The MS in Healthcare Management program awarded its first community-based scholarship in a presentation at a recent meeting of the Jindal School-based UTD Healthcare Management Association.
The Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter of the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society — well known to industry insiders by its acronym, HIMSS — contributed the $1,000 award, which went to double degree seeker Andrew Lim, who is working on an MBA as well as an MS in Healthcare Management degree.
Presenting the scholarship at the HMA meeting was appropriate in that membership in the association was one of the eligibility requirements for the competitive award. Enrollment in the healthcare management program was another. Applicants also had to have completed at least 12 hours in the program and have a minimum 3.5 grade-point average. A 500-word essay was also part of the application package.
A not-for-profit organization focused on healthcare information technology, the local chapter of HIMSS decided that giving the scholarship would be a good way to attract more student involvement, presenter Nayan Patel said. A member of the Dallas-Fort Worth HIMSS Board of Directors and a past president of the local chapter, Patel is director of information technology at The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano.
Patel encouraged the healthcare management students to participate in HIMSS for ongoing educational development, career opportunities and networking events.
Besides being HMA’s risk management officer this academic year, Lim was a member of the JSOM team that placed first at the annual case study competition of the North Texas chapter of the American College of Healthcare of Executives last November.
“The Jindal School is grateful to the Dallas-Fort Worth HIMSS chapter for investing in the potential of our students,” MS in Healthcare Management Program Director Dr. Forney Fleming said, “and we look forward to this scholarship competition being an annual event.”
