March 30, 2018 | UHCL Staff
The health care market changes constantly, requiring physicians to change along with it. Medical education is transforming, and although physicians are highly trained in their specialties, University of Houston-Clear Lake’s health care administration program recognizes that evolving market demands that they also acquire additional competencies, such as business acumen and data analytic skills.
“When I was a hospital CEO, I worked daily with physicians, and I can say that many of them feel they are at a disadvantage because they do not understand the business side of hospital operations,” said Raymond Khoury, faculty chair and lecturer in health care administration in the College of Business at UH-Clear Lake. “We have developed some effective programs to help physicians acquire these skills so they can work more effectively.”
Khoury said that UH-Clear Lake’s Department of Healthcare Administration worked with University of Texas Medical School to provide their medical students with the opportunity to get a Master of Business Administration during their medical school career. “We created a program in which students getting their M.D. could integrate and schedule health-care administration courses within the framework of their curriculum and it was met with great acceptance,” he said. “Then, we heard many medical students and fellows at UT say they didn’t want an MBA, but they still wished to take some business courses. That’s why we created the health care administration certificate program.”
Medical students or physicians can get their certification program approved by respective specialties to be accepted as one of their elective rotations, explained Khoury. “A resident, regardless of specialty, can choose a rotation. This health care administration certification isn’t clinical, but it is accepted by their clinical chiefs.”
The certification involves intensive coursework for two full days a week for four months, similar to any other “rotation” a medical student might choose. “We’ve had very positive feedback from students about this,” Khoury said. “We will offer another business rotation in February 2019.” He added that students have told their faculty at UT, who have also expressed interest in becoming certified in healthcare administration.
“Doctors are finding more and more that they need to become better educated about business operations in a hospital,” he said. “My vision is to offer this program to any practicing physician, and we are beginning to move in that direction. We are developing a curriculum now for another large healthcare system to provide this certification.”
Khoury said that the Department of Healthcare Administration’s objective is to continue to prepare students to become leaders in their field. “Many of our graduates have attained top-level positions in the best health care organizations in the country,” he said. “I’m also a 1980 graduate of UHCL’s Healthcare M.S. program. I’m very proud of this program, both as an alumnus and for my service into it.”
For more information about UHCL’s healthcare administration programs, visit www.uhcl.edu/business/departments/healthcare-administration.
