Trinity University HCAD Herald

While the NCAA saw Villanova pull out a dramatic, close victory, while UConn won in dominating and decisive fashion in this year's men's and women's Final Four championships, respectively, the HCAD program at Trinity University is celebrating its own "final four" achievement this week.  Perhaps not quite the same "final four" that most people would think of, but we are celebrating the fact that Trinity University HCAD graduate students have reached the finals of the past four major case competitions we've competed in during the year.  It's quite an accomplishment, and one that speaks highly of the quality of our students, their preparation, and their dedication and work ethic. Beginning last October, a team of three students - Shawntae Batiste, Christina Roscoe, and Elle VanConia - participated in the 20th annual NAHSE Everett V. Fox Student Case Competition  in New Orleans, Louisiana, and they reached the finals, taking 3rd place overall (an...

We are so privileged in the Department of Health Care Administration to benefit from the expertise, guidance, and support of many individuals who have considerable experience as high-ranking executives and seasoned leaders in health care administration and who generously share their time and wisdom with our program.  Our Executive-In-Residence, Mr. John Hornbeak, is such an individual.  With a two-decade tenure as the President and CEO of Methodist Healthcare System in San Antonio, Mr. Hornbeak brings an extensive background of leadership and service to the classroom.  Not only does he serve as an instructor for the second-year Capstone course, he also regularly participates in the classroom for many of the program courses.  Today, in the Health Services Organization & Policy I course, Mr. Hornbeak offered a fascinating presentation about the Paradigm Shifts in Healthcare: Past, Present, and Future, discussing elements in our health care delivery system's history...

With the end of August now here, the HCAD program welcomed two new classes - the Executive Class of 2017 and the on-campus Class of 2017 - to Trinity University these past two weeks.  We also welcomed back our second-year students who are excited about continuing their path through the program and taking their next steps as tomorrow's health care leaders. The Executive Program met for an intense three-day on-campus session from August 17th to 19th.  Highlights included a Welcome Dinner over delicious Tex-Mex cuisine at Tomatillo's as well as discussions and guidance by the program's executive-in-residence, Bob Shaw.  First-year students also wrapped up their time on campus with some engaging Pecha Kucha presentations, in which they used 20 slides (advancing every 20 seconds) to "tell their story" about who they are, their experiences in health care, what's brought them to the HCAD program, and where they're headed in the future.  With the on-campus portion...

On Monday, February 9 th , the first-year graduate students took a tour of the Toyota Manufacturing Facility here in San Antonio. They began by watching a short video on the history of the facility. Shortly after, they were greeted by their tour guide. While on the tram, the students were able to see how the Kaizen and Lean methodology are utilized in the production of Toyota Tacomas and Toyota Tundras over 2.2 million square feet.   They were taken to the Body Weld Shop, the Plastics Shop, and viewed overhead conveyors transport the trucks from Paint to the Final Line in assembly. Overall, this was a great experience. It allowed the first year students to see first-hand how Kaizen and Lean is successfully done. As future healthcare administrators, understanding process improvement techniques and incorporating them is not only challenging, yet is fundamental for an efficiently operated hospital.  

Dr. Shay's Wednesday morning class was split 50/50 with normal class lecture and activities by a guest lecture from Dr. Aubree Shay on Health Behavior Theory. Dr. Aubree Shay is a Trinity Undergrad with a Degree from Univeristy of Texas in Social work and her P.h.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University. Class lecture from Dr. Shay covered specific health behaviors that were assigned to groups. The groups discussed in depth the influences that effect health behaviors both on the individual, family, community, organization, and society levels. Dr. Shay also discussed in depth the Theory of Planned Behaviors and the Transtheoretical Model(TTM). Dr. Aubree Shay Presenting on the Theories of Health Behavior

The first-year graduate students are eager to be back on campus! They are excited to work on the various projects, case studies and presentations this semester holds. In addition, many students are beginning to volunteer or intern at the local hospitals throughout the San Antonio area. Mr. John Hornbeak has played a pivotal role in helping the students find these internships and volunteer experiences. We would like to thank him for his time and help.    Justin and Dolapo battle it out! Patrick- the official score keeper This is the first time that these students will be taught by Dr. Kaissi this school year. They began their semester by participating in a game of healthcare jeopardy! The teams “US” vs. “THEM” played against each other in a friendly competition. I think the class can all agree that we greatly lack knowledge in the category "Medical TV Shows!"

In the HCAD's on-campus graduate program, first-year students occasionally take part in what are called "Briefcase Studies" as part of their Health Services Organization & Policy course. In these brief case studies (hence, "Briefcase Studies"), students are provided with a scenario in which they are broken into groups and play roles according to that scenario as they work in a short time frame to identify a policy solution or strategy.  For example, in one Briefcase Study, teams represented major hospital-based providers in the fictional market of Trinity Falls, and they were given the task of determining outpatient service location strategies based upon the characteristics of the local market and the characteristics of the organization they were assigned to.  Most recently, students participated in a Briefcase Study in which they were divided into three groups: Federal policymakers, state policymakers, and local policymakers.  Within these three groups, ind...