Dartmouth 1 - Harvard 0

No, that's not the score of the arch-rivals' soccer game. It is a reflection of the vision of Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President of Dartmouth, as embodied in the creation of a new degree program focused on process improvement in the heath care delivery system. An excerpt from Karen Weintraub's story:

The 18-month master’s program is intended mainly for mid-career professionals — generally hospital and clinic administrators, health care consultants, medical educators, or managers from health-related industries.

Kim . . . said he hopes Dartmouth’s effort will spark a new profession of health care delivery experts whose aim will be to make medical care simultaneously less costly and more effective.

“In five years,’’ he said, “there have to be 15, 20 of these [programs] around the country, working together.’’

“We need to populate hospitals with people who think this way,’’ he continued. “Unless we do that, [health care] is going to break the bank.’’

Jim is the kind of academic visionary the country needs. That Boston needs, too.