Deciding on Health Management and Policy Programs

[Ilovecoffee]

Hello all,
To all deciding on colleges for health management and policy, I thought I'd start a thread to discuss the best programs, pros, cons and opinions etc.

I've been accepted so far at:
UMich - MPH, MHSA
Emory - MPH - HPM
BU - MPH - HPM
UPitt - MHA, MPH
Yale - MPH - health management

Still waiting on - Columbia, Berkeley, Carnegie

For UMinnesota i got into thier MS health services research. I have an interview for the MHA program on the 26th.

For Johns Hopkins, I have an interview on Wed for the MHA program.

My focus is mostly geared towards consulting/ and or hospital administration. According to my reading, for such a track a strong focus on finance/business is essential. Essentially - MHA programs are the best equivalent to the healthcare industry specific MBA.

Having said that, UMich is looking amazing. Its a rigorous 2 year curriculum, good teacher-student ratio but also a tad expensive. Very inclined towards UMich nonetheless.

I am also posting the US News rankings for healthcare management.
Looking forward to hearing from you all.

1
University of Michigan--Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
2
University of Minnesota--Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN
3
University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
4
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
Philadelphia, PA
4
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
4
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA
7
University of Alabama--Birmingham
Birmingham, AL
8
Northwestern University (Kellogg)
Evanston, IL
9
University of California--Berkeley (School of Public Health)
Berkeley, CA
10
University of California--Berkeley (Haas)
Berkeley, CA
11
University of California--Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
12
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
12
New York University
New York, NY
12
Ohio State University
Columbus, OH
12
St. Louis University
St. Louis, MO
12
University of Missouri--Columbia
Columbia, MO
17
Boston University
Boston, MA
17
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA
17
Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO
20
Duke University (Fuqua)
Durham, NC
20
Trinity University
San Antonio, TX
20
U.S. Army/Baylor University
Fort Sam Houston, TX
20
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA

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[frali]

Do you think the healthcare management programs are comparable to MPH programs in Health Policy and Management? I thought those were for Masters/PhD programs in healthcare management. I was accepted to JH MHA program and I think I'll be going there because I am impressed with the curriculum and I think the one year field placement will be very helpful when looking for a job after graduation--and you can't beat Johns Hopkins' reputation.

 

[gsbound]

Do you think the healthcare management programs are comparable to MPH programs in Health Policy and Management? I thought those were for Masters/PhD programs in healthcare management. I was accepted to JH MHA program and I think I'll be going there because I am impressed with the curriculum and I think the one year field placement will be very helpful when looking for a job after graduation--and you can't beat Johns Hopkins' reputation.

(anything I say about any school here...take with a grain of salt or confirm with them)

Health Management and Policy programs (hopefully) have a balanced faculty and curriculum to serve those going for the management track as well as those going for the policy track. I know that sounds like I just repeated the department name, but it's something to think about depending on whether or not someone is still unsure which track they want to go for or for those that want to have an environment where they can learn both sides and interact with both sets of students.

As for healthcare administration programs, they have their own accreditation and there are certainly STRONG programs that are a stand-alone without a school of public health behind them. As for the rep of Johns Hopkins, it's very important to look to the school for how that particular department is seen. Emory is a great public health school if you're doing epi...but policy/management? Hmmm....not so much. That is not to say that Johns Hopkins' management program isn't strong -- it is and the rep is definitely something. Just saying that we can not go by the rep of the university's school of public health for all departments.

 

[Ilovecoffee]

Do you think the healthcare management programs are comparable to MPH programs in Health Policy and Management? I thought those were for Masters/PhD programs in healthcare management. I was accepted to JH MHA program and I think I'll be going there because I am impressed with the curriculum and I think the one year field placement will be very helpful when looking for a job after graduation--and you can't beat Johns Hopkins' reputation.

