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Health Care Administration Training and Educational Requirements
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University of Phoenix
Programs: AA in Health Care Administration, BS in Health Administration, MBA in Healthcare Management, Master of Health Administration, Doctor of Health Administration
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Managers of healthcare facilities must be familiar with standard business management practices and procedures, along with the specific requirements of health care delivery. While a Bachelor's degree may be sufficient for entry-level positions at the department level, or in smaller practices, in most larger facilities, a Master's degree is the standard educational requirement for senior-level generalists. The degree may be an MBA, or may be a degree in public health, health services administration, health sciences, or public administration.
Clinical managers, whose responsibilities include departmental administration, typically have training in the clinical area they supervise. For example, the director of a hospital's surgery department will usually be a degreed surgeon. In this case, an graduate degree in health services administration will increase the individual's advancement potential.
Training in healthcare administration is offered by colleges and universities at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels. At the graduate degree level, either an undergraduate degree in business or health, or a liberal arts baccalaureate degree and experience in the healthcare field is preferred for admission.
Most graduate level programs take between two and three years to complete. Programs can be either general in nature, covering all types of health care delivery, or they may be specific to one type of facility, such as hospitals or mental health facilities. Coursework typically includes training in hospital management, marketing, accounting, health economics, and health information systems.
Graduates of bachelor's level programs will start their careers as assistant department heads or administrative assistants in larger facilities, and as department heads in smaller facilities. Graduates of master's level programs may start either in managerial or staff positions, depending on experience and the size of the organization.
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