Greetings, UF MHA Students, Alumni, Family and Friends:
This past May, I saw my fourth UF MHA class graduate (2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023) as the UF MHA Program Director. Reflecting on my time in this role in Gainesville, I am grateful to share updates about the program:
First and foremost, we were recently reaccredited for seven years by CAHME in May 2023. This result would not have been possible without the support of the UF MHA Students, the UF MHA Advisory Council, UF MHA Alumni, PHHP and HSRMP leadership, and the UF MHA Faculty and Staff.
Second, the US News & World Report rankings came out in April 2023, showing that our program moved up to #32 in the rankings. Below are some facts about the UF MHA Program based on these rankings:
- We are the highest-ranked program in Florida, tied with the University of Miami Executive MBA Program.
- We are the highest-ranked public university program in Florida.
- We are the highest-ranked residential (on-campus) master’s program in Florida. The other ranked residential programs are Miami at #41, UCF at #47, USF at #52, UNF at #60, FIU at #71, and FAMU at #86.
- We are the 16th-ranked public university.
- We are tied for 2nd place (with UK) in the SEC. Only Texas A&M is ranked higher at 27. The other SEC schools are Missouri at 41, USC at 41, and Arkansas at 60.
- We are ranked 4th in the Southeastern US for public universities. (The four top-ranked in the Southeast are UAB at #1, UNC at #3, MUSC at #19, and UF at #32.)
Third, our recent graduates continue to secure competitive administrative fellowships and outstanding work opportunities. From the UF MHA Class of 2023 (28 graduates), eight (29%) went the administrative fellowship route. The graduates will be completing their fellowships at UF Health Jacksonville, UF College of Medicine (COM) Department of Emergency Medicine, UF COM Dean’s Office Financial Administration, Lexington Health, Vanderbilt Health Transplantation Department, UF COM Department of Anesthesiology, HCA Healthcare Strategy Section, and Emory Health – Finance. One of our graduates has set her sights on becoming a physician executive and is heading to the Florida State University Medical School! Eleven (39%) are going directly into the career field. These graduates are working in UF Health Shands, UF COM Department of Surgery, UF COM Department of Neurology and Fixel Institute, FYZICAL, CVS Strategy and Pharmacy Innovation, Orlando Health, The Resource Group, Cleveland Clinic Neuroscience, and UF Health Supply Chain. We still have a few looking, interviewing, and finalizing their next opportunity. If you know of any openings, please send them my way.
Fourth, the UF MHA Class of 2024 (38 students) have started their internships. This is one of the largest UF MHA internship classes ever, and the students did a fantastic job securing opportunities. Twenty-three (61%) are interning in a UF Health entity. We have students at long-time internship sites, such as UFP, M500, Neurology, Surgery, and Shands COO. We have interns at newer sites such as the COM CFO office, UF Health Managed Care, OB/GYN, College of Dentistry, and UF Health Department of Patient Experience. We have students interning across Florida at Orlando Health, Doctor’s Hospital, Lifesouth Community Blood Centers, Florida Blue, Centene, and Advent Health. Our students continue to compete nationally, interning at Cleveland Clinic Ohio, Massachusetts General Brigham, Segal Company, Aetna, Johnson City Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and UCLA Health. 24 (61%) of the 38 students’ preceptor is a UF MHA Alum – showing the strength of Gator Nation.
Alums’ involvement with the program keeps growing. In March, we had over 30 alumni, students, and friends meet and network at the ACHE Congress. We hope to see more next year. In total, we had over 75 alumni interact with our students over the last year. This interaction took many forms, including hosting alums as guest speakers in class, acting as case competition coaches, speaking at HASA events and meetings, standing in as a fellowship coach, volunteering as a student project evaluator, and acting as internship preceptors.
We feature two alums in this UF MHA Messenger, Leilani Johnson and John Whiteside. If you or other UF MHA alums have news or an exciting update, please scroll to the bottom of the newsletter to submit via the Share button! We want to share alum updates in each issue. As I close, I want to thank all who have continued to support the UF MHA program. Working with you is one of the best parts of my job.
Best wishes,
Keith