Life After Graduation

Local

Local employers such as Sentara Health Management, Tricare and Amerigroup have shown support for our alumni by hiring them into top strategic planning positions. Graduates are on the faculty, and directing health programs at Norfolk State, Old Dominion and Hampton Universities.The Navy has shown confidence in our program by supporting full time study of three students through their “Duty Under Instruction” program.The EVMS Center for Pediatric Research has also hired one alumna.

Statewide

While The Virginia Employment Commission’s Industry and Occupational Employment Projections: 2000-2010 does not track the need for Health Services Researchers per se, inferences can be made for the need for this professional group based on where some of our graduates have been employed.Several alumni have been employed as analysts by Health Maintenance Organizations in and outside of the state. At least two of our alumni are CEOs of Health Organizations. There are expected to be 810 annual job openings for CEOs, a growth rate of 21.75%. A number of alumni are employed in Postsecondary Education, a group expected to increase 33.71% with an increase of 1956 annual job openings between 2000 and 2010. Several graduates have positions in educational administration. The projected increase for this group is 25.26 % with a total of 510 annual job openings. Some alumni have been hired as researchers by nonacademic organizations. Social Scientists and related workers are expected to increase by 21.61% with annual job openings of 451.

Nationwide

The most recent data regarding the need for health services researchers nationwide was published in 1995 by the Institute of Medicine. At that time, it was believed that there were approximately 5000 health services researchers.  Of this group, approximately half have doctoral degrees. The institute of medicine foresees “expansion in the health services research workforce…”.  The report suggested that “well-trained researchers with practical experience in health care organizations…” appear to be in short supply. The report also indicates,  “in some clinical areas such as oral health and allied health services, trained health services researchers also appear to be scarce”. The report concludes: “No anecdotal or other evidence indicates that the current supply of health services researchers exceeds current demand.”

 Nationwide, former students have been hired by such government organizations as the General Accounting Office (GAO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Veteran’s Administration. They hold faculty positions at such institutions as Georgetown University Medical School, Texas A&M, San Jose State, Texas Tech, and Xavier University.  Some of these programs have hired more than one of our alumni, which speak to the successful integration of the graduates.

Worldwide

While no data was available regarding the worldwide demand for Health Services Researchers, alumni from the program have been welcomed back to their home countries with diverse employment opportunities.Our former students work as a university faculty member in Taiwan, a CEO at the Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem, an analysts for the World Health Organization in Egypt and a director of a governmental health organization in Saudi Arabia.