Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | September 2, 2019 | Worcester Business Journal 15 H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N F O C U S THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS (AS OF 8/23) LEAD SPONSOR SIGNATURE SPONSORS www.unitedwaycm.org/donor-groups CORPORATE SPONSORS Little House Capital UMass Memorial Health Care SUPPORT SPONSORS Anna Maria College Assumption College Bay State Savings Bank Becker College Cornerstone Bank Country Bank Fallon Health Fidelity Bank National Grid O'Connell & O'Connell Saint-Gobain Seven Hills Foundation Sullivan Group UMass Medical School Unum Webster Five Worcester State University MEDIA SPONSOR Worcester Business Journal SIGNAGE SPONSOR FASTSIGNS of Worcester STEPPING The Women's Initiative invites you to a celebration of women's philanthropy, leadership, and empowerment of adolescent girls in Central Massachusetts. Date October 1, 2019 Location College of the Holy Cross Hogan Center One College Street, Worcester Time 5:00pm - 7:00pm 2019 Leadership Awards Presentation Lois B. Green Leadership Award Meridith D. Wesby Young Leader Award Please join us after the program to take part in assembling health kits for girls in WI-funded programs. The UMass Memorial Health Care sponsored station will be open until 7:30pm. 1 7 T H A N N U A L Register by September 20 th and make a donation at: Give.classy.org/SteppingUpforGirls both business basics and the ins-and-outs of the medical field. Both schools said they looked at mar- ket research and saw a growing demand. Switching majors Anna Maria added a new health administration major this fall along with two others, digital and so- cial media design, and video and photographic arts. Anna Maria cited an expected rise in demand for health jobs as the baby boomer population ages, requiring more care services. Graduates in the new bachelor's program will learn theoretical business foundations, as well as health-specific skills including medical terminology and metrics used to analyze financial and quality performance expectations of a health services organization. Some students switched into the new major as soon as the college announced it, said Liz Manos, Anna Maria's director of business programs and an associate professor. e school had noticed a higher than expected number of students switching from nursing majors into business. "We thought they have an edge because they have more of a background [in health] than someone just in business," Manos said. e new major will make that broader knowl- edge of health and business not just a coincidental advantage but a built-in one. Students weren't able to combine nursing and business degrees as dual majors before because of the course requirements from those areas. Anna Maria has long had an MBA with concen- trations in healthcare administration and health informatics, giving the school an indication of how popular the focus was with students. ose programs have attracted students from both medical and busi- ness backgrounds looking to advance up the chain of command, Manos said. "Students are choosing paths that are nontradi- tional," she said. An easy decision Fitchburg State – which already has MBA con- centrations in management, accounting and human resources management – saw an immediate response upon adding health administration, said Beverley Hollingsworth, the school's MBA program chair. "Within a day, I must have gotten 35 responses from people who wanted to jump on board," Holling- sworth said. Some include students looking to switch from a management MBA track, she said. e new healthcare MBA program includes courses on healthcare marketing, finances, and legal, ethnic and policy issues. Students will take more general business courses like other MBA students do, such as accounting and management. Fitchburg State designed the online program to accommodate those already working in the field. A course can be completed in seven weeks, and the entire program in as short as 12 months. e new program begins next spring and will have multiple start dates each year. Tuition will be $12,510, with no requirements for a graduate management • 2018 Median Pay Nation: $99,730 Massachusetts: $133,900 Worcester metropolitan area: $109,600 • Number of jobs Nationally: 352,200 Massachusetts: 15,380 Worcester metropolitan area: 1,010 Estimated increase in jobs from 2016 to 2026: 20% Estimated number of jobs nationally in 2026: 424,300 Note: National jobs are as of 2016; state and metro area as of May 2018 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Health administrators by the numbers admission test or graduate record examination. Health administration concentrations have been added at other MBA programs in Massachusetts too, with similar programs available at Boston University, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Fitchburg State joined them aer the results of a market study made it an easy decision. "Our department had been looking at it for awhile," Hollingsworth said. W

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