Alejandro Gutierrez Ocampo
Master of Health Administration with a Certificate in Strategic Decisions in Health Administration (Dal ā18) ā current student
Medical Doctor (ā14)
Residency āextremely valuableā for international students
Alejandro Gutierrez Ocampo has practiced as a medical doctor in Spain, the US, and in his home country of Mexico.
When he decided to move into healthcare management, however, he chose Halifax for further educationāalthough he had also been accepted for Master of Health Administration (MHA) programs at two American universities.
āI selected Dalhousie because of the CA+HME accreditationāspecifically, for being the only university that was granted a 7-year accreditationāthe residency opportunity, and because I liked Halifax and its community,ā he says.
Career building blocks
The residency component was particularly important.
āIt added Canadian experience to my resume, and being an international student, thatās extremely valuable. Apart from that, itās a great opportunity to secure reference letters and relationships that can build your career.ā
Alejandro says the MHA program is exceeding expectations.
āThe professors emphasize the fact that there is no one solution to a problem. We need to evaluate every scenario and apply our knowledge and experience to come up with innovative solutionsāI am realizing not everything is black and white."
āI would highly recommend the program to other clinicians, as we miss out on this knowledge in med school.ā
A desire to make āmeaningful changeā
After graduation, Alejandro hopes to stay in Canada, perhaps even Halifax if he finds the right opportunity.
āMy ultimate goal is to work in a long-term care facility,ā he says, āand make meaningful changes to the way care is being delivered to our seniors.ā