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FIU Healthcare MBA Trip Delivers

Lessons from Southeast Asia

Students, alumni and faculty of Florida International University's Healthcare MBA pro-
gram at the Historical Library, part of their visit to the Medical Association of Thailand.

BY KAREN-JANINE COHEN that sells time-honored Chinese herbal
medicines. Eu spoke about traditional
It’s not every day that healthcare MBA medicine for modern times.
students get to hear from a Harvard- In Vietnam, tours of tunnel networks
trained physician who is also a Buddhist used by the Vietcong, a war museum, and
monk. But that was only one of many a late afternoon visit to Ho Chi Minh City
transformative experiences shared by a and the Ben Thanh Market, brought to life
group of 29 Florida International histories few Americans really know, giv-
University College of Business students ing a deeper understanding of the coun-
and alumni who journeyed to Southeast try’s challenges.
Asia with Miriam Weismann, Academic Insights keep coming.
Director of the Healthcare MBA program. Participants said the trip was transfor-
“We met with Fortune 500 companies, mative.
we met with government organizations, "What I walked away with after having
we went to some of the most advanced more of a global view is that the answer to
hospitals, and the perspectives were very healthcare is not a one-size-fits-all
broad and thoughtful,” Weismann said. approach,” said Nicole Dieudonne, a
The monk, Phramaha Dhirapanno, nursing director at Jackson Health System
Bhikku, who addressed the group during who expects to earn her Healthcare MBA
a session sponsored by the Medical in December. She was struck by how each
Association of Thailand, challenged his country’s choices echo its culture. "In
audience to think differently about the use Singapore, for example the population is
of technology to prolong life, and consid- willing to go along with whatever is dic-
er death as a positive end when life’s qual- tated by the government as accepted prac-
ity is diminished. tice such as "no smoking or you are fined
It was only one point of view in a trip $1,000."
chock full of new approaches and infor- Dr. Ronald Ford, director of hospital
mation. medicine at Joe DiMaggio Children’s
It was the third such trip for Weismann. Hospital in Hollywood, said he gained a
Previous trips took participants to China broader view of how healthcare is imple-
and the Middle East. The goal is to show mented. “Whether the health care system
students how other countries are dealing was great, or not so great, it was driven by
with the same challenges faced by the some sort of policy,” he said. But that
United States: expanding access, assuring doesn’t seem so in the United States. “We
quality care, and keeping costs down just don’t have an encompassing policy to
while using resources in the best way pos- work from.” It was such a unique experi-
sible. ence, he said, “to observe other cultures
The countries they visited – Singapore, and focus on healthcare, coming from a
Thailand and Vietnam – had three unique country where we are still trying to figure
healthcare models, albeit with similarities. out what we are going to do with it.”
“What we learned in Southeast Asia is Still, what stayed with him most was
what we learned in China: Even the most the Vietnam experience. “To go into the
modern systems utilized traditional medi- tunnels and see where a lot of carnage
cine,” said Weismann. took place made me pause in a way I
Still, each country takes its own rarely do,” he said.
approach. Singapore obliges workers to Both Ford and Dieudonne emphasized
contribute to costs through a defined con- Weismann’s role. “She is awesome,” said
tribution system, Thailand is known as a Dieudonne, noting that the representa-
medical tourist destination, and Vietnam, tives they met clearly have a high opinion
a communist country, still grapples with of Weismann and the university. “There is
an infrastructure decimated during the such a high respect for FIU, she was so
Vietnam War and suffers from a doctor well regarded everywhere we went.”
and nurse shortage. And, added Ford, “the number one
Every country has its own ideas about thing I took away is a shout-out to
what constitutes universal healthcare, Professor Weismann. “She did not miss
Weismann said. one teachable moment.”
In Singapore, students heard from rep-
resentatives of insurance giant Allianz and For more information about FIU’s
medical device firm Edwards Lifesciences, Healthcare MBA, visit hcmba.fiu.edu, or
and later, from Richard Eu, CEO of Eu contact us at hcmba@fiu.edu
Yan Sang International Ltd., a company or (305) 779-9229.

6 October 2017 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News