For Addison Huddy, a second-year economics and political science student, the Riordan Healthcare Management Program has been the perfect way to combine his interests in health care and business.
The Riordan Healthcare Management Program is one of three career-based outreach programs offered by the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management for young adults from diverse backgrounds and undeserved communities, said Roxanne Mendez, associate director of the Riordan Programs.
The Riordan Scholars program is geared toward high school students, the health care program toward undergraduates, and the Riordan Fellows program toward young professionals. All these programs are free.
Besides the accounting minor, it is the only other program offered to undergraduates through Anderson.
The program’s goals include personal and professional development, a pursuit of higher education and providing leadership opportunities, Mendez said.
“We want participants to not only develop into leaders in the business field but within their community as well,” she said.
Former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan and Anderson Professor William Ouchi founded Riordan Programs in 1987 to prepare young adults for careers in management through education, mentorship and networking, said Kamaria Heru, Riordan Programs coordinator.
The Healthcare Management Program geared toward undergraduates was added in 2006. This year is the first full year of the program.
“We felt that without an undergraduate program there was a gap,” Mendez said.
Other Riordan programs center on specific topics, Mendez said, but they differ each year.
Topics in past years included real estate, finance, education and entertainment, Mendez said. The health care program is the first Riordan program to focus on the same industry each year.
Usually 40 to 80 students are accepted into each program, depending on the number of qualified applicants.
“People from all backgrounds can apply, but we try to target those with the least amount of resources,” Heru said.
Those accepted into the program meet once a month from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting in October and ending in April.
Participants listen to speakers, including Anderson professors and CEOs, attend admissions workshops, and read Harvard business case studies.
In many of the workshops, Riordan scholars interview the speakers and moderate panel discussions so they have a more active role and actually lead the discussions, Mendez said. They are also paired with a mentor graduate student from the Anderson school.
Huddy said his mentor has been invaluable to him.
“She is in the position I want to be in three years, so she is extremely helpful in giving me advice for the future. She also helps me utilize Anderson resources. In effect, I’m receiving many of the resources graduate students receive, as an undergrad,” he said.
For Huddy, the sheer number of opportunities the program has opened for him has been the greatest asset of the program.
“I’m networking, receiving career advice, finding out about internships and essay contests, there is always something new,” he said.
Even with all the resources offered, Huddy said one of his favorite parts of the program is the other students involved.
“Everyone is so motivated and we have become a very tight-knit group. As much as we are learning from the program, we’re learning the most from each other when bouncing off ideas,” he said.
“Every session I receive a new outlook on business from the different speakers and my fellow peers,” Huddy said. “There is also an unbelievably strong support system. Joining the program is truly one of the best decisions I have ever made.”