUPHA: Where have you held faculty appointments during your career?
Oetjen: I started my career as an Adjunct Professor at UCF while in the doctoral
program. Immediately after graduation, I
was fortunate to have the opportunity to be an Assistant Professor at the University
of North Florida. I truly enjoyed my
time with the faculty at UNF and believe that they helped to provide me with a
great start in academe.
After four years at UNF, I had the opportunity to be hired by one of my
alma maters, not to mention the opportunity to work with my wife. I jumped at the chance to work at the University
of Central Florida, the second largest university in the United States, and all
the opportunities that were available.
During my short tenure at UCF, I have served as the Undergraduate
Program Director for the Health Services Administration Program and the
Graduate Program Director for the traditional Masters Program in Health
Services Administration, as well as for the new Executive Masters Program in
Health Services Administration.
AUPHA: What is your current position and what made you choose the program you are
currently appointed to?
Oetjen: I am currently an Associate Professor and the Program Director for the Graduate
Health Services Administration Programs at the University of Central Florida. I
chose to work at UCF as this is my alma mater and I relished the opportunity to
work with some of the finest in the field–one who happens to be my wife!
AUPHA: Tell us what is unique about your
program, faculty, and students.
Oetjen: UCF is unique because we are the largest CAHME accredited masters
program in health management education.
In addition, I am fortunate to work with excellent colleagues who are
dedicated to providing our students with an excellent education.
AUPHA: What is the greatest challenge you face in your role at your current
program?
Oetjen: The greatest challenge I face as Program Director for UCF’s Graduate
Health Services Programs is to ensure that we continue to deliver cutting edge education
to our students in the face of hyper-turbulent change in the healthcare
industry. In addition, the next biggest
challenge is finding creative methods to deliver this content to working
professionals, the majority of whom work full-time.
AUPHA: What do you consider your greatest accomplishment during your tenure at
your current program?
Oetjen: In addition to becoming a tenured associate professor, my greatest
accomplishment was successfully leading our Undergraduate Health Services
Administration Program through AUPHA Certification. I was fortunate enough to lead an excellent
team of faculty.
AUPHA: What keeps you in this field, despite the challenges you mentioned above?
Oetjen: This is exactly what keeps me in the field. I enjoy keeping up on the changes in the healthcare
industry and finding creative methods of holding our students’ attention. The greatest reward is helping working healthcare
professionals to enhance and add to their skillset.
AUPHA: If making a living/money were not a consideration, what would you be
doing instead or what would you do in retirement?
Oetjen: Wow, I am really torn by this.
Does this also apply to talent?
If talent were not a factor, I would enjoy driving the #13 Trader Joes
car for Hendricks motorsports in the NASCAR series.
However, another more realistic dream of mine is to be a travel critic. My unique spin on this career is that I would
not have a traditional column or blog, but rather would host a mobile radio
show. I have always enjoyed
traveling–finding the hidden gems–and sharing this with others. Being able to host a travel show would allow me
to interact with the people.