If you’re ambitious, you’ll be familiar with the feeling of needing to progress within your career. This is no different in the healthcare industry, where nurses, doctors and even hospital technicians are looking for their next step forward. With so many avenues to consider, which one is best for you? Becoming a healthcare administrator is one logical step up your career ladder. Like every job, however, you may need to undergo extra training, become qualified and, most importantly, know what is expected of you.
Know what is expected of you
Being a healthcare administrator is completely different to being a healthcare provider. While you may know what the job loosely entails, you will need to undergo more in-depth research so that you’re 100% sure of your decision.
First of all, you should know that your patient interaction will be diminished, sometimes completely. As a provider, you work alongside patients day in, day out; as an administrator, you might never come into contact with a patient again. This is because your job will be to manage the business operations of specific medical organizations, and not to treat every patient that walks into the organization you are managing. Doing so would distract you from the job you are being paid and expected to do, and so this may be a huge change you may not be willing to make.
Learn how to manage
If you’re not a born manager, then you need to learn to be one if you want to stand any chance of becoming a healthcare administrator. Specifically, you need to learn how to manage doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals — and these types of professionals are not your average employee. They are educated, clever and astute enough to know how to do their jobs, and telling them what to do can and will prove tricky at times. What’s more, with the healthcare job outlook forecasting a massive growth in the industry, you should expect to have to manage more and more of these types of professionals over the coming years. So, don’t just learn how to manage, learn how to manage people that will not always be happy to heed your commands.
Get qualified
Of course, becoming a healthcare administrator is not just about making sure you are up to the task, as you also need to obtain a number of essential qualifications even to be considered for your desired role. This may mean that you need to obtain a degree above your bachelor’s degree.
You’re going to have to go down the postgrad route, specifically by getting yourself a Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) degree. Plus, if you want to make yourself truly stand out when headhunters look to fill administrative roles, you should think about taking a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree too, to showcase your ability to lead and manage an organization.
Becoming a healthcare administrator is the next logical step for you if you feel your time as a healthcare provider has come to an end. Be sure to get the right qualificatons so that you can start your new career strongly.