By Jong Eun Jung
Chris Turner
Chris Turner (MMHC’16) had always been interested in the business aspect of medicine, but his years of medical school, residency, and training prevented him from pursuing a graduate degree in business earlier in his career. While he was a physician at the Maury Regional Medical Center (formerly Family Health Group), he was introduced to the Master of Management in Health Care by a colleague, and he decided to enroll at Vanderbilt Business.
The program helped him fulfill his goal of gaining business knowledge in the healthcare field. “I really enjoyed it. I think that one of the great things of the program was that it forced me to just think differently. So (in) my day-to-day care and interaction with patients, I think I had a different mindset. It challenged me to learn and think about things,” Turner said.
After he got his degree, he worked as an assistant professor at the Vanderbilt Medical Center before returning to Maury Regional Medical Center as a hospitalist in 2018 to advance his career in healthcare management. A year later, Turner was promoted to Chief Medical Officer of the center. “I firmly believe that in addition to the outstanding education I received from Owen, the structure of the MMHC program also provided for significant personal growth,” he said. “This, along with leadership experience obtained at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, provided me with the skills needed to lead a group of over 100 physicians and advanced practice providers in my current role as CMO.”
Click through Turner’s timeline below to find out how he got his promotion.
