A Note from Saleema Karim, PH.D.
Interim Chair and Associate Professor

It’s not every day you step in as interim chair for a second time — but here I am, back for round two.

When I first took on this role in 2023, we were in the middle of a whirlwind: preparing for accreditation, managing programmatic changes, hiring new faculty, hosting large speaker events and celebrating our 75th anniversary. This time around, the pace feels calmer — and I feel more confident, more comfortable and better prepared for what’s ahead.

And what’s ahead is exciting, to say the least. This fall, we welcome 35 students to the MHA program, one of the largest cohorts in recent memory. Meanwhile, over two dozen students have entered our growing MSHA program. With a bigger class comes both opportunity and responsibility: maintaining the high-touch, personalized experience that defines our program while ensuring every student gets the one-on-one coaching and preparation they need for residency, fellowship and beyond.

We’re also benefiting from the recent addition of two key roles. Julie Beales, M.D., Ph.D., MSHA, our new director of professional development, will help guide students through career readiness, residency preparation, and professional growth. Chrissy Bowdren, our director of outreach and personal affairs, will focus on strengthening industry and alumni relationships. This is critical for student placements and for sustaining the network that makes VCU Health Administration so distinctive.

In the year ahead, I’m focused on three priorities:

• Supporting our students by ensuring they have the resources, mentorship and learning opportunities (both in and outside the classroom) to thrive in an ever-changing health care environment.
• Investing in faculty success so they can pursue impactful research, publish and advance in their careers without being overburdened by extra workload.
• Building for the future by strengthening our alumni engagement, exploring program growth opportunities and maintaining our position among the nation’s top health administration programs.

I often tell students that health care is a field defined by change and uncertainty. It requires leaders who can adapt, think critically, and innovate while keeping patients at the center of every decision. Our curriculum, residencies and co-curricular experiences are designed to prepare them for that reality — not just with technical knowledge, but with the resilience and perspective to lead through complexity.

As we begin this academic year, I encourage our students, faculty, alumni, and friends to embrace the opportunities ahead. The relationships you build with each other will open doors and shape careers in ways you can’t yet imagine. I’ve seen it in my own journey, and I see it in our alumni every year.

I’m proud to be leading this department once again, surrounded by a team that is committed to excellence in teaching, research and service. Together, we’ll make 2025–26 a year of growth, impact and continued leadership in health administration education.