Contents
- Q: Where did you get your inspiration to start a career in healthcare management?
- Q: How did internships play a role in your academic journey?
- Q: How did you start your healthcare business?
- Q: How did your career become bigger than healthcare?
- Q: What advice would you give to a college student looking to start a business?
- So, Where do Healthcare Management Students Work?
A JSOM Alumni Story
Mohammad Elashi is a successful entrepreneur who started building his dreams in the healthcare management industry while completing his undergraduate degree at the Jindal School. He tells a story of hard work, clarity for goal setting, and a fantastic educational partnership with the school, faculty and staff.
Q: Where did you get your inspiration to start a career in healthcare management?
When I began as a UTD business student in healthcare management at the age of 19, my initial aspiration was to open a physical therapy practice. My years of playing high school, club, and brief college soccer and the remarkable impact that physical therapy had on my life, following multiple injuries/surgeries, inspired me to learn more about healthcare management. Little did I know that my dream would turn into something much more significant.
Q: How did internships play a role in your academic journey?
In my junior year at UTD, I landed an unpaid internship for a few months, which later turned into a paid internship, at a home health agency as an assistant to an administrator. I went there with the explicit intention of opening a practice, so consuming as much knowledge and picking up on the business flow and processes was my goal for that internship.
In mid-2016, after turning 20 years old, I decided that starting a business before graduation would be ideal, as I would get a one to two year head start and have something solid by the time I completed my bachelor’s degree. I procured all the necessary startup items to get things going in a pediatric outpatient rehab facility, shifting my focus to speech and occupational therapy. The change was motivated after witnessing my brother, Omar, who has Down syndrome, empower himself through these types of services. What also motivated me was that there was very little competition with high demand, as well as lower startup costs in comparison to physical therapy.
Q: How did you start your healthcare business?
I started by naming my business Synaptic Pediatric Therapies and securing other essentials, such as a domain, website, logo, business card, licenses, getting in-network with companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield, Texas Medicaid, United Healthcare, Amerigroup, etc. We then marketed with a few pediatricians to get patients in the door for speech and occupational therapy, secured a small $5,000 interest-free loan from a family friend and a small 800 square-foot location. Fast forward about four years, we are the fastest growing pediatric therapy clinic in DFW with six locations in Richardson, Arlington, Wylie, Mesquite, North Richland Hills, and Royce City and plan to open 4 more this year, for a total of 10 clinics. Our goal is to build 40 clinics in DFW in the next 3 years before expanding to San Antonio, Houston, and Austin.
Q: How did your career become bigger than healthcare?
Healthcare was just the beginning of my entrepreneurial career. Along the way, I co-founded companies in the solar industry that have grown to be industry leaders in not just DFW, but Texas as a whole. Those two companies are Synaptic Solar, a solar EPC company, and Dynamic SLR, a solar sales and financing company.
I have partnered with All American Flooring, one of the larger flooring companies in DFW with four locations, to help re-structure and scale the business. We have over 250 employees across the four companies and have generated over $60 Million in revenue in just 2020, with no debts or investors. We are on track to almost double our total employee headcount, as well as our total revenue for 2021.
Q: What advice would you give to a college student looking to start a business?
- Look for a flexible schedule: My business venture happened while I was a full-time student in my undergraduate for healthcare management at JSOM (BS’17) and then as a graduate in my MBA at JSOM (MBA’19). The key to doing this was time management, which UT Dallas made easy by offering many night classes. I could not have been a full-time student and started a business if UTD did not offer
- Apply for scholarships and financial aid: I received many scholarships and financial aid from UT Dallas. Saving money was essential to me, as starting a business would not have been ideal with loans and paying for courses, too. The Jindal School offered a fast track program for my MBA, which made transitioning very simple when deciding if I wanted to continue my education, despite the success that was coming from the businesses. It was a no-brainer when I saw how high UTD’s MBA program ranked in Texas and nationally.
- Apply for the TBHF: Lastly, UT Dallas offers a scholarship called the Texas Business Hall of Fame Scholar Award. The opportunity was unique, not only for the $15,000 award, but also for the chance to attend a gala full of business titans such as Warren Buffet, Mark Cuban, Herb Kelleher, Mary Kay Ash, Robert Smith, Kendra Scott, Jerry Jones, and many more. The TBHF Gala was an unforgettable moment and a real milestone. The connections you make and the opportunity to see how these legends started was an experience of a lifetime.
So, Where do Healthcare Management Students Work?
Healthcare Management students can work in various areas of healthcare and more. They also have the flexibility to apply their entrepreneurial knowledge to anything. Elashi noted he was extremely thankful to have had the experiences and opportunities that led him to become a successful entrepreneur in the healthcare industry. He hopes many other students choose to, “follow their dreams.”
