Halfway through earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and then losing her job due to the pandemic, Marcia Davidson had a moment of clarity.
“At that point, I was due to graduate in May 2020,” she said. “Because of COVID-19, commencement was pushed to 2021. That’s when I decided to go back and do Nursing, which I had always wanted to do.
“I thought I would get a degree and change careers before I entered back into the workforce. I have always worked in corporate healthcare, which I love.”
That led Davidson to the online Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management program at Fitchburg State University which she could complete in tandem with her post-baccalaureate in Nursing. She graduated from the MBA program with a 3.83 GPA in December 2021.
“I wanted a master’s program where I could get back to work right away and compete with my peers in that space,” she said. “Healthcare is an area where you have to be credentialed and decorated academically to advance.
“I had already put in the sweat and tears, and I don’t want to work my way up again in a new company. I want to be able to come in with my experience in tandem with my education and hit the ground running. So, I started looking for master’s programs with an emphasis in healthcare.”
Davidson found what she needed at Fitchburg State, less than 20 miles from home. She has since completed her student-nurse clinical rotation internships at Boston Children’s Hospital and South Shore University Hospital this past summer and has graduated from the accelerated BSN-RN program at UMASS Boston.
“I loved the time frame of the MBA program,” she said. “I called and got signed up with the help of an attentive student advisor. Within a couple of months, I got started. It was the most seamless process, and I have been through a ton of schools.”
Answering the Call
Davidson landed a position as a 9-1-1 dispatcher for Philips Lifeline in 2014 and earned promotions to National Business Development Coordinator, then B2B CPS Account Manager along the way.
“We were responsible for monitoring critical incidents and fall detection pendants across the United States, primarily for the geriatric population and calling any responders when necessary. There was a major emphasis on medication compliance, predictive analytics and population health management across the healthcare continuum as well,” she said. “I learned a lot, which is where I fell in love with healthcare.”
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Becker College, Davidson enrolled in the online MBA program in December 2020.
“I liked the master’s program at Fitchburg State because you knew what you were getting — there were no curveballs,” she said. “Everybody was transparent about the expectations.
“If I needed help, I reached out and got answers right away. What they say it costs is what it costs — there were no additional fees.”
Policy, Legal and Ethical Issues was Davidson’s favorite course in the online MBA in Healthcare Management program.
“A lot of the content from that class overlapped with my nursing courses,” she said. “I was able to interchange the context from nursing into that class. Ethics and policy are major things in nursing.
“Wanting to be a nurse in the corporate healthcare space, it effortlessly meshed together, which was what I wanted. I realized I made the right decision in choosing this MBA program.”
Ready, Set, Go
Davidson is a first-generation American. Her father, Joseph, is from Jamaica, while her mother, Coraline, is from Barbados. Of her parents’ five children, Davidson is the first person in her immediate family to earn a master’s degree.
“It’s a big deal for me to strive for academic excellence because my parents enforced early on that education is paramount, especially as immigrants.”
“My family and friends were excited. It happened so fast. I reached out in November and started in January. I blinked and graduated.”
Now that Davidson has 3 degrees and six years of higher education under her belt, she knows exactly where to take her career.
“Because I have the MBA in Healthcare Management, I would like to get my Doctorate of Nurse Practice in Executive Leadership,” she said. “I won’t go the clinical route — I will go the systemic population health pathway to facilitate meaningful improvements in healthcare.
“I’d also like to join the Navy Reserves as an Officer, go one weekend a month and take advantage of the opportunity to travel. In my civilian life, I want to focus on Healthcare Leadership in Nursing as I work towards my Doctorate.”
In her free time, Davidson volunteers by playing flag football at a breast cancer non-profit organization, Pink Sunday.
“We help fundraise for women who might not have insurance in the community to get screenings and treatment,” she said. “It’s an important organization in the Boston area.”
Davidson believes that having an MBA in Healthcare Management will pave the way for her to achieve her goals. She’s also proud to be a Fitchburg State alumna.
“I want to make a difference systematically on a high level,” she said. “I want to have a voice in policy change, ethics, best practices and value-based care. This degree will open doors for me.
“I tell everybody I can about this program because it’s the fastest, most affordable, best value and it’s credentialed. It’s all of the above.”
Learn more about Fitchburg State’s online MBA in Healthcare Management program.
