Cathy Turner, executive administrator of the Department of Pediatrics, recently graduated alongside 26 of her classmates in Cohort 56 of UAB's Executive Master of Science in Health Administration (MSHA) Program.

“Prior to completing this program, my educational background was heavily focused on finance and accounting,” said Turner. “My healthcare expertise has been limited to on-the-job experience over my many years at UAB. At this stage, I felt like the MSHA program offered me the opportunity to shore up gaps in my education with respect to healthcare administration.”

The MHSA is a 24-month program consisting of 19 three-hour graduate level courses ranging from healthcare operations and marketing to quantitative methods, healthcare finance, policy and law.

Turner’s capstone course included a trip to Costa Rica where she toured a variety of private and public health care systems. Additionally, she learned about Costa Rica’s investment in primary care that achieves comparable outcomes to the US at a fraction of the cost.

A highlight of the program to Turner was the opportunity to meet and interact with her classmates, many of whom were front line health care providers, during the pandemic.

“I could not have done this alone,” said Tuner. “I am deeply grateful for the support of my staff who kept things running smoothly during my absences for class. I also bounced class project ideas among many of our faculty over the course of the program. I would especially like to thank Dr. Terry Wall and Dr. Smita Bhatia for graciously providing their time to mentor me through some of my most challenging class projects. Most of all, I would like to thank Dr. Cohen for his unwavering support and encouragement over the past two years. When I had doubts about my ability to juggle work responsibilities with the demands of the program, he was always in my corner to tell me that I could.”