By Mallorie Williams and Michael Dudeck

A small private university, South University is constantly evolving and tracking to assist our students to meet demands of yesterday and the ever-changing demands of tomorrow. South University continues to be discovered by the traditional college student, but South has long served the non-traditional student in supporting their desire to improve their lives and that of their families with highly respected professional programs.

South University offers all levels of degrees: Associate, Bachelor, Master, and Doctorate, and SU is Regionally Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The South difference is easy to explain: small classes and personalized attention make South University a unique learning experience, offering all learning modalities, including online, on-campus, virtual, and the ability for our students to blend these modalities to meet their busy schedules while earning their degree.

Although South University has an administrative team to help students be successful, the charge into the community is led by a cooperative effort of the Community Outreach and Admissions Departments. These individuals work to host and attend every opportunity to educate our community about South University Programs and collaborate with students from initial meeting through graduation.

Once a student has enrolled with South University, the support and encouragement of Admissions and Outreach does not stop, as Student Services and Academic Support continue to serve the ever-changing needs of our students. South University champions our students’ efforts with an outstanding Academic Support Coordinator to tutor and counsel students with technical support, eBook support and the course-by-course tutors needed to be successful.

South offers our students a rolling admissions process with fresh new 10-week starts every 5 weeks to allow the student to begin or renew their academic goals when they’re ready. This allows a student to start sooner, and with five 10-week sessions per year, the student may complete up to 20 classes in one year and set a pace toward graduation much faster than traditional semester-based institutions.

Our undergraduate programs include Associate of Science in Allied Health and Associate of Science in Physical Therapy Assistant. The Physical Therapist Assistant graduates boast a 100% pass rate on their boards. Our Bachelor programs include the traditional Business, Criminal Justice, Psychology and Healthcare Management, along with the high demand of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Our nurses are found in every hospital in Palm Beach County and beyond. Our master degree programs are designed to be completed in 6 10-week terms (Master of Business Administration, Master of Healthcare Administration, Master of Criminal Justice, and our combination Master of Business Administration/Master of Healthcare Administration). With our Clinical Mental Health Counseling being a 2-year program.

The Master of Medical Science in Anesthesia Science and the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Program here at South University, West Palm Beach offer an exceptional, instructive journey in which the chief focus is to advance each cohort into becoming successful, innovative, skillful clinical leaders. We are so excited to announce that the inaugural class of the South University West Palm Beach MSPA program is set to graduate in March 2023! These students have paved the way for our future PA cohorts, and will undoubtedly make a positive impact to society and the community as newly certified Physician Assistants.

As fairly new programs, the cohorts are growing, and our reputation is becoming well known in the community. Our students represent a level of professionalism, adaptability, and grit that contest the long-established programs. We advocate to recruit diverse student cohorts and faculty that is reflective to the surrounding community and progressively advances these professions. This is done by understanding the immense importance of taking a holistic approach when reviewing candidates and therefore matriculating cohorts that are multiculturally, socio-economically, ethnically, and intellectually diverse.

The uniqueness of the Anesthesiologist Assistant Program, is the full simulation lab/mock operating room that has all of the equipment and supplies you would find in a real-world operating room. Our AA faculty sometimes joke that we could open someone up right here at the campus and perform a full-blown operation!

Our staff strive for customer service superiority, and the faculty work exceptionally hard to ensure from the moment the students walk into new student orientation, to the day they graduate, they will receive nothing short of an excellent experience here at the educational hidden gem, South University of West Palm Beach.

For more information about South University, our programs and enrollment process, call (561) 273-6500 today and ask for Admissions.

 



By Dr. Salvatore Barbera

Careers in healthcare administration continue to grow as the overall industry attempts to work through the post-pandemic transitional challenges. These challenges include severe labor issues that necessitate a closer look at staff shortages both today and for the immediate future. Options may be limited but identifying this issue as a priority is a must. Most healthcare organizations need to devote time and resources into the future training and academic preparation of staff, including those at the bedside. These front door initiatives are essential and remain a critical component of any successful intervention geared toward effective human resource management. At the same time, appropriate oversight must be provided to retain staff already employed. A “revolving door” situation will not be successful in the long or short term.

To manage this human resource opportunity and challenge efficiently, healthcare management needs to be given the proper tools and resources. Considering the current environment, raising prices is not an option to address this ongoing cost pressure. Value-based reimbursement will create more pressure on providers by highlighting the cost of care even more. Healthcare consumers are finding themselves with rising out-of-pocket exposure even as they have decent insurance, drawing more attention to the industry-wide cost of care growth.

Current mid- and executive-level management must be educated in current human resources management practices that will encourage and support success. Determining the resources available in the community and those offered through educational formats created and provided by local higher education institutions is essential. These institutions must have experts to challenge and educate current management teams; they provide contemporary and advanced approaches for excelling within our existing competitive and ever-changing environment.

