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Learning to Build Effective Healthcare Leadership Skills

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After 20 years in the biomedical field, Theresa Bugbee wanted a refresher in healthcare leadership.

Bugbee is a biomedical services supervisor for UVM’s Technical Services Partnership (TSP), a leading provider of comprehensive healthcare technology management.

Healthcare Leadership Skills

She enrolled in UVM’s Healthcare Management and Leadership Professional Certificate Program last spring to enhance her supervisory skills. The program includes five, one-day seminars focused on project management, data-driven decision making, strategy and management, change management, and how to lead and develop employees.

At TSP, Bugbee provides management of nine hospitals and the biomedical team for the organization’s northwestern service area. She joined TSP in 2000 and is the organization’s first female manager of biomedical services.

Healthcare Leadership Skills to Support the Greater Community

The Healthcare Management and Leadership certificate connects participants with the UVM community and a network of peers in the industry. Participants gain valuable skills and a foundation of knowledge they can put to work immediately within their organization.

We asked Bugbee six questions about her work and how the UVM healthcare leadership program helped her career.

What are your job responsibilities?

I develop contracts for the hospital biomedical services, provide quality, and maintain cost effective equipment management. TSP helps achieve regulatory compliance.

Why did you decide to enroll in UVM’s Healthcare Management and Leadership Professional Certificate?

I wanted to become a better leader and realized I needed tools to achieve that goal.

What’s the most important thing you learned in the UVM program?

I learned that UVM wants people in the community to be successful. I was able to take some skills I learned in all of the classes and convert them into metrics my team could understand and see their success.

What’s the most rewarding part of your work?

To put into place what I learned and see improvement in my team.

What’s the most challenging?

Figuring out how to be an effective leader using clear communication and facts.

What inspired you to work in healthcare?

I grew up in South Burlington and was a nurse aide in high school. I went to UVM and then started working in the operating room at the former Medical Center Hospital of Vermont (now UVM Medical Center). I worked there for about 20 years, and then I started working for TSP. I feel I’ve made a positive difference in the lives I’ve touched, and I want to continue to support my community.

Learn about the UVM Healthcare Management and Leadership Professional Certificate