Their reputation is flawless - no doubt about that. The only thing is the uncertainty about the 11 month field placement. I got into John Hopkins last night - when I spoke with the Assisant Director of admissions - we discussed how John Hopkins is telling all incoming students that they can not guarantee a placement because of the economic situation. Students essentially are on their own - jobs will probably eng up being unpaid (or not - depends) - or a research project might substitute.

So in this light - I am a little ambivalent about JSPH....

 

[Ilovecoffee]

(anything I say about any school here...take with a grain of salt or confirm with them)

Health Management and Policy programs (hopefully) have a balanced faculty and curriculum to serve those going for the management track as well as those going for the policy track. I know that sounds like I just repeated the department name, but it's something to think about depending on whether or not someone is still unsure which track they want to go for or for those that want to have an environment where they can learn both sides and interact with both sets of students.

I am incredibly hesitant to take the offer that OSU gave me for this exact reason as they only have a handful of policy students. Minnesota on the other hand is very balanced with the amount of students in each track. Michigan is as well.

As for healthcare administration programs, they have their own accreditation and there are certainly STRONG programs that are a stand-alone without a school of public health behind them. As for the rep of Johns Hopkins, it's very important to look to the school for how that particular department is seen. Emory is a great public health school if you're doing epi...but policy/management? Hmmm....not so much. That is not to say that Johns Hopkins' management program isn't strong -- it is and the rep is definitely something. Just saying that we can not go by the rep of the university's school of public health for all departments.

So I get what you are saying - you can't just judge by the reputation of the school - Emory is a perfect example of this.

So what do you look at - I now have to decide between MHA/MHSA and MPH - HPM programs. I'm not sure at all - I've narrowed down to UMich for their MHSA, Minnesota for their MHA, and Johns Hopkins for their MHA.
I got into Columbia and Yale as well...

help please !!!

 

[gsbound]

So I get what you are saying - you can't just judge by the reputation of the school - Emory is a perfect example of this.

So what do you look at - I now have to decide between MHA/MHSA and MPH - HPM programs. I'm not sure at all - I've narrowed down to UMich for their MHSA, Minnesota for their MHA, and Johns Hopkins for their MHA.
I got into Columbia and Yale as well...

help please !!!

What are your thoughts on the schools as of now? What factors are you thinking about?

 

[Ilovecoffee]

What are your thoughts on the schools as of now? What factors are you thinking about?

At this point I am looking at rankings of the public health schools over all.
I'm looking at the rankings for healthcare management as well - They paint pretty disparate pictures for some schools...

I'm also for some reason inclined towards a 2 year currciculum as apposed to a one year/ or one and a half year curriculum. For me - this is it. I will not be studying anymore - so I do not want to compromise on the quality of the curriculum at all... I think John Hopkins is great - but accelerated. The field experience is important, as with all the schools that emphasize working, but I also think that just studying for one year is a bit short. My take on the accelerated programs is that it is geared towards physicians, or health professionals who have been working for a significant amount of time - 2 years being the bare minimum... who now need to come to back to school to get into management/consulting as for doctors or who need to accelerate their career advancement for general health professionals

For someone like me - wanting to start out in healthcare consulting/and/or hospital management - UMich and UMinnesota make sense. I have never worked in these settings before - but have general healthcare related work experience... qualitative research mostly, so with a very minimal quantitative working background! So with their focus on finance/management/statistics etc. this will prove to be very beneficial for me. These 2 schools also give their students the option to switch over to the MHA/MBA (UMinnesota) or the MHSA/MBA (UMich) track - which can be completed in 3 years - which sounds amazing to me. I think I could consider doing that as well...
You can't get better than a dual MBA degree...
I'm a little sad that despite the rankings UMinnesota has - not many people know about the school. I'll admit - that I am brand concious, and thus am wary about picking UMinnesota. In this respect UMich fits the bill - extremely well ranked, good brand, and great visibility in general... but expensive. Like as expensive as going to Yale..... UMinnesota on the other hand gives students a good deal... with students who recieve an internship also recieve funding to cover half their tiution. I was told this in a general letter - so I assume it was for everyone, not just me...