Healthcare Administration – Degree & Career
For those who are looking to work in health care in a management position, healthcare administration can be a great career choice. Healthcare administrators must work with patients and staff to ensure that operations are running smoothly and safely. Duties may include scheduling shifts, setting up employee benefits, managing finances and much more. Some choose to go directly into healthcare administration, while others spend time working directly as a healthcare professional before working towards this career path. Administrators are needed in everything from large hospitals to small community medical centers so job variety and opportunity can be plentiful within this field.
Salaries for healthcare administrators will vary widely by location, experience and the type of facility making it difficult to pin down an estimate for the salary an administrator can expect. Those on the higher end of management like CEOs may make on average $140,000 while nurse administrators may make only half that at an average of $75,000. Again, these figures do vary widely and you should use your own experience and careers goals to help you get a better estimate of what to expect when entering this competitive field.
Undergraduate degrees of those working in healthcare administration can vary. Some students come directly from management or healthcare management programs while others will have a background in nursing or another medical profession. While a bachelor’s degree in the field may be all that is required for some jobs, a Master’s or MBA can be a great asset to those looking to truly be competitive in the job market. Students of these programs will learn about medical specific issues as well as leadership, ethics and finance.
Numerous placement options are available for those graduating with a degree in this field and many provide more than adequate compensation. Jobs may be available in hospitals, long-term care facilities, community health centers and even in the military. Studies have estimated that this career will be in demand for at least the next several years, so finding and holding onto a job should be relatively pain-free when compared to other professions. There are numerous layers of hospital administration, so opportunities for advancement as your experience increases should be available to you throughout your career.
