Launching Christ-Centered Leaders into the Field of Healthcare

This fall, the Northwestern School of Business launched Healthcare Management programs. Created by industry experts and offered fully online, the Healthcare Management programs will train graduates with the precise skills needed to step into key positions of leadership throughout the healthcare industry.

Students in Northwestern’s Healthcare Management programs receive instruction in finance, policy, ethics, management, and legal issues specific to healthcare in the United States. Graduates of the programs will be equipped for positions of leadership in organizations such as residential care facilities, clinical and hospital care organizations, medical device and equipment businesses, and insurance companies.

“Our aim in offering Healthcare Management programs is to prepare every graduate entering or advancing in the healthcare field to serve individuals and families in need of care through wise, compassionate, God-honoring management and leadership,” said Jessa Nelson, chair and assistant dean of the UNW School of Business.

In addition to concentrations for traditional and adult undergraduate business majors, MBA students can pursue a concentration in Healthcare Management without adding to their cost or length of study. A stand-alone certificate, which can be completed in only one year, is also available for those that have already earned an MBA, require a shorter course of study, or intend to complete of a Master of Business Administration degree in the future.

“Healthcare Management gives you a unique opportunity to impact delivery care from an organizational standpoint,” says Hannah Ried ’20, resident supervisor at ACR Homes. “Being a student at Northwestern places you at such an advantage. The university has an amazing business department, and the School of Business chair has extensive Healthcare Management experience. And at Northwestern, you learn from the Christian viewpoint, which emphasizes that we’re called to serve and love.”

Graduate-level courses for Healthcare Management include Healthcare Financial Systems, Healthcare Policy & Management, Law & Ethics in Healthcare, and Leadership in Healthcare. “Having enough exposure to healthcare to know how the health care system works—and how people move in and through it—is critical to succeeding in the field of Healthcare Management,” said Nelson. “That is what Northwestern’s Healthcare Management concentrations provide.” 

Healthcare is an exponentially growing market projected to experience continued rapid and extensive growth. Graduates of Northwestern’s Healthcare Management concentrations will receive increased marketability and immediate recognition in this field, where management positions are high level of entry not only in terms of income, but also responsibility.

This is a pivotal and crucial time in our nation’s collective health, with a quickly rising need for grace-filled end-oflife care, sound and godly resources for addressing mental health issues, and ongoing pandemic policy and research.

“We want to put Christ-centered people into these high-level positions,” explained Nelson, “because Christian values create an excellent platform for delivering exceptional care.”