Fleming Center for Healthcare Management

Beyond the classroom

Practical experience in healthcare management

Research, real-world cases, internships (practicums) and fellowships give students hands-on experience integrating healthcare management theory into practice. Our students also benefit from our faculty’s extensive academic and professional experience. Many faculty members serve as consultants to industry and offer valuable insight into the inner workings of healthcare organizations.

Before graduating, each healthcare management MPH student completes a practicum through the Fleming Center: 180 hours of hands-on experience in a community setting. Akin to an internship, the practicum is an essential part of a student’s public health education and should reflect his or her academic goals and professional interests. Check out these recent student projects, which highlight the diversity of our practicum experiences:

Surveying Parental Attitudes on Vaccination

A Fleming Center student worked with the Immunization Project to administer a survey on parental hesitancy towards childhood vaccines. She helped enroll more than 250 pregnant patients and co-parents to gauge their beliefs about childhood vaccines. Data from the study will be used to better understand attitudes and beliefs about vaccines among expectant parents and help determine effective vaccine education. Practicum highlight: “Enrollment was an opportunity to connect with patients on a personal level.”

Improving access to healthcare

Working with a Houston-area multispecialty medical practice, another student helped implement projects under the Medicaid Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP), a statewide program that increases quality and access to healthcare. He analyzed project data, used to report milestones to governmental organizations, and helped implement a project that integrates behavioral health with primary healthcare services. Lessons learned: “A practicum is an invaluable experience that contextualizes your in-class learning.”

Reducing appointment no-shows

Developing and implementing a new policy aimed at reducing appointment no-shows was the focus of one student’s work. The policy focused specifically on hypertensive and diabetic patients who visited a charity care clinic in the Houston area. Our student encouraged patients to maintain their regular follow-up appointments and educated them about their medications and health conditions. Practicum highlight: “A unique chance to see and appreciate the patient-clinic flow from eligibility to follow-up.”

Learning the financial processes of an academic medical center

Yet another Fleming Center student developed skills involved in the financial planning and budgeting process in his practicum at the financial department of a major Houston academic medical center. He created budget templates, learned how medical service revenue is recognized and discovered how start-up funds are provided to newly hired physicians. Advice for students: “If you cannot find a practicum that interests you, don’t be afraid to create your own. After all this is YOUR experience!”

Supporting teens with HIV

After observing HIV-positive teens in the juvenile justice system and a teen clinic, one of our students focused her research on finding support groups for this vulnerable population. She crafted a white paper outlining the need for support groups for teens living with HIV in Houston, and listed funding sources to help fill in the gaps in healthcare services. Practicum highlight: “I had the opportunity to observe physicians provide healthcare to adolescents at the Harris County Juvenile Justice Center and the UT Physicians Adolescent HIV Clinic.”

Rigorous training in healthcare management

Degree Programs

The Fleming Center offers rigorous training in healthcare management paired with a one-of-a-kind focus on population health. We currently offer a master’s degree and doctoral degree in public health with an emphasis in health management and health policy. We also offer a graduate certificate in healthcare management for individuals considering an MPH in healthcare management, but would first like exposure to many of the courses.

Our degree programs are designed to prepare students for the modern healthcare workplace through a challenging curriculum and real-world learning experiences. Students gain in-depth knowledge of the public health industry and graduate from the program confident they can:

• Manage multidisciplinary managerial and public health functions within the health delivery system
• Develop relationships and processes with other members of the health delivery system, including physicians, community partners, and insurers
• Create a vision for the organization and the community and champion that vision internally and externally to stakeholders
• Lead a team and participate with team members to achieve outcomes
• Achieve their professional and personal goals

Master of Public Health

The MPH in Healthcare Management provides students with a solid foundation for managing in a complex healthcare environment. The program provides training for students with interests in administration and the management of a variety of healthcare environments, including hospitals, public health agencies, nursing homes, health systems, pharmaceutical firms, insurers and other organizations in the healthcare sector.

CAHME accreditation

The MPH degree program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation Healthcare Management Education (CAHME). Considered the benchmark that ensures the integrity of healthcare management education, CAHME accreditation is highly sought after by students and employers. The Fleming Center's healthcare management program is one of just five MPH programs in the country to receive the prestigious accreditation.

