3 Roles to Pursue with an MBA in Healthcare Management
Any college-level educational program represents an investment in your future. But by the time you are ready to pursue an MBA, you have moved past wondering what you want to be when you grow up. You have explored your interests, either during college or out in the workplace. Now, you are preparing for a new life, or getting ready to take a step forward on your own path.
Because of this, you need to know not only what you are getting into, but what opportunities await you. If you pursue an MBA in healthcare management, you could follow one of several paths, each of which can become very rewarding after you graduate.
1. Hospital Administration and Medical Practice Management
A hospital administrator takes on the job of making a hospital run efficiently. You need to be up to date on all of the laws and regulations that apply to hospitals, and ensure that policies and protocols are in place so that the hospital meets its duties under them. You manage the finances of the hospital and the schedules of those working there. You also may design and implement ways to measure quality and efficiency of care for the patients at the hospital.
If you want the work a hospital administrator does but prefer to do it on a smaller scale, medical practice management can be a good option as well. This role provides similar duties and responsibilities, but for a physician group rather than for a hospital.
2. Healthcare Consulting
Healthcare consulting in some ways represents the flip side of an administration or practice management role. A healthcare consultant typically comes in to help when an administrator or board of directors identifies a problem in the running of their organization. You would use your expertise to examine all aspects of the day to day operation of a hospital or practice, and then identify ways to improve on what you see. Depending on what you are called in to address, you may need to focus your attention on improving quality of care, efficiency, customer service, adherence to regulatory requirements, or profitability.
Opportunities here include joining a consulting firm or creating a solo practice in this area. Unlike the more rigid daily routine of a hospital administrator, healthcare consulting requires flexibility and self-motivation, and in turn can give you an opportunity to create the schedule that works best for you, within the confines of working with what your clients need from you. Once you are engaged with a given group, you will typically have tight deadlines and pressure to identify paths to improve the client's management.
3. Pharmaceutical Project Management
Are you interested in focusing on developing a particular pharmaceutical product? A role in pharmaceutical project management focuses your attention on one product at a time. You manage its development from conception through production to marketing and release. Your MBA in healthcare management could prepare you to understand the technological and regulatory hurdles involved, from conducting the initial research and development, through completing all the steps to get through federal approval processes, and getting a product to market.
This path requires the ability to focus narrowly on one product, but to appreciate and work with a long process to get that product ready. You could supervise the work of scientists, so a background in pharmaceutical science is often expected before you pursue this path. Attention to detail and a rigid sense of schedule and timelines could also serve you well in this role.
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