If reports that Dr. Ramsey Ferguson always heard are correct, medical students learn 10,000 new words during their training. It’s understandable that such a statistic would be on his mind. After all, following his college graduation, he spent the better part of a decade in medical school at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis and in a medical residency in Nashville.

When he neared the end of his residency, his perspective began to shift. “As I began to practice medicine,” Ramsey says, “I realized there was an entirely different language I needed to speak. I decided to come to Vanderbilt to learn another 10,000 ‘business words’ so I could be more effective in navigating the world of healthcare for my patients and colleagues. I saw the MMHC program as a formal way to combine my passion for business and medicine.”

Starting a master’s program while entering the final year of a medical residency might seem daunting for even the most motivated student. “A lot of people look at me like I’m a little crazy when they realize I’m doing both of these things at the same time,” Ramsey laughs. “But it has actually been very manageable because the faculty and everyone associated with Vanderbilt Business have been incredibly flexible. Before the program began, we mapped out what the year would look like and looked at potential conflicts between my residency and the class schedule. Being able to do some of the classes online was a huge asset.”

Meanwhile, Ramsey appreciated how the program’s structure maximized opportunities to learn from actual healthcare professionals. One night a week, he notes, “you have the more academic sessions and foundational business knowledge. Then the weekend sessions are with people from the industry shedding light on the real world. You get to see the application of principles you learn in the foundational courses, how they apply to the real world, and opportunities that you didn’t even know existed before. It’s a great combination.”

The team-oriented capstone project, another hallmark of the MMHC program, provided even more opportunities for Ramsey to apply what he was learning. His team analyzed a hospital’s admissions data to help it allocate the optimal ratio of ICU, stepdown, and med-surg beds. “Hospitals are constantly striving to be more efficient and deliver the best care,” he says. “Part of delivering the best care is seeing that patients are in the most appropriate level of care.”

Did he learn 10,000 new words? Ramsey puts it this way: “This program has afforded me an entirely new vocabulary that I am now using to navigate the world of healthcare. It has leveled the playing field, so I am able to better advocate for myself, my patients, and my colleagues.”