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Alumni of the Army Baylor Graduate Program in Health and Business Administration are scattered throughout the European theater and serving in important administrative roles.
The popular program is available to commissioned servicemembers in all branches. Army personnel must be in the Army Medical Department, but that does not apply to the other services. It is sought after by people who may not be traditional administrators. Many are people already firmly entrenched in a career path, like doctors and nurses, who, for a variety of reasons, chose to go the administrative route.
“I was already a nurse and had a master’s degree when I attended the Baylor program,” said JoAnn Doleman, Europe Regional Medical Center consultant for quality management/Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. “As a nurse, when you make rank in the military you move away from the bedside to more of an administrative role. I had been learning how to be an administrator through the jobs I had been put in, but didn’t know why things were done the way they were done. The Baylor program taught me the patient safety aspect, the financial aspect and the human resources aspect. It enabled me to learn from the ground up.”
It’s a lot of learning crammed into a short time frame, as Brig. Gen. David Rubenstein, commander, Europe Regional Medical Command and Baylor graduate, will attest. He came to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center’s Combined Club Sept. 27 for a working lunch packed with Baylor grads and Baylor hopefuls.
“It’s amazing just how much information they throw at you,” said General Rubenstein. “I remember wondering, ‘How in the world will I ever remember this stuff.’ But you get out in the real world and it was just natural because they drill it into your head. It really gets into your system. The Baylor program taught me lifelong learning, which is painful,” he joked.
The general talked about the importance of keeping up with classmates. The connections he made are still benefiting him today.
“Health care is a business,” said General Rubenstein. “Some don’t like to hear it referred to like that, but it’s true. There is a business side of health care that supports the trigger pullers.”
Additionally, Baylor University, with its year of intense class time followed by a year-long residency at a military medical treatment facility, prepares its students to run the business.
“Our true legacy is the future graduates,” said General Rubenstein. “Graduates have a responsibility to recruit that next generation of leaders.”
For more information on the Baylor program, contact Rene Pryor at 471-6443, e-mail rene.pryor@cen.armedd.army.mil or visit the Baylor Web site at www.Baylor.edu/graduate/mha.
