"My Executive MBA provided me the knowledge necessary to recognize, appreciate, and respond to the challenges of the marketplace."
Joseph Jasser, MD
Executive MBA Online, Class of 2014
President and CEO, Dignity Health Medical Foundation
There are very few professionals who have the opportunity to change people’s lives for the better the way doctors do. So what would motivate a dedicated MD to transition from clinical practice to health care leadership? When Joseph Jasser, president and CEO of Dignity Health Medical Foundation explains, it makes all the sense in the world.
“In my role, I oversee more than $1 billion in professional revenue and more than a million patient visits a year. The organizational decisions we make have the opportunity to impact the care we provide across the entire organization, not just a single physician practice. In addition, as a physician executive, I have the opportunity to design and develop new workflows and pathways to improve how healthcare is delivered. This is the most exciting aspect of my job!”
Preparing to Become a Physician Leader
Jasser remembers what an epiphany it was when he realized the large-scale impact he could have as a physician leader. “Early in my career, I was given an opportunity that provided me a path into the business side of medicine,” he recalls. “This early opportunity opened a world to me that I didn’t realize existed. The work was challenging and allowed me to impact the practice of medicine from a different perspective. As I grew in my career, I realized that as a physician leader, I would have the opportunity to impact clinical medicine in a much broader way.”
To prepare himself for that opportunity, Jasser decided to pursue his Executive MBA online from the WSU Carson College of Business. “My Executive MBA provided me the knowledge necessary to recognize, appreciate, and respond to the challenges of the marketplace,” he said. “The healthcare industry is changing rapidly, not unlike other aspects of business, and having the knowledge and understanding necessary to react to and address these challenges is something that I wouldn’t have been able to do without the education I gained from WSU.”
It may come as a surprise to hear a medical professional talk about the career value of an EMBA program — but it shouldn’t. “The Executive MBA teaches a set of skills that are transportable to any industry, including healthcare,” Jasser said. “Just like any other business, healthcare has similar dynamics, such as operational effectiveness, finance, accounting, operational design, and strategy, all of which are critical to success. My Executive MBA education allowed me to gain a deeper understanding and knowledge of the key business skills necessary for me to lead a large organization…it just happens that it is a healthcare organization. The core concepts and skills that I learned allowed me to leverage business principles and apply them to the healthcare arena.”