Xaymara DeJesus ’20 changed her major from nursing to healthcare management to focus more on organizational leadership.

Strength in Family

As the first person in her family to go to college, Xaymara DeJesus ’20 wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a nurse.

“My mom has been a certified nursing assistant for over 10 years, which is why I first chose to do nursing,” the Holyoke, MA, local said.

Photo of healthcare management major Xaymara De Jesus '20


The more time she spent trying to get comfortable with the patient care aspect of nursing, however, the more she felt unsure about her career choice.

Connecting Healthcare and Business

What should you do when your chosen major doesn’t work out? Xaymara found herself asking this very question the fall of her sophomore year.

Knowing that she still wanted to be involved with healthcare somehow, she met with her advisor to discuss her options. Xaymara decided on healthcare management because it enables her to creatively combine care delivery and business analysis.

“I’m taking six classes at a time in order to graduate on time, but I really enjoy it,” she said.

Before Xaymara came to Elms, she and her family moved back and forth between Massachusetts and Puerto Rico, where she was born. Seeing her mom single-handedly raise her and her siblings influenced Xaymara to do well in school. In her eyes, it’s a way to repay her mom for everything she’s done.

“I’ve seen her work really hard, which motivates me to do much more with my life,” she said. “My mom was very supportive of my switch to healthcare management.”

“You can still talk to patients and see how they’re being cared for,” she added. “It’s less stressful to me than clinical contexts.”

‘I love that it’s healthcare, but that it also has a business aspect. You can choose to go either way with your career.’

As she shifted her focus to business operations, management, finances, and leadership, Xaymara found the inspiration she was searching for.

“I really like being a healthcare management major because you get to experience many different things,” she said. “My classes taught me how to be an effective leader and think about the business side of healthcare.”

Although she plans to start off in a hospital setting when she graduates, Xaymara has long-term plans to start her own business. Humanitarianism will play a big part in her venture, as she aims to give back to her home community in Puerto Rico.

“I would love to volunteer there and help out, especially because I have a lot of family over there,” she said. “It would be an honor to give back somehow.”

Healthcare management majors at Elms study business strategy, organizational leadership, financial analysis, communication, and more. If you see yourself leading change in the healthcare industry, 

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