Did you complete your undergraduate degree in a business related field and now you are thinking that you want to further your level of education? Are you considering pursuing your degree in Healthcare Services but you aren’t sure of an area that you think would fit your professional goals? Maybe you should check into the growing field of healthcare administration as a possibility for your educational path. Keep reading, you can learn all you need to know about this career path and the opportunities that will become available because of it. By pursuing your degree in healthcare service administration you will learn how to supervise and contribute to all of the operations and departments of medical facilities, hospitals, and organizations. Keep in mind, it is common for programs in healthcare administration to primarily be pursued by individuals who have relevant experience in the field of healthcare. Generally speaking, students pursuing this degree program have intentions of remaining in the healthcare field, but having additional, upper level job opportunities available. Many colleges and universities offer degree programs in this field of study through online learning formats, through campus based instruction, or through a hybrid of the two instructional formats. It is important that you choose an instructional format that fits your schedule, your location, and your learning needs and goals.
While it may vary some from one college to another you can expect it to take between two and three years to complete this degree program. This will encompass approximately sixty-five hours of classroom instruction along with a residency (or internship). It is important that individuals who are pursuing this degree program have a basic understanding of how healthcare organizations operate and how the business end of this career world is organized and how it runs. Many colleges or universities require that their prospective students have applicable experience before they will be admitted into this degree program. The course work that is required by this degree program will teach students about medical information systems, accounting, marketing, legal liabilities, and all other aspects that are relative to overseeing the day to day operation of any medical organization.
Of course, within this course of study you will also need to learn how to manage the finances of the facility and the personnel who are employed by the facility. Depending upon the college or university that you decide to attend you should expect to complete course work such as: quantitative and scientific leadership skills, information and systems use, health system structures and managed care, research methods and statistical analysis, leadership in the United States healthcare system, healthcare law and ethics, maximizing human resources and health policy, and decision making, marketing, and strategic planning. As you near completion of your course work for this degree program you may be required to complete an internship or residency. This will allow you the opportunity to put into practice the knowledge and skills that you have been learning in a real world setting. Keep in mind, in this scenario you will be working under the direct supervision of a mentoring individual and will not have all of the responsibilities that will be required of you after you have obtained your degree. Following graduation you will be able to seek employment as a managed care administrator, a hospital administrator, administrator of a physician’s office, a health policy analyst, a healthcare marketing professional, a program evaluator or program planner, a health services research analyst, an information systems manager, a clinical trial director, a data management director, or a program evaluation analyst.