The health care administration career is vast, meaning it doesn’t box an individual to one career path. Also, it suits individuals wanting to venture into managerial positions and not patient care. The administrative aspect of healthcare means you will be working with various departments, from medical teams to human resources and marketing departments, as well as other stakeholders, to ensure operations in a healthcare institution run smoothly.
What Does a Healthcare Administrator Do?
Healthcare administrators are tasked with several responsibilities involving the smooth running of a facility. Some of the responsibilities they handle include:
- Communicating with the medical team and other subordinate departments.
- Assigning duties to team members.
- Planning and implementing improvement initiatives.
- Communicating with stakeholders and other healthcare facilities around the location area.
- Ensuring the institution adheres to local laws and regulations.
- Planning employee schedules.
These responsibilities may change depending on your role and the institution you will be working in. For example, when working in government organizations, you’ll focus more on healthcare policies, while in the private sector, you’ll be more inclined toward strategic planning.
Why Venture Into Healthcare Administration?
You don’t require a medical background to take a healthcare administration career. However, having previous experience in the healthcare discipline will strengthen your chances when competing for a position. So, getting a healthcare-related degree will be an added advantage. Thus, if you also have a passion for medicine, consider joining med school by sending strong application documents such as a personal statement. A good place to start is to go through a sample medical school personal statement to guide you in composing a quality statement.
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The opportunities available in healthcare administration are inexhaustible. You will only need to be good at what you do, and you can land several opportunities. Here’s why you should consider a career in healthcare administration.
Abundant Opportunities
As a healthcare administrator, you can be in charge of facilities such as rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance firms. The administrative career path presents several opportunities to rise higher in rank. The vast opportunities make it a lucrative career, guaranteeing career advancement and the satisfaction of steering change and quality service delivery in healthcare settings. The policies you’ll be implementing as part of the administration will play a pivotal role in improving the quality of a patient’s life.
The healthcare sector is currently experiencing robust growth primarily driven by factors such as an increase in the aging population and medical innovations being adopted. The growth in the medical sector results in a high demand for skilled professionals who can take charge and oversee the implementation of quality improvement initiatives. The flexibility of the healthcare administration career is unmatched, as you can work in the public or private sector depending on your career goals and interests.
Leadership Opportunities
Healthcare administration careers allow one to advance leadership skills, improving personal and professional growth. As an administrator, you’ll take charge of various operations in the facility, from leading interdisciplinary teams to influencing various organizational strategies. Stepping into a managerial role improves your experience, thus making you a top candidate for various healthcare leadership roles if you need to apply for higher ranks.
The healthcare administration is also professionally stimulating since you can step into the role of human resource manager, policy-making, or strategic planning. These opportunities will require you to step into the leadership role and spearhead the implementation of various initiatives. Therefore, if you enjoy being a leader and the chief decision-maker, you’ll enjoy a career as a healthcare administrator. Besides, from these leadership roles, it will be much easier for you to identify your leadership style.
Work-Life Balance
While being a healthcare administrator can be overwhelming since the bark will always stop with you, it is still rewarding, especially since you can achieve work flexibility. The flexibility is achievable because most administrators work regular shifts during the day, unlike other healthcare professionals who have to clock in for night and other irregular shifts. Working under a more traditional schedule makes it easy to create some time for their activities and unwind.
Job Satisfaction
Knowing that the policies or changes you implemented in a healthcare facility have improved service delivery and patients’ lives can be fulfilling. While you may not have direct contact with the patients as the nurses and doctors, the decisions you’ll be making in boardrooms will make a major difference in how the facility is run. Although the improvements may be gradual, the feeling of making such steps can be rewarding. Achieving the work-life balance can also be satisfying, especially for individuals looking to grow their careers while prioritizing personal and family time.
Continuous Learning
The dynamics in the healthcare sector are constantly evolving with new policies, the adoption of medical technology, and changes in patient demographics. Healthcare administrators must keep up with such changes by learning new operation measures and advancing their skills to accommodate them. To stay in tune with the changes, administrators must research widely, take various opinions, and read the pattern of such changes, thus making such positions a learning process. Keeping up with the industry trends requires one to be more open to reading and learning new techniques. Therefore, an important aspect of this job is that you’ll grow your skills and overall administration knowledge.
Networking
Networking is a significant element in one’s professional life, and being in the leadership space makes it easy for one to interact with people who share a similar interest. Interactions with other facilities’ administrators will open your mind to fresh and sustainable ideas. Additionally, you’ll develop long-lasting professional relationships through networking, which may open doors to higher career paths.
Takeaway
If you are looking forward to working in the healthcare industry but not as a nurse or a doctor, you can start your career as a healthcare administrator. Becoming an administrator in a healthcare facility comes with many perks, such as career advancement, job satisfaction, and continuous learning. As a healthcare administrator, you’ll not work directly with patients; instead, you’ll create policies to improve your facility’s system. Noteworthy, before pursuing any career in the healthcare administration field, it is best to carry out your research and decide if it is indeed a suitable field for you.