BYU student Logan Smith started the Business in Health Professions Club in 2016 because he hoped to attend dental school without studying in a field pertaining to medicine or dentistry.
The club is run mainly by business students, all of whom plan to attend medical or dental school, and has been active every semester since it was formed.
Current club co-president Jefferson Hunter found the club as a freshman when searching for a way to go to medical school with a major other than biology or public health.
“I reached out to student advisement as a freshman to see if it was possible to study finance and be a pre-medical student without extending to a fifth year,” Hunter said. “A few weeks later I got a call from Logan Smith, a pre-dental finance major, who told me he was starting a club for business majors and minors that were interested in a health profession.”
Current club communications vice president Derek Thomas is a junior studying biology with a minor in business management. Thomas plans to attend dental school after graduating from BYU next year.
“The Business in Health Professions Club focuses on pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-professional students, who are also interested in the business aspect of healthcare,” Thomas said.
Thomas said he was originally a general business student, but after joining the Health Professions Club two years ago, he changed his trajectory to biology.
“I have a friend taking finance with me who was pre-medical, and he introduced me to the club and invited me to learn from the guest speakers,” Thomas said.
According to Thomas, the club typically meets one to two times a month. The club invites healthcare professionals to talk to club members about their personal careers and how the business aspect of healthcare has affected their paths.
“The speakers talk about hiring and firing employees, managing workflow of the clinics, real estate investments in the medical offices, and their business endeavors outside of their actual clinics — whether that is startups or investments,” Thomas said.
Co-president Parker Funk agreed with Thomas. Funk finds that the club has helped him “understand that there are people with a similar mindset,” and he has bright hopes for the future of the club.
According to Hunter, the club helps students to not only learn more about the professions available in healthcare but also to network.
“I think networking in healthcare is just as important as it is in other industries,” Hunter said. “Students have been able to shadow guest speakers and get advice about getting into graduate programs which guest lecturers attended.”
Funk said he hopes the club reaches more students and wants the club to expand around campus to anyone interested in business and healthcare.
“I hope the club continues to grow and reach students who are aware that understanding business in health professions can be very important to making progress in these fields,” Funk said. “I also hope the club removes the long-standing adage that doctors and dentists don’t know how to manage their own businesses.”
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