Congratulations are in hand to over a dozen students that are graduating from the Loma Linda University Guam MBA program in healthcare administration. More than a dozen students enrolled in the program have recently completed studies from numerous professors visiting over the last two years.

Program chair Dr. Eric Anderson was the key player in bringing the program to Guam. He says this program was not traditional, rather students went through seventeen courses that were built around finance and accounting with case studies in healthcare. "There are some programs," he explained, "Online distant education programs, but we're not sure an MBA program is best suited for online education, so we felt it was more appropriate to bring professors here to teach courses in a face to face interaction."

According to the Loma Linda University web site, the program was started at the desire of healthcare executives at Guam Seventh-Day Adventist Clinic and Castle Medical Center, who wanted to give professionals an opportunity to obtain advanced education and better leadership skills. Loma Linda University dean of the School of Public Health Dr. David Dyjack actually taught one course, which gave him the opportunity to examine unique issues to Guam and the Pacific. He said, "Our aim is to give students the knowledge, skills and attitudes that they need to be effective in the workplace to try and reduce the risk factors for the public health issues and the island of Guam."

Dr. Dyjack hopes to build the capacity for the public health workforce all over the world with the program currently available in Peru, Chile, Russia and Hawaii. The commencement ceremony hopes to be a start in moving the healthcare of the Guam community to new heights. "What we're hoping is that they have a new cohort of people who have developed new skills and abilities that will be able to impact the healthcare system and public health infrastructure here on the island of Guam. That's our goal," he added.

Dr. Anderson hopes to continue the program next year due to the significant demand from students.

KUAM's Ken Quintanilla contributed to this report