Inside the Master of Science in Law
Strengthening Community Health Through Law: Drew Gonzales’s Path to the MSL
January 7, 2026
After earning his PharmD degree, Drew Gonzales began his career as a pharmacist with a simple goal: to effectively care for his patients and his community. Over time, Drew’s commitment evolved into a passion for community health leadership, and that is what led him to Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s Master of Science in Law (MSL) program.
Early in his career, Drew worked in pharmacy operations at organizations including Walgreens and Kaiser Permanente, gaining experience in high-volume, patient-focused environments. He later moved into roles in rural healthcare, including at a small community critical access hospital in Northeast Colorado. There, he saw firsthand how clinical decisions, organizational strategy, regulation, and community health outcomes are very intertwined. As Drew explains it, the work requires much more than what he had learned in his PharmD. “I need to be a clinician while also understanding business, measuring outcomes that matter to patients, and developing the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate the law.”
Drew’s growing understanding of the skills needed to perform successfully guided the next phase of his education. He completed a Master of Science in Healthcare Transformation at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, where he learned to view healthcare as a system shaped not just by the clinical enterprise, but one also shaped by policy, economics, community needs and value-based care.
As Drew’s responsibilities as Chief Operating Officer at Franciscan Healthcare in Northeast Nebraska expanded, he found himself navigating complex legal and regulatory questions daily. The more he engaged with those questions, the more he recognized that legal literacy is essential for modern healthcare leaders. “As the world of healthcare evolves and our system moves more towards a value-based care model,” he said, “it is imperative that leaders of healthcare organizations have an in-depth understanding of the numerous rules, regulations, contracts, and legal processes that drive the delivery of high-value healthcare.”
Drew’s recognition of the importance of law and legal literacy is what led him to Northwestern’s Master of Science in Law program – in its part-time, online format, which he manages while working full-time. While he didn’t initially grasp the meaning when mentors and colleagues told him he was going to learn to “think like a lawyer,” within weeks of starting the program, he understood exactly what they meant.
Drew began the MSL this past August, and he has already seen the impact of his studies on his day-to-day work. He pointed to an example involving upcoming changes to Nebraska law that go into effect on January 1, 2026. “If I hadn’t gotten that baseline legal training, I wouldn’t have known how to approach the situation,” he explained. “I went through and read the law and the legislative bill, looked at how it applied in the context of existing statutes, and explored how the new law will be enacted and implemented.” The understanding that emerged from Drew’s analysis is now shaping business strategy within his organization, from optimizing employee benefits to identifying ways to expand services in the community. The experience reinforced just how “real, applicable, and immediately useful” the MSL tools are, he said, noting that he was able to incorporate what he was learning from the very beginning of the program.
For Drew, the MSL is a key step in building the comprehensive skill set required to be successful in community health leadership. Although balancing graduate school with executive leadership and family responsibilities is demanding, he views the investment in his education as both strategic and essential. “To be an effective community advocate, I must understand highly complex legal and regulatory processes, and be able to effectively speak to the ‘why’ behind the mission of the organization I serve,” he says.
Drew’s journey to date has been shaped by expanding responsibilities, a desire to serve, and a growing appreciation for how deeply law influences every aspect of the healthcare system. From a PharmD to clinical practice to community-focused leadership, and now to legal skills and an understanding of the legal foundations that underpin healthcare systems, Drew Gonzales’s journey reflects the expanding skill set required for professional excellence in today’s increasingly complicated healthcare ecosystem.
Inside the MSL Home | Siblings in the MSL: Stephanie Zhao (MSL ’18) and Tiffany Zhao (MSL ’20) →