Healthcare Sales

Department: Business Administration
Department Chair: Craig Roger
Program Options: Certificate, B.A., B.S.

St. Kate’s is the only college in the country with a sales program that integrates the critical-thinking and problem-solving focus of a broad-based liberal arts education with professional sales preparation. Our innovative healthcare sales major stands as one of only a handful in the country. The program combines St. Kate’s long-time strengths in healthcare, business and science with an outstanding liberal arts education to prepare you for careers in pharmaceutical, medical product, medical device and other healthcare related sales. We partnered with Pfizer (the world’s pre-eminent pharmaceutical enterprise) and other industry-leading companies to design the healthcare sales curriculum. The program introduces you to the dynamics of the healthcare marketplace and provides you with sales and leadership strategies enabling you to effectively transfer knowledge from the lab to physicians and their patients. As a healthcare sales professional, you will help healthcare providers improve the quality of life for their patients; introduce new products, technologies and applications and often help push the treatment envelope to include more effective options.

You can capitalize on the many emerging opportunities for women in the sales profession. The St. Kate’s sales program will prepare you to become a knowledgeable, ethical professional in a rewarding career. Starting salaries in the low to mid five figure range are common, and experienced sales people often reach incomes in the low six figures depending on their experience level and the types of products they sell. A recent study showed that more CEOs of U.S. corporations came from sales and marketing than from any other area of the company.

In addition to the healthcare sales baccalaureate degree, St. Kate’s offers a healthcare sales certificate, which allows men and women an opportunity to develop credentials in the field of healthcare sales. The certificate requires completion of 34 credits, and consists of courses offered by the business administration, biology and economics departments. The certificate is an excellent start on the path to becoming a healthcare sales professional or a helpful career transition tool.

Common Aspects of All Business Majors

When it comes to your career, you mean business — and so does the College of St. Catherine. As a healthcare sales major at St. Kate’s, you’ll benefit from a comprehensive business education that draws on exceptional faculty from academia and business, attracts outstanding students from around the country and world, weaves a focus on ethics into every course, provides introductions to leading corporations, potential employers and women role models and mentors, uses cutting-edge technology to enrich your studies and prepare you for the workforce and prepares you to succeed in the private, government or nonprofit sectors.

At St. Kate’s, you’ll have the opportunity to learn, work and study with business faculty who have real-world experience that enriches their theoretical expertise. There’s no dearth of women role models or creative ways to help you master the curriculum and reach your career goals. Other full-time professors, adjunct and international faculty provide just the right balance of the theoretical and the applied. You’ll not only become familiar with business theory and practice, you’ll also begin to learn the art of being a successful businesswoman.

Faculty will work with you during your four years at St. Kate’s to develop your business portfolio, a requirement of graduation for students in the business administration department. Presenting a portfolio at a job interview is a powerful way to get the attention of potential employers and prove that you are the right woman for the job. Technology is fully integrated into the curriculum, and faculty will work with you as you learn to perform online research and prepare computer-based presentations. You will learn to integrate technology into your solutions for business problems.

St. Kate’s students frequently receive statewide recognition and scholarships through such organizations as Delta Mu Delta, an international business honor society, and Financial Executives International. St. Kate’s also has an active chapter of Pi Sigma Epsilon, the national business fraternity, which offers practical business experience and connections with business executives to members along with opportunities to network with students from other colleges and universities.

St. Kate’s Professional Partnership program will pair you with successful alumnae in your field of interest who will provide links with other professionals and career advice. Most students also participate in internships during their junior and senior years. Internships will allow you to refine your skills, broaden your perspectives and make valuable professional connections. The Entrepreneur Internship program matches business majors with women-owned businesses.

More than 60 companies visit campus to meet students, share information about their companies and recruit potential interns and employees at the annual St. Catherine’s Business Career Fair. Workshops prepare students on résumé writing, researching companies and interviewing. Many St. Kate’s students also attend the Minnesota Private College Job Fair — another excellent opportunity to connect with potential employers.

See also: Marketing and Management, Small Business/Entrepreneurship, International Business and Economics, Healthcare Management, Accounting, Information Systems.

MAJOR REQUIREMENTS

ACCT 2110 Financial Accounting
BUSI 3650 Business Law
BUSI 4752/4 Business Practicum (2 or 4 credits)
MKTG 2300 Introduction to Marketing (2 credits)
MKTG 4300 Advanced Marketing
SALE 2330 Introduction to Selling (2 credits)
SALE 3330 Professional Sales: Customer Focused Selling
SALE 3530 Selling into Managed Care
SALE 3630 Ethics and Integrity in Selling (2 credits)
SALE 4430 Advanced Sales: Strategic Account Management
SALE 4630 Sales Force Leadership

Required supporting courses:
BIOL 2510 Human Anatomy or CHEM 1010 General Chemistry for Health Sciences
BIOL 2520 Human Physiology or BIOL 1120 (Weekend College Students)
BIOL 2650 Understanding Medical Research: Drugs, Devices and Complementary Therapies
COMM 1030 Speaking to Lead and Influence
One course in persuasion or negotiation as agreed upon by chair
ECON 2250 Statistical Analysis for Economics and Business or ECON 2200 Statistical Analysis for the Social Sciences or MATH 1080 Statistical Analysis or PSYC 2050 Statistical Methods in Psychology
ECON 2900 Topics in Healthcare Economics or ECON 2610 Microeconomics
INDI 2220 Medical Terminology (2 credits)
PSYC 1001 General Psychology or SOCI 1000 Principles and Concepts of Sociology

Healthcare sales majors can complete an economics minor with just three additional courses. ECON 2610, Principles of Microeconomics, ECON 2620 Principles of Macroeconomics, ECON 3350 Money and Banking, and ECON 3500 Managerial Economics are recommended.

Recommended Electives:
ACCT 2130 Managerial Accounting
COMM 2020 Communication Dynamics in Interpersonal Relationships
ECON 2610 Principles of Microeconomics
ECON 2620 Principles of Macroeconomics
ECON 3350 Money and Banking
ECON 3500 Managerial Economics

BUSINESS PORTFOLIO

All majors are required to complete a business portfolio. The portfolio is the vehicle that enables you to integrate the life skills and knowledge you bring with you and the knowledge, skills and values learned within the courses and field experiences throughout the program. This portfolio allows you to validate your experiences at the College of St. Catherine.

The portfolio is cumulative in nature; most aspects are completed as part of course work. You must present your portfolio to your advisor no later than September 30 if you will be a December graduate, or February 15 if you will be a May graduate.
For specific portfolio requirements, please refer to the Professional Portfolio Handbook. The portfolio is highly recommended for business minors.
Healthcare sales majors satisfy the Writing Requirement for Majors by completing SALE 4630. You complete the Liberal Arts and Sciences Core Writing Requirement with three other writing-intensive courses (CORE 1000 and CORE 3990, and any other writing-intensive course in this or another department).

URL: http://minerva.stkate.edu/academiccatalog0709.nsf/pages/healthcare_sales
This page was created on 05/02/2007 and last updated on 05/02/2007.
Comments, questions and feedback about this site may be addressed to registrar@stkate.edu.