MHA graduate’s career path inspired by people, school and the future of health care
Within two months of graduating from the UNTHSC School of Public Health, Harleen Singh (MHA ’16) began a highly selective administrative residency with Baylor Scott & White Health (BS&W), one of the largest not-for-profit health care systems in the United States.
This two-year postgraduate program – which helps prepare future health care leaders so they will be ready to assume a key management role within a complex health care organization –placed Singh with BS&W’s Health Texas Provider Network physicians group.
Her focus is on outpatient operations management, and the job takes her to different locations around Dallas-Fort Worth, where she spends several months in rotation learning about outpatient services, finance, human resources, physician-administrator relationships and other aspects of the business.
After completing her bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Sciences with a Business Certificate, Singh worked two years for Hilton Worldwide, where she was involved in revenue management and analysis for all of the company’s brands.
“It was during that time that I developed an interest in health care administration,” she said. “I have always had a passion for helping people, and being married to a physician, I was inspired to explore ways that I could apply my skills to the field and be able to serve others as well.”
She decided to pursue an MHA program where she could build on her revenue management background as a transition into health care leadership.
“I liked that the UNTHSC program is accredited by CAHME, the Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education. This was very important to me when selecting my school, as it means that the program has met all the guidelines for having a robust and effective curriculum,” she said.
As Singh took courses in health care finance, strategy, operations management and leadership development, she studied with health industry leaders who brought their real-world experiences into the classroom, “making it more relatable,” she said.
Singh said she sees important work for outpatient health leadership in the future.
“As health care policies evolve and change, marketplace incentives are encouraging health systems to find ways of managing chronic disease care outside the traditional hospital setting. This signals a new trend for outpatient clinics, and it will be an important learning experience for me as I begin my career,” she said.
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