Second Class of Health Administration Graduates Walk this April

As members of its second graduating class, 41 students from the University of Cincinnati’s Masters of Health Administration program will receive degrees in the university’s 2014 Spring Commencement.

The distance-learning program started in 2011 to train professionals for administrative and managerial roles in health care settings.

Housed in UC’s College of Allied Health Sciences, the interdisciplinary curriculum brings in faculty from outside health care organizations as well as CAHS and the colleges of medicine and business.

"Approximately 60 percent of the class is in Ohio, but the remainder is spread across 12 states,” says program director Joan Murdock, PhD. "We’ve had a wide variety of students join our program—physicians, nurses, other clinical providers and students from the business and social work sectors—but all of them want to be health care leaders.”

The two-year program includes seven-week-long courses on health economics, law, finance, leadership, global health and other topics. For their capstone, students discuss an in-depth research project in a live presentation to MHA faculty and students.

Graduate Ryan Loudermilk entered the program after spending 10 years working in radiation therapy. He credits his success in the program to the support of his family

"I was scared about (going back to school), because at the time I started my first son was only 2 years old,” he says. "With the support of my amazing wife, Michelle, I have strived through classes very well, and we even had our second child at the beginning of my final semester. I never thought I would be able to get a master’s degree, but with the support of my family I am achieving that goal.”

Fellow graduate Janton Paulman also credits her family with helping her succeed, first through a bachelor’s in Clinical Laboratory Science, also from UC’s College of Allied Health Sciences, and then through the health administration program.

"This will be the first time in my college career that I will be able to walk across the stage and accept my degree,” she says. "It will be an honor to have my family, my parents and close friends attend. After being overseas for a time, raising a family and working full time, it is a joy to see the accumulation of all of my hard work through the last eight to nine years.”

Overall, the MHA program encompasses 142 students in 20 states and four countries (the United States, India, Qatar and Canada).

UC will award 6,381 degrees for the 2014 Spring Commencement—the largest spring-term graduating class in the university’s history. Ceremonies for graduate students will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, April 25, in Fifth Third Arena, and will be led by Robert Zierolf, vice provost and dean of the Graduate School.