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I am close to finishing my masters in health administration (MHA) and am getting a little lost when trying to find a good "entry level" job for the field. Most require years of experience and a lot of them require (or strongly prefer) an RN or some other clinical license. I know there are a lot of areas to go into without the clinical background, but finding the right entry level position to advance to the higher positions is a little confusing for me. I would like to focus on operations/finance if possible.
Anyone have any good advice for a good starting position? Also, I'm in the Dallas-Fort Worth area if that matters.
Where did you do your internship? That is usually a good place to start. I have a similar degree as you (MPA), and I've gotten interviews because my (two) internships were in a specific field in the health-care administration field.
However, you are right in your observation that much of the upper echelon jobs for health care administration are limited to those with clinical licenses, such as RNs and MDs. I have considered going back to school to obtain a RN. It may not be such a bad idea for degree-holders in Health Care Administration or similar fields.
I am doing my internship next summer, at the end of my program. I will use that as a starting point. I was just checking out job prospects for after I finish my degree and it seems like we are just being thrown out there with no real direction or paths.
I've been in this field since I graduated college a year ago with a business degree. Personally, I had to bite the bullet and join the ranks of the underemployed for six months. I was then hired by a former manager (one from the health care work I did in college) at another hospital.
Rest assured that you do not need a clinical background to work in health care administration. Neither of the organizations I worked for had many RNs or MDs in high level administration roles. If any certification was valuable for this field, I'd recommend the CPC. A lot of our administrators have backgrounds in coding and billing. Perhaps something in HIM, as that's growing (finally) in importance.
I recommend networking with alumni of your MHA program (probably by asking very specific career questions to them) to find a suitable position. Do you have prior health care experience? Health care administration, like certain other fields, is huge on experience. You might have to work your way up from a BA/BS only position.
If you have a few internships under your belt, an MHA or MPA (with a health specialization) can be very useful if you would like to work in health administration or health finance at a hospital, clinic, health care insurance company, government organization, non profit healthcare organization or even as a health care consultant for a private consulting company.
Are you willing to relocate?
If so, definitely check out the Mayo Clinic's Administrative fellowship Program: Administrative Fellowship Program at Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic is one of the best hospital's in the country. Their administrative fellowship program will put you on the fast tract to a management level position at one of their many clinics or private practice units.
There are a number of other hospitals or health care organizations that offer similar professional fellowships for recent masters level trained graduates who have completed health administration related coursework.
Rest assured that you do not need a clinical background to work in health care administration. Neither of the organizations I worked for had many RNs or MDs in high level administration roles.
I never said you needed to have a clinical background to work in health care administration. The field is full of people, particularly in operations and finance, that have non-clinical backgrounds. But there are a significant amount of positions at the higher end of the administration ladder in health care, particularly at hospitals, where it is necessary to be a RN or MD. Chief Medical Officer or Chief Nursing Officer are just two examples of many, but even many department-head positions prefer for you to be licensed as a RN or MD.
I never said you needed to have a clinical background to work in health care administration. The field is full of people, particularly in operations and finance, that have non-clinical backgrounds. But there are a significant amount of positions at the higher end of the administration ladder in health care, particularly at hospitals, where it is necessary to be a RN or MD. Chief Medical Officer or Chief Nursing Officer are just two examples of many, but even many department-head positions prefer for you to be licensed as a RN or MD.
I never said you did .
I agree with your assessment. I personally find that many times RNs and MDs get promoted because they understand the system more. There's an idea out there that if you don't have a clinical degree, you can't possibly understand what your department does. This is totally untrue -- you need a clinical degree to understand what to do with one particular patient, not to understand the overall process or functions of the department. Example: most airline CEOs are not pilots and many tech company CEOs are not engineers.
Just don't want the OP to think he has to run back to school and grab another degree. An administrative fellowship or a rung on the bottom of the ladder is probably his best bet.
I agree with your assessment. I personally find that many times RNs and MDs get promoted because they understand the system more. There's an idea out there that if you don't have a clinical degree, you can't possibly understand what your department does. This is totally untrue -- you need a clinical degree to understand what to do with one particular patient, not to understand the overall process or functions of the department. Example: most airline CEOs are not pilots and many tech company CEOs are not engineers.
Just don't want the OP to think he has to run back to school and grab another degree. An administrative fellowship or a rung on the bottom of the ladder is probably his best bet.
I agree with you. There are plenty of opportunities in the health care administration field, but getting that first chance is the hardest part. There is no easy solution to getting your foot in the door. Once this particular person gets their foot in the door, they can see whether they want to advance their career by pursing a clinical degree (RN, PT, OT, RT are just a few examples). But that is not to say that there are people at the highest level of the administration food chain - hospital CEOs, for example - who don't have any clinical background. There are many. However, becoming a RN in particular, wouldn't hurt this person's chances of having a very successful career. However, one must evaluate both the real and opportunity costs of pursuing such options. The choice is not easy.
The issue is, what did you specialize in? Credentialing? Education? Human Rsources? informatics? A MHA, is worthless unless you make yourself a specialist in some aspect of health care administration. I don't have a MHA, but I have made myself valuable by knowing CPT codes and managing clinic utilitiztion. I am not a nurse, but I can quote administrative laws regarding accessibility.
There would be nothing wrong with starting at a lower job like entry level receptionist, and work your way up, you would move up quickly. And know more about the way things work than the ones up there already.
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