title: A new paradigm in health care curriculums: the pharmaceutical and health care business degree.
abstract: The rapid growth of the healthcare industry, and the need to operate more efficiently in this environment, has generated an unmet need for competent business professionals with knowledge of the health care sciences. Additionally, student demand for a business curriculum that would satisfy the needs of the health care industry has provided the impetus for the development of the B.S. Pharmaceutical Health Care and Business program (PHCB). The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the evolution of this innovative curriculum within a school of Pharmacy, and to assess student satisfaction with the current PHCB program. To that end, a 19-item online questionnaire was developed and a group of 56 graduates (2007-2009) were surveyed which resulted in a response rate of 80%. The findings of this study indicated there was an overall high level of student satisfaction with this curriculum with an average of 86%, and that the PHCB program may offer potential to prepare graduates for the business and managerial aspects in the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, hospital and other allied health care segments.
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Sciences Department, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Nick.Campagna@mcphs.edu
authors.forename: Nicholas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Campagna
authors.forename: Mattia M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Migliore
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berman
mesh_terms: D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D003132:Commerce / Q000193:education*; D003479:Curriculum / Q000639:trends*; D004517:Education, Professional / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008404:Massachusetts; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services; D014481:United States