How Can I Become a Hospital Manager?
If your goal is to become a hospital manager, you will need a formal degree and educational experience. Hospital managers, who are also commonly referred to as hospital administrators, work to make sure that the hospital is running smoothly in a variety of different ways. As a manager, you will supervise staff while still supervising public relations and finances. As you can imagine, the position requires a lot of experience within a medical environment, with technology and within the discipline of business. If you are really motivated to spend the time gaining the educational and professional experience that you need, you will succeed with hospital administration.
Attaining the Proper Educational Credentials
If you do not currently hold an undergraduate degree, the very first step to hospital management will be enrolling in a bachelor’s degree program that is accredited by a specialized body in healthcare management. Selecting the right bachelor’s degree program is extremely important when you are trying to become a high-level professional in healthcare management. The most popular degree programs that are chosen by college students who are working toward becoming a hospital manager are the Bachelor of Science in Health Administration or in Health Services. While these programs are ideal, many have pursued non-specific degrees in business or management and have still succeeded.
Once you earn a undergraduate degree, the next step will be to earn a graduate-level degree. Virtually all for-profit and non-profit hospitals will require candidates to have a master’s or MBA to be considered for open management positions. There are many different routes that prospective hospital managers can take when enrolling in graduate degree programs. A master’s degree program includes curriculum that is needed to build many job-specific skills. You can consider taking an MBA in Healthcare Management or a more technical Master of Science in Health Administration when you are ready to attend a graduate school.
An MBA program will prepare you for the management aspect, and will also teach your real-world business skills. Master’s programs are more focused on technical knowledge and theory. Whichever route you decide the go, it is important to choose a program that is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education, which fosters high quality professionals in the field.
Related Resource: Health Science Careers
On-the-job and Professional Experience
Once you complete your program, you will be required to complete an internship so that you can get on-the-job experience. Typically, a graduation requirement will be to complete a 1-year internship or residency at a hospital. After you gain this on-the-job training experience, you can begin applying for positions within a hospital. According to the Princeton Review, you will typically need to work your way up the ladder as an administrative assistant who will later hold more responsibility within specific business departments. It is important to review the states where the demand for hospital administrators is high so that you can reduce the time it takes for you to advance.
As you can see, it will take time to meet the qualifications to become a healthcare administration in a hospital setting. You need to set aside six to eight years to earn your master’s if you are starting out and additional time to earn experience. With the healthcare field growing yearly, it is a great time to start a career toward becoming a hospital manager.
