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Club Spotlight:
HEALTHY CONNECTIONS: THE WHARTON HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
The management of health
care is among the biggest
societal challenges faced
by developed and developing
nations—and it's also
one of the most dynamic
industries. Members of
the Wharton Health Care
Management Alumni
Association (WHCMAA)
have been leading in the
diverse health care industry
for more than 25 years.
An affinity club of the
Wharton School, the Club
was started in 1979 by
a group of alumni from
Wharton's MBA program in
Health Care Management
(which was founded in
1973 as the first program of
its kind). The Club's charter
members wanted to work
together toward a set
of common goals: to provide
professional development
opportunities for
Health Care Management
alumni; to help members
build professional and personal
networks; to make
contributions to the health
care field through service
and leadership; and to support
Wharton's health care
programs.
Today, members work
in all parts of the health
care field. Full membership
in the WHCMAA is open
to all 1,200 Health Care
Management MBA graduates,
as well as PhD graduates.
Affiliate memberships
are available to non-Health
Care MBA Wharton grads
who work in the health care
industry.
The Club has been
very active in partnering
with MBA students,
Wharton faculty, the
health care industry, and
the international community.
The WHCMAA
hosts regional social and
professional events for
alumni throughout the
country (including Boston,
New York, Philadelphia,
Atlanta, San Francisco and
Washington, DC), often
with notable speakers in
the field—among them,
Tony Buividas, WG'79,
the recipient of the Club's
2005 Alumni Achievement
Award. Buividas, the Head
of Health Care Delivery for
Aetna, oversees provider
network contracts, medical
management and quality
management nationally.
The WHCMAA annually
reconnects with
the School, holding two
career seminars for alumni
and students. The career
seminars feature successful
alumni as well as executive
recruiters and coaches.
The WHCMAA website
whartonhealthcare.org provides a job posting service
in addition to news of
alumni, articles of interest
about the Program faculty
and graduates, and much
more. The Club annually
sponsors two scholarships
for outstanding Health Care
Management students.
WHCMAA members
also demonstrate their
commitment to health
care issues through an active
service program. One
of the WHCMAA's most
rewarding programs offers
international opportunities
for alumni and students to
consult on health care issues
in poverty-stricken communities.
For the fifth year,
members of the Club and
current students will return
to Cape Town, South Africa,
for a two-week consulting
engagement with the public
health care system. This
year, the Club is launching
a new project in Argentina
to assist a maternity clinic
to study process efficiency
and recommend improvements,
among other goals.
Both trips will occur in the
Summer of 2005.
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