Texas A&M Health Science Center
We have had a busy summer and fall with one of the largest classes in the School's history. A combined total of 132 new MHA and MPH students entered the program this fall. Current overall enrollment for Health Policy and Management is our largest ever with 226 students enrolled in the Health Policy & Management program. Our students continue to amaze us with their accomplishments including excellent case study demonstrations, national internships and fellowships, and practicum experiences.
In August we introduced our new incoming Department Chair, Dr. Rebecca Wells, PhD, who will be assuming responsibilities as Department Chair effective Spring semester 2013. Dr. Wells will also be leading the school’s evaluation efforts for the new Texas Medicaid Waiver program. Rebecca’s current research includes examining how case managers based in schools, local health departments, and child welfare agencies facilitate health service use for children and parents. Dr. Well’s current international service includes chairing the 2013 Academy of Management Health Care Management Division program. Recent state service included co-chairing a collaborative of agencies and advocates dedicated to improving systems of care for children with special needs. Rebecca currently teaches health care strategy classes in UNC’s Doctoral Program in Public Health Leadership, and has previously taught undergraduate, masters, and PhD classes.
This October, we sent 3 MHA students to the 17th annual Everett V. Fox Student Case Competition sponsored by the NationalAssociation of Health Services Executives, Oct. 10-13 in Houston, TX. Team members Brandon Lewis and Anisha Kalavar, both second-year students, and first-year student Nisha Patel competed against other graduate-level health administration or business administration programs from around the country. This year’s case focused on establishing a patient care coordination plan, in an effort to prevent dual eligible related readmissions and affiliated costs within Catholic Health Partner’s hospitals, in the northwest region of Ohio. The team developed a strategic business plan for the hospital system, offering several recommendations that supported its business model.
In addition to the NAHSE Case Competition, this semester we sent a team to the HUMANA Case Competition, in Louisville, KY, where we were selected as a top 8 team, out of 40 teams. Team members included Christopher Rodriguez and Sarah Loh, both second year students, and Shruti Kaul and Karen Wong, both first year students. The team had 3 days to prepare a presentation for the HUMANA Health Plan, which consisted of recommendations for the organization to deal with dual eligible beneficiaries. Our team was the only MHA program represented at the competition, where we competed against MBA programs, such as Duke and Harvard.
Currently, we are preparing for the ACHE North Texas Case Competition, located in Dallas, TX on November 15th. The team consists of: Steven Luther, Kinnari Patel, Taylor Hall, Nick Carmona, and Nikki Harris. We look forward to hearing of their successes, and will share the outcome in the near future.
In all, these case competitions provide students the opportunity to compete against graduate programs from around the nation to enhance their problem analysis and presentation skills. Students present their cases to health care executives and industry leaders, applying their knowledge and creativity to analyze health care issues facing health service organizations today.
We have arranged for a series of speakers for the students for the fall Semester, including Furst Group Executive Search Consultant and Patient Safety Advocate Dan Ford, FACHE; Entrepreneur and independent consultant Rich Williams, FACHE, founder of the Advanced Plan for Health; Regent for the ACHE and Senior Vice President of the Texas Medical Center Ed Tucker, FACHE. The Women’s Network Luncheon series commenced this year with Linda Clark, ’03, hosting a panel of recent graduates (Lily Ricketts, ’10; Christina Holch, ’11; Kelli Cook Elizondo, ’09; Stephanie Edwards, ’10) addressing “Lessons Learned after Graduation.” Speakers for the ACHE Leadership Series are committed for the Spring Semester, as well.