Posted on September 18, 2024 by Wendy Frost
The Carlos Alvarez College of Business at UTSA has launched a new B.S. in Health Administration degree program jointly with UTSA’s College for Health, Community and Policy (HCAP).
Designed to meet the growing need for health care professionals, the program will not only train leaders for diverse health administration roles, but also provide customized content that addresses regional challenges faced in South Texas such as border health as well as the unique challenges associated with delivering high-quality services to a diverse population.
“The benefit of this unique joint degree program is that we combine our strengths and provide students
with outstanding training in both business and health from experts in the field. Our program curriculum is also aligned with the standards to obtain certification from the Association of University Programs in Health Administration,” said Joseph Broschak, chair of the college’s Department of Management and the Glenn and Ann Biggs Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship.
With coursework evenly divided between both colleges, students will learn about fundamental business topics such as accounting, finance, human resources management and marketing. They will also receive specialized training in areas such as health economics, health care information systems and cyber security, health care management and the analytics of health care operations.
The remaining coursework will be offered through HCAP in areas such as community and public health, health policy, law and ethics as well as health behavior theory and program planning.
“There has been an explosion of jobs in this industry, but there are only two fully-certified undergraduate health administration programs in Texas,” said Jonathan Clark, professor of management. “We saw an opportunity to not just prepare students for the labor market, but also to be an institution that is a force for good in health care in South Texas.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the accelerated need for individuals in this field continues to expand and even more so in Texas which has seen a 6% growth in the past 10 years.
In addition to this new degree program, the college offers two health-related master’s programs: a MBA/MD joint degree offered in collaboration with the UT Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine, and a MBA/MPH dual degree offered with the UT Health Houston School of Public Health. Both of these degree programs allow students to earn two degrees and receive both health and business training simultaneously, while saving time and resources.
— Wendy Frost
