Ryan Meyer always knew he wanted a career in health care administration. As soon as he completed his bachelor’s degree, he enrolled in DMU’s M.H.A. program. The knowledge he was gaining on quality improvement was particularly relevant to the internship he accepted with the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative, a nonprofit organization that promotes continuous improvement in the industry. “I liked that quality link,” he says. “I was able to apply what I was learning in class.”
Eventually promoted to the collaborative’s project coordinator, Meyer – who completed his M.H.A. degree in 2011 – praises the faculty and students he interacted with, including in his online courses. “One of the best parts of the DMU program is having professionals in the working world who are also teaching classes and mentoring students,” he says. “The diversity of students and their different backgrounds, from nursing to law, opens up discussions as well.”
The diversity in the program’s content was beneficial, too. As an assistant administrator at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, a nonprofit organization with health care and housing centers in four states, Meyer is involved in operational, clinical, planning, public relations and other initiatives in his work. “The DMU program connects you with different aspects of health care, the whole picture of the health care system,” he says.
While Meyer did consider pursuing a master of business administration degree rather than an M.H.A., he’s glad he chose the latter. “There are so many things you can do in the health care field. There are always opportunities with new data, insurance, quality improvement, etc.,” he says. “That means there are also so many opportunities with the M.H.A. degree.”
