Becoming More Marketable in the Healthcare Industry

“I kept talking myself out of graduate school,” says Joel Shows (MBA, 2017) when asked how he chose the Millsaps College Else School of Management for his MBA degree. “I loved what I did. My nursing degree fed my passion, my calling.” In addition to his nursing degree, Shows also holds an undergraduate degree in business and did not see how a graduate degree would advance his career until a co-worker mentioned an open position that required a master’s degree.

Shows had a number of options to consider. He thought about a higher nursing degree and looked at healthcare finance and administration degrees and other various online offerings. He eventually decided to pursue an MBA because the wider perspective on healthcare administration would differentiate him from his colleagues, making him more marketable.

He chose Millsaps College’s traditional MBA program after a visit with Dr. Bill Brister. “I was the old guy in the room, but the small classes encouraged discussion, and I found the millennial mindset very positive,” said Shows. “We learned a lot from each other.”

Shows also found relationships with faculty were a key component of his MBA experience. “Connecting with the faculty and administration was great. I could feel that they had genuine interest in me and my success.”

These days, Shows is helping Methodist Rehabilitation Center battle the coronavirus. The Center has implemented telecom visits, a major adjustment requiring data gathering, evaluating, and reporting. Shows finds he is using his degree daily. “Dr. Ray Grubbs, who taught the first course I took (Judgement and Decision-Making), told me I would immediately be able to apply what I learned in that class. And it happened the very first day and every day after that.”