Program Coordinator, Medical City Dallas Blood & Marrow Transplant Program
Heironimus completed her MS in Healthcare Leadership and Management degree and now works as coordinator for Medical City Dallas in the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program. Her responsibilities cover a range of services including operational support to the transplant team, such as patient scheduling, testing and data entry for future data mining in order to improve outcomes. In addition, she acts as project lead for special tasks such as facilitating the blood and marrow patient survivorship program, revising nurse coordinator standards of procedures and mapping out processes for future transplant operations.
Why did you choose the MS/Healthcare Leadership and Management degree?
The program at UT Dallas is exceptional in terms of education and the graduate community. I got my undergrad degree in psychology from Kansas State University, and have a gerontology background. I personally was interested in working on the business end of these interests and the Jindal School degree seemed to meld the two together.
How has your degree impacted your career?
This degree has impacted my career in terms of concrete skills and knowledge, as well as how to relate to people who come in contact with the healthcare world. The information I gleaned from my professors comes alive in the workforce, therefore I get to build on what I have already learned. Also, the need for healthcare is universal, and this degree has helped me recognize the impact that everyone in the healthcare industry can have in bettering our surrounding communities.
Did a UT Dallas professor inspire you? Who was that and how was that person inspirational?
I always felt inspired to learn more when I left Professor Kannan Ramanathan’s classes. He teaches classes in strategic management and quality improvement for healthcare operations. He didn’t have an interest for teaching his students what we already knew, but wanted us to be challenged with new information. Not only that, he challenged us to think about this new information in ways that were not immediately natural to us. We were encouraged to dive deeper, not take things at face value. In the ever-changing healthcare industry, this is a style of learning that is crucial to practice because we need to be prepared for what we don’t know or can’t expect.
What advice do you have for college students hoping to succeed professionally?
Just go for it. Don’t think twice about applying to the job, the master’s program, the PhD program, or whatever you want to do that you believe will propel you. Embrace your passions. Remember you need to start small and stay humble, and God will lead you into the greater plans He has for you.
