Page 14 - Back-To-School-10-19-2017

JOHN PODRAZA

MBA HEALTHCARE

GRADUATE

John Podraza attended medical school at the State University of
New York (SUNY) at Buffalo under the U.S. Armed Forces Health
Professions Scholarship Program. After graduating and completing his
residency, John completed a fellowship in neonatal perinatal medicine at
the National Naval Medical Center—the President’s Hospital—in Bethesda,
Md. He loved the job from the start, but quickly started thinking about his
long-term career aspirations.
“In the military, I noticed that a lot of the service chiefs and executive
officers didn’t tend to have much business training,” says John, who first
became interested in medicine when working as an EMT in college. “Many
of the higher ups worked their way up through the chain of command,
and there is something tremendous to be said for that. For me, I started
thinking early in my career about pursuing more training than just on-the-
job training.”

The Search for the Right MBA Program

Although John knew he would like to pursue an MBA, he felt that one with
a healthcare focus would benefit him the most. An online program was also
a must. “I knew that as a really busy physician who works 80 hours a week
that I could never get an MBA in-person,” he says. “I spent a lot of time
researching healthcare-focused master’s programs, and discovered that
American Sentinel was the only MBA Healthcare out there.”
American Sentinel’s support of military students was an added bonus.
“They accepted TA benefits and offered discounted tuition and book
scholarships,” he says. “It was a total win, and I knew it was the school for
me.” John started at American Sentinel in 2008.

Making it All Work

John is an attending staff of pediatrics and neonatology at the Walter Reed
National Military Medical Center—where he did his fellowship (then called
National Naval Medical). He also moonlights a couple nights a month at
Johns Hopkins Hospital as an associate staff. Fourteen-hour work days are
not unusual.

www.americansentinel.edu

14 | Transforming Healthcare Through Education