The UT Dallas community is quickly adjusting to the new reality of social distancing necessitated by COVID-19. One way leaders at the Naveen Jindal School of Management are engaging with current and prospective students and industry is through podcasts.
Yet Another MBA G.O.A.T. — G.O.A.T. is an acronym for greatest of all time — is the newest of three Jindal School shows that are front and center to this effort. The Business of Healthcare Podcast has been on the air providing thought leadership to the healthcare industry since 2017.And a student-led effort from the Entrepreneurship Club titled The Up & Coming rounds out the trio.
Across campus, the UT Dallas Office of Communications recently launched Could We Ever…? The newcomer “shines a light on UT Dallas experts and asks them to tackle questions you never knew you needed answered — from science to art and more.”
At the Jindal School, “the people we are trying to reach are not traditional 40- and 50- and 60-year-old individuals who are reading the newspaper or coming to program information sessions,” says Dr. Monica Powell, senior associate dean, graduate dean and host of Yet Another MBA G.O.A.T. “These are people who are technologically engaged. They’re in the car listening to a podcast. They’re going to bed listening to a podcast.”Podcast Looks at Business Side of Healthcare
The Center for Healthcare Leadership and Management produces The Business of Healthcare Podcast, which, since its August 2017 debut, has produced nearly 60 episodes. The total number of downloads is now approximately 150,000.
Dr. Robert Kaiser, a clinical professor and director of the MS in Healthcare Leadership and Management for Professionals program, hosts The Business of Healthcare Podcast. He says the show benefits the University’s healthcare educational offerings because it helps articulate the Jindal School’s value proposition to current and prospective students and industry partners.
“The Jindal School provides healthcare leadership and management insights at many levels — undergraduate, graduate and executive education,” Kaiser says. “The Business of Healthcare Podcast brings relevant and fresh conversational discussions to both industry and academia.”
Recent guests have included such healthcare thought leaders as bestselling author and surgeon Dr. Marty Makary, and Dr.John McCracken, a Jindal School clinical professor and director of the MS in Healthcare Leadership and Management for Physicians program. McCracken was also the guest for the podcast’s most downloaded episode of all time, “What Is the Future of Healthcare?” Topics have ranged from patient-centered healthcare to digital transformation to pricing transparency.
Dr. Pat Basu, president and CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, was a recent guest. He and Kaiser discussed, among several topics, how to simplify the healthcare industry and maintain high clinical standards while elevating standards related to the patient experience. At the end of that episode, Basu thanked Kaiser for having him on the show and explained why he had agreed to be a guest.
“Programs like yours are interesting,” he said. “They’re insightful and educational. They really help move the dialogue and the needle towards a better healthcare system.”
Podcast Connects Listener with Jindal School
One of Kaiser’s students, Jayce Arakaki, works in the healthcare industry as a senior project analyst at Hawaii Pacific Health. The Hawaii resident had listened to the show even before he had heard of UT Dallas.
“I am somewhat of an avid podcast listener,” he wrote last year in correspondence with Kaiser while deciding on whether to enroll in the Jindal School. “When I came across The Business of Healthcare Podcast, it led me to do more research on the Healthcare Leadership and Management program at UT Dallas.
”Arakaki’s research led him to enroll in the Executive MS in Healthcare Leadership and Management for Professionals program. The great distance — a nonstop flight from Honolulu to Dallas is nearly eight hours — was a plus, not a minus for him.
“I was born, raised, attended undergraduate and even graduate school in Hawaii,” he said. “It’s easy to develop an insular mentality when living on the most isolated place on Earth. I chose the MBA-track in healthcare leadership and management at UTD because it checked all the boxes I was looking for. Nearly halfway through the program, I have already been able to apply leadership concepts and things I’ve learned in class to my job. It’s been a great experience thus far and a decision I am very happy to have made.”
New Podcast Spotlights Outstanding MBA Alumni
Powell’s podcast, Yet Another MBA G.O.A.T, is relatively new. With six episodes available for streaming and download, “The Goat” — as it is affectionately known by its showrunners — is about keeping a finger on the pulse of those individuals who might pursue an MBA degree, Powell says. Its purpose is to increase those prospective MBA students’ comfort levels with investing in themselves by having them listen to the people who have been the greatest beneficiaries of the program.
“Whether it’s an MBA, a master’s degree, a combination of the two or even a certificate, people can learn things that they don’t expect,” Powell says. “I hope that I can inspire people with these remarkable stories of our ‘greatest of all time’ MBA alumni.”
Powell says that enrolling for an MBA degree is quite a commitment in terms of money, time, effort and even family sacrifice, but hearing what the returns on investments have been from UT Dallas MBA alumni will help prospective students realize that it is a commitment worth making.
Student Podcast Showcases UT Dallas Entrepreneurs
Rounding out the Jindal School’s podcast lineup is The Up & Coming, a show produced by the UT Dallas Entrepreneurship Club, a student organization devoted to innovation and entrepreneurship. The show covers topics related to interests and challenges of entrepreneurially minded students. Harshini Rallapalli, a cognitive science senior and vice president of the E-Club, co-hosts the show.
Rallapalli says the goals of the podcast are to help listeners learn more about student startup ventures at UT Dallas, to learn more about their journeys, to have guests explain what keeps them going in their entrepreneurial pursuits and why is it important that they do what they do.
“By learning more, we want to highlight that entrepreneurship doesn’t require a certain age or race, but rather a drive, an obsession and the enthusiasm to help one another in any way we can,” Rallapalli says. “By doing so, we hope to humanize the entrepreneurial journey and emphasize the power of connection in a seemingly isolated world.”
Have a Listen!
- The Business of Healthcare Podcast: Business of Healthcare website, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify
- Yet Another MBA G.O.A.T.: G.O.A.T website, G.O.A.T Apple Podcasts, G.O.A.T. TuneIn, G.O.A.T Stitcher, G.O.A.T Google Play, G.O.A.T Spotify
- The Up & Coming: The Up & Coming Spotify
- Could We Ever…?: Could We Ever Apple Podcasts, Could We Ever Soundcloud, Could We Ever Spotify, Could We Ever Stitcher, Could We Ever Google Podcasts, Anchor, Radio Public
