From med school to MBA

[img_inline align=”” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/herechuk_bryan.jpg” caption=”Bryan Herechuk graduates with his MBA in Health Services Management from DeGroote today.”]

Students from the DeGroote School of Business graduate today. Below, Bryan Herechuk, a representative from DeGroote's MBA class of 2009, is profiled.

Following the completion of his undergraduate degree, Bryan Herechuk was planning for a career in medicine as a specialist.

“I was strongly heading towards medical school,” he says. “I had not considered the administrative realm of health care until I applied to the MBA program in Health Services Management (HSM) at DeGroote.”

The MBA program at DeGroote features a co-op option that combines academic and experiential learning, providing students with invaluable work experience, as well as the technical and career-based skills necessary to achieve success in the world of work. Herechuk took advantage of the Co-op program, working in hospice and hospital settings for 12 months over the course of his two-year MBA degree.

“This program structure allows students to use their course
knowledge as tools during their co-op terms and bring their work experience back into the classroom to enrich discussion,” he states.

As a student, Herechuk was able to experience aspects of the healthcare system that would normally remain unseen.

“The most valuable part of the program for me has been the co-op experiences,” Herechuk continues. “The various projects that I have been involved with and the excellent exposure to the senior administration and leadership levels of the system has been instrumental. From the developmental standpoint, I have grown far more in the 28-month period of the MBA program than I did in four years of undergraduate education.”

During his time at DeGroote, Herechuk has been actively involved with initiatives to build awareness about the HSM program. Further, he helped forge relationships with the Canadian College of Health Services Executives (CCHSE) and other health leaders across the country, in order to benefit the student body. Herechuk also served as the Academic Director of the MBA Association, was awarded the Co-op Individual Achievement Award and was recently honoured with the CCHSE Hamilton & Area Chapter Student Bursary.

In January, Herechuk began a career as a performance improvement consultant in the Quality, Planning & Performance Improvement Program at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton.

“My experiences have confirmed my passion and interest in being an administrator of our health system. There is not a moment that I
regret making the decision to come to DeGroote for the MBA program,” he affirms.

In the future, Herechuk hopes to be the vice president of an acute care hospital.

“I have a passion to be a health leader and I also plan to be a fully engaged DeGroote alumnus. I will never hesitate to promote the program that laid the foundation for me to get there. Even 20 years from now, I will still be representing DeGroote in my work and relationships.”