The Health Administration Program within the College of Business at Florida Atlantic University has both the expertise and understanding needed and serves as an invaluable resource for the community. In addition to FAU’s undergraduate and graduate programs in health administration, we have the ability to work with teams and organizations as well as individuals to design needed educational support through corporate training and certificate programs. Our health administration degree programs are guided by cutting-edge curriculum routinely evaluated to ensure industry relevance and compatibility. Courses are taught by highly qualified and experienced faculty who consistently receive recognition from the healthcare field and our students. We offer an industry leading, highly regarded executive program attractive to working executives with its weekend and online class formats.

Healthcare is a dynamic industry with unlimited opportunities and currently experiencing intense volatility that will bring about unprecedented change. Stay relevant and count on the Health Administration Program at Florida Atlantic University to provide your learning needs with either a degree-focused format or a certificate program or with custom-developed trainings to upskill your teams and organizations.

Dr. Salvatore Barbera, Associate Program Director, Health Administration Programs, College of Business, Florida Atlantic University, can be reached at (561) 297-4444 or Sbarber2@fau.edu.

 



The New Department of Informatics and Health Data Science seeks to redefine how data can power patient care, education, research and outreach – and catalyze innovation.

By Josh Baxt

The phrase “big data” can have vastly different meanings. To fundamental discovery researchers, it could be the readout from whole genome sequencing. For clinicians, it could mean deidentified patient data from electronic health records. For telemedicine specialists, it could indicate aggregated information streams from remote devices. Population health researchers might say all of the above.

This diversity can be a blessing and a curse. Data offers great promise to help address some of the world’s most intractable health issues. Still, the medical and research communities are just beginning to figure out how to manage these data streams and translate them into coherent information.

To help overcome these issues, and elevate big data’s impact on education, research, outreach and patient care, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine recently launched the Department of Informatics and Health Data Science. The new department seeks to become a nexus, where new thinking, and collaborations between disparate interests, can align to achieve common goals.

“Our gift as a clinical institution is that we care for people,” said Azizi Seixas, Ph.D., interim chair of the department. “To improve how we provide that care, we must adopt a precision approach, but what does that even look like? Each individual is a constellation of different factors: their biology, DNA, behavior, psychology, environment – and we have to understand all of it. To truly provide personalized care, we must embrace a continuously learning health system.”

Reimagining How Information Is Acquired and Used

The department seeks to refine academic medicine and health care across five pillars: research, clinical care, education, private venture, and service and outreach.

  • In research, the department will integrate lab and clinical research findings, electronic health records and population health studies, ultimately translating that information into new therapies.
  • On the clinical side, the team will advance telemedicine, smart devices and other remote health applications.
  • In education, the department seeks to expand collaborations with life sciences and tech companies to build internship programs and develop a new generation of innovators who thrive on information.
  • Private venture governs how the Miller School interacts with the larger life sciences and tech communities to catalyze the thoughtful exchange of ideas and more rapidly advance therapeutic innovations.
  • Outreach is developing new collaborations with South Florida’s many communities, such as partnering with minority-serving institutions to help them advance their research.

“We want to generate a free exchange of intellectual capital, ideas and technologies,” said Dr. Seixas, “to dive into traditional informatics, while also elevating understudied areas, such as population health.”

Embracing a Wiser Health Care System

Dr. Seixas believes these and other approaches will help create a health care system that freely shares knowledge and experience and relies on data to provide the best possible clinical judgment.

This emerging system would better integrate current technologies, and share data throughout the ecosystem, as well as accelerating how new technologies are vetted and ultimately adopted. The primary goal is to leverage data to better understand biology, clinical care and communities.

Sharing the Intellectual Wealth

Dr. Seixas and colleagues believe the Miller School and the department are in an ideal position to accumulate new knowledge and share it in the community. This process has already begun, as the Miller School and Institute of Data Science and Computing have joined the National Institutes of Health’s AIM-AHEAD program, which supports efforts to build machine learning infrastructure at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions and tribal colleges.

“We currently have two pilot programs,” said Dr. Seixas, “with Florida Atlantic University, Florida Memorial University, Miami Dade College, and Caridad Health Center, the largest free clinic in Florida. We are building up their AI infrastructure to process and deidentify electronic medical records. It will give them more data for their own research, as well as attracting pharmaceutical companies and clinical trials.”

But the Miller School community extends far beyond South Florida. Miami is a gateway to the Caribbean, Central and South America, Africa and North America, and all these regions will be part of the equation.

“There’s already a free exchange of commerce and culture, and we’d like to share technology as well,” said Dr. Seixas. “Whatever we can build in South Florida, we can build anywhere in the world.”



Nima Mowzoon, M.D., wants to be well prepared for the dramatic changes in the nation’s health care system. "As physicians, we have to take a leading role in health care reform," said Mowzoon, a board-certified neurologist and medical director, stroke and neurovascular services for Lee Memorial Health Systems in Fort Myers. "With the explosion in medical technology, the shift to prevention and wellness, the aging of America and the increased cost of care, the old fee-for-service model is breaking down. Instead, providers need to integrate our systems, and that requires professionals who understand the business of medicine."
 
With that goal in mind, Mowzoon enrolled in the University of Miami School of Business’ Executive MBA (EMBA) in Health Sector Management and Policy Program. In January, he and other seasoned professionals – including physicians, administrators, consultants and accountants – began the two-year weekend program, recently ranked No. 2 in the nation by Modern Healthcare magazine.
 
