Tag Archives: health care mba

Standing before us is Professor Larry Van Horn, dressed uncharacteristically casual in a plaid shirt and jeans (he is famous on campus for his sport coat and bowtie combination). To his side sits Emily Anderson of the Career Management Center. Behind Larry the title slide of a presentation reads, “Learning to Lead in the Nation’s Healthcare Capital.”

Larry begins his presentation and immediately assumes his habit of bobbing about, capturing the audience with his passion for the healthcare industry and its future in the United States, or, in Larry’s words: “How we are coming un-glued due to healthcare.”

One of Larry’s favorite tactics is to joke casually, speaking in what surely must be hyperbole, only to then hit you with the bomb of factual information. His mind is a treasure trove of statistical information concerning U.S. healthcare. Without gazing at the screen he tells us how the healthcare industry currently comprises 17.5% of America’s GDP.

“A matter of national security,” he says, and the audience of eighteen of us laughs. What’s he talking about?

“Once it hits 22.5% of GDP,” Larry explains, “it affects our ability to fund National Defense.”

The room falls silent.