Recommended Reading for HealthCare Executives

The Wall Street Journal Health Blog recommends the following 2 books as "Recommended Reading for HealthCare Executives:"

Reengineering Health Care: A Manifesto for Radically Rethinking Health Care Delivery

Transforming Health Care: Virginia Mason Medical Center's Pursuit of the Perfect Patient Experience

The Best Executive M.B.A. Programs by the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal has ranked the 25 top executive MBA programs for 2010. The list might surprise you because you're not going to see some top-tier schools like Harvard or MIT on that list. 

Here are the top 5 from that list of EMBA programs:

1. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
2. Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)
3. Thunderbird School of Global Management
4. University of Southern California (Marshall)
5. Northwestern University (Kellogg)

When you glance at the list of these top 25 programs, take a look at the last column. It's titled, "Total Program Cost." If you sort by cost, you'll see that Arizona State University (W.P. Carey) comes in at the low end ($67,440) and University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) comes in at the high end ($167,250).

I've been thinking about business school for several years, but I have to admit that it's very difficult to justify spending that kind of money. It's one thing if you have an employer that is willing to cover the tuition. It's another thing if you're going to fund your own education. It would be nice to see some tuition reductions during a recession when many executives are unemployed.

You can see the full list of EMBA programs ranked by the Wall Street Journal here.

Networking is critical when looking for a job

We've all heard that networking is vital when looking for a new job, but how much do we really believe it? How actively are you growing your social network? Are you using social media? Are you on LinkedIn? On Facebook? On Twitter? Perhaps you don't believe that these tools can really help you professionally.

A story on the Wall Street Journal might catch your attention. It's titled, "Internal Hires, Referrals Were Most Hired in 2009." Here' what you'll read:

For the 49% of jobs that were filled with external recruits, referrals accounted for the most hires -- 27%... On average, these yielded one hire for every 15 referrals received. Meanwhile, company Web sites and job boards accounted for 22% and 13% of external hires, respectively.

So, how do you get referred? You have to know people. They've got to be thinking about you and mentioning your name as opportunities arise.

To read this article on the Wall Street Journal, click here.