"I’ve found a new passion for learning," said Mowzoon. "The classes are phenomenal and the structure of the program is very practical for someone in full-time practice." He added that the UM program has the distinction of dual accreditation by AACSB International (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) and CAHME (Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education).
 
"Our program emphasizes the development of business, technical, administrative, and leadership concepts as they apply to the healthcare industry," said Steven G. Ullmann, Ph.D., professor and director, of the School’s programs in health sector management and policy. "We look at health care policies, demographic trends and business practices, helping students get a better understanding of the future, as well as providing them with practical ideas and tools they can use immediately."
 
The School of Business has offered the health care industry-focused EMBA program for more than 30 years. The School also offers a joint MD/MBA program in partnership with the Miller School of Medicine, as well as a major and minor in health sector management and policy at the undergraduate level.
 
For Teresa Glynn, DPT, PT, the School of Business’ EMBA program offered an appealing opportunity to add to her portfolio of administrative skills. "I have a strong clinical background as a physical therapist," said Glynn, who is vice chair for clinical services in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "I am also an experienced health care administrator who is very loyal to my profession.
 
In looking to the future, Glynn said, "I want to be as well prepared as possible for both the challenges and the new opportunities facing healthcare. This program is just right for me."
 
One weekend a month, Paul Adams, M.D. travels from Central Florida for three days of EMBA classes. "It’s not like going to work," he said after the first class sessions in January. "I can see this will be a lot of fun as well. It’s really a priceless learning opportunity."
 
A board-certified radiation oncologist with Advanced Prostate Cancer Institute in Oxford, Adams says many physicians have resisted the changes in healthcare. "Instead, I want to understand what’s happening and try to create change from within. Physicians, hospitals and other providers certainly know the problems because we live with them. But to solve them, we need a proactive attitude, and work together to build a better system."
 
Gabriel Decaran-Voigt, director of strategy and marketing for a Miami law firm, chose the EMBA healthcare program for a variety of reasons. "I wanted to be taught by professors who have mastered their subjects," he said. "The faculty members have created a rich learning environment for us, and as a passionate learner I feel surrounded by motivated, successful and accomplished students."
 
Five years ago, Decaran-Voigt has a life-changing experience, when his infant nephew was diagnosed with congenital heart disease and spent four months in Miami Children’s Hospital. "That planted a seed for me, and I became a volunteer and a fundraiser for the hospital," he said. "I saw that my skills and abilities could be applied to the healthcare industry."
 
Since Decaran-Voigt has an international business background, the School of Business’ many ties to the Caribbean and Latin America were also an important factor in choosing the program. "I consider the UM brand far superior to other regional players," he added. "For me there is no greater honor than to use the knowledge from the program to better myself as a professional and make a difference in the lives of others."


Nursing has become a highly sought out and in-demand profession. Author of The 150 Best Recession-proof Jobs, Laurence Shatkin calls nursing “gold”, noting that despite socioeconomic status, people will continue to get sick and corporations can’t outsource nurses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that between 2008 and 2025 the projected job growth for nurses is 581,500.
 
Nursing Shortages
The Bureau of Labor Statistic states that the 2012 growth in the healthcare profession is even larger than it was in 2011 – with 1 out of every five jobs being in the healthcare field. With the growth in nursing employment up 22%, is it surprising that the American Association of Colleges of Nursing has issued warnings about nursing shortages? The AACN has found that by 2025 the shortfall will be 260,000 nurses.
 
A contributing factor to the shortage is the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which gives healthcare access to 32 million additional Americans. The ACCN reports that the 5.1% increase of new students into nursing college programs is not enough to meet the increased demand for nurses.
 
Additionally, the ACCN reported in their publication, 2011-2012 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, that 75,587 qualified prospective students were turned away from nursing colleges because of “insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, clinical preceptors, and budget constraints.”
 
While the current shortage in nurses is difficult for the field and patients, it also presents a certain level of job security for nurses. With the average RN making a respectable $64,690, nursing is a strong option for those looking for a secure and rewarding career.
 
Types of Nursing Degrees
Within the nursing field there are a variety of different degrees, which require different levels of education and training. They vary greatly, especially with the addition of specialties. However, there are 4 basic levels.
• CNA – Certified Nurse Aide – This requires a certificate, less than a year of schooling, and has limited contact with the patients. This position has the least level of responsibility.
• LPN – Licensed Practice Nurse – Requires at least one year of education and classes on nursing and patient care.
• RN – Registered Nurse – can be earned through a diploma school, which teaches while students are actively working in a hospital – though this is less common. There are roughly 100 diploma schools in the US. More common is a 2-year program of study, followed by passing the NCLEX-RN.
• BSN – Bachelor of Science in Nursing – is a four-year program, which includes general education requirements. BSN graduates also have to take the NCLEX-RN.
 
Florida National University – Nursing Program
As a prestigious South Florida nursing university, FNU offers many different degree options, both on campus and through distance learning. FNU is proud of the achievements of their programs, and of the students who continue on to be successful in the nursing profession.