As a first-generation student, Dezmond Chevalier didn’t have a template for collegiate success when he enrolled at the Â鶹AV in 2020.
It wasn’t the shortest path, but by following his passion and proactively seeking internship opportunities, he completed his bachelor’s degree in health services administration with a wealth of professional experience and a drive to improve health care systems.
Initially, the motivation to help others and make an impact led Chevalier to Â鶹AV’s nursing program. But he realized the curriculum didn’t mesh well with his part-time work or what he wanted in a career.
"I love working with teams and talking with people," Chavelier says. "Health services administration is more about the management of people. That's my lane."
Â鶹AV's online Bachelor of Science in Health Services Administration allowed him to continue supporting himself while gaining hands-on healthcare experience and exploring different areas of the industry.
Building Healthcare Experience While Earning a Degree
As Chevalier moved through the online program, he treated his courses and shifts as an EMT as part of the same learning environment.
“Online classes gave me space to balance both my work and school,” he says. “It was like I was learning things in class while I was actually doing it in real life.”
That overlap between coursework and real-world experience motivated him to seek opportunities beyond the classroom.
Through Â鶹AV's , Chevalier attended a professional summit, connecting with leaders at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center and opening the door to his first administrative internship.
“I was just trying to get ahead and make myself different,” he says.
He secured the internship on his own initiative, shadowing a nursing director, sitting in executive meetings and contributing to operational projects inside the hospital.
“In those executive meetings, they want instant feedback,” he says. “That was the biggest change for me.”
During his capstone internship with clinical specialist provider SCP Health, Chevalier gained a broader understanding of how healthcare systems are interconnected as he worked across operations, staffing and revenue cycle teams.
“I didn’t know healthcare was as broad as it is until that internship. I was just in the clinical mindset as an EMT.”
Pursuing healthcare management internships gave him a professional edge.
“My education and experience were already up to par,” he says. “I just needed that fine tuning in my professionalism to really set me apart.”
Preparing for a Career in Healthcare Leadership
Upon graduating, Chevalier hopes to begin his career in clinical operations management, leading teams and growing as a healthcare administrator.
Through health services administration courses exploring health disparities and social determinants of health, Chevalier learned how access, resources and community conditions can affect a person's health long before they enter a hospital or clinic. That clarified his next step.
“I want to tackle these social disparities,” he says.
Chevalier plans to pursue a Master of Public Health to explore how healthcare systems can better serve communities.
His ongoing goal, as it has been through his undergraduate journey, is to pursue the path where he can make the greatest impact. Finding that path, he says, can be transformative.
“Don’t just think of it as a job,” he says. “Make sure it’s something you love or want to do in life, because it’ll make you happier at the end of the day.”
Take the next step in your career with an online B.S. in Health Services Administration.