Fast Facts

Doctor of Philosophy in Management and Policy

The PhD in Health Management and Health Policy offers training for students who wish to practice health management at an advanced level or pursue academic careers in health management. The program develops researchers who can ask relevant questions, identify answers and drive policy and organizational change to improve healthcare access, quality and cost.

Certificate in Healthcare Administration

The Certificate in Healthcare Administration is intended for health practitioners and individuals wishing to increase their knowledge in healthcare management. The five courses in this non-degree program cover the core content of healthcare management. In-person classes are available at the Houston campus and via ITV across other UTHealth School of Public Health Campuses. Most courses are taught in the early evening, allowing working professionals to easily pursue the certificate.

A certificate is awarded to students who pass all five courses. The certificate program is designed to be completed in one year.

Teaching methods and assessments

Students are taught through a combination of lectures, cases and hands-on assignments. In-person classes are available at the Houston campus and via ITV across other UTHealth School of Public Health campuses. Some classes are also available online.

Assessments include case studies, field work, essays, short answer tests, class leadership, and individual and team presentations.

Grading policy

Letter grades (“A,” “B,” “C,” or “F”) are given for all MPH core courses. Elective courses may be letter-graded or graded on the basis of pass/fail (“P” or “F”) at the discretion of the instructor. Letter grades in pass/fail courses (i.e., an “F”) will not be included in the GPA calculated for letter-graded courses. A GPA will be calculated from all letter-graded courses.

Fast Facts

In 2021-2022, the HCM MPH program had:

The Fleming Center executive edge

Our executive education courses help busy healthcare professionals sharpen their skills and build the sought-after managerial and leadership expertise necessary to excel in today’s evolving healthcare industry. Classes feature engaging instruction with an emphasis on organizational dynamics, planning and implementing change, working in teams and real-world problem solving. Courses are available in the following:

Physician leadership

Target audience: Physicians in mid-level management positions or individuals desiring leadership experience

Course description: In this course, participants learn critical business concepts necessary to support their roles as developing leaders within the organization. They also learn to analyze their organization and prioritize options; plan, communicate and implement change; confidently lead teams within their organization; and identify, plan and operationalize a strategic project.

Format: Available to healthcare organizations. Course is customized to fit the organization that requests it, and the number of class sessions may vary accordingly.

Lean Six Sigma

Target audience: Healthcare managers seeking to lead process improvement

Course description: Through hands-on activities, lab exercises, presentations and lectures, this course provides a strong foundation in Lean Six Sigma methodology. Participants map processes, identify root causes of problems, implement improvements and lead project teams to help organizations achieve performance improvements. They also conduct a real-world quality improvement project and become certified in Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.

Format: Nine-week hybrid course focuses on group training and is available to requesting healthcare organizations. This course meets half of the time in a traditional face-to-face classroom environment, with the remainder of the course delivered electronically.

Additional courses

We also provide courses on Academic Medical Department Leadership and Nursing Leadership upon request.

Executive Education Leadership     

Our Physician Advisory Panel includes:

• David Corry, MD, Baylor College of Medicine
• Terry Bowman McLendon, MD, Houston Methodist Hospital System
• Bela Patel, MD, UTHealth
• Heidi Schwarzwald, MD, Texas Children's Hospital
• Ron Walters, MD, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Opportunities to lead, collaborate and learn

The Fleming Center offers students many activities emphasizing leadership, teamwork, and learning from industry leaders, further enriching their academic experience.

The Board

A student organization focused on leadership and management, The Board seeks to enrich students academically, professionally and socially as they transition into their careers. The organization offers course selection help, peer to peer coaching, alumni networking and opportunities for involvement in professional organizations including the American College of Healthcare Executives and Healthcare Financial Management Association. The Board also sponsors career development workshops, and provides activities that encourage students to forge relationships with their peers and successful professionals in their field.

Case Competitions

The Fleming Center’s annual case competition, co-sponsored by The Board, provides students with an exciting way to apply what they have learned in the classroom to a real-world problem. Teams of students compete to develop the best solution to a healthcare management-related case study. In the process, they bridge the academic and practice worlds, collaborate with their peers and take on leadership roles in a competitive setting. Last year, eight teams from seven universities participated--five from schools within Texas. Teams from UTHealth School of Public Health routinely take top honors in the competition. Fleming Center students also participate in case competitions sponsored by the National Association of Health Services Executives and Medical Group Management Association.