hospital administration career question

[rphinohio]

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Im not a md, but rather a rph with a mba...I want to do something more in the administrative side. And the local hospital here, through contacts, has offered me a 1 yr fellowship in hospital admin

my question is what have you heard about the jobs? People Ive talked tell me its a rough place to be and that there are a lot of politics involved and what not. most of my doc friends despise the admin in their hospitals. granted these are in smaller towns.

but on the other hand, the financial opportunity over a career seems positive.

any thoughts on this field?

( i do have thread up in the pharm forums, but wanted to get some opinion here)

 

[kauldron26]

Im finishing up my MPH and currently work in Hospital Administration. There will always be politics in administration, and certain departments will have an issue with management because you can't please every one. But I actually enjoy it quite a bit. Can you be more specific regarding your questions?

 

[mickey1t]

If you dont mind sharing, howed you guys go about getting these fellowship/internships in hospital administraion. Is it a formal program which must be applied for, or is it just something you attained through contacts? I have been looking for programs like this in my area, Miami, Fl, and havent turned up much. Thanks for the info

 

[RAMPA]

If you dont mind sharing, howed you guys go about getting these fellowship/internships in hospital administraion. Is it a formal program which must be applied for, or is it just something you attained through contacts? I have been looking for programs like this in my area, Miami, Fl, and havent turned up much. Thanks for the info

most are offered to recent graduates of MHA, MPH, and MBA programs.

www.ache.org/pgfd/pgfd_print_detail.cfm

there are other fellowships which aren't on the above list

 

[mickey1t]

RAMPA, thanks for the list....dont think i would have ever found that on my own

 

[rphinohio]

Im finishing up my MPH and currently work in Hospital Administration. There will always be politics in administration, and certain departments will have an issue with management because you can't please every one. But I actually enjoy it quite a bit. Can you be more specific regarding your questions?

ive been told that about the constant politics, since the goals of hospital admin are not always in alignment with the doctors, right?

for example, my friend is a neuro, and the hosp. admin told him he was ordering too many eegs inpatient and asked him to cut it down since he was higher than the other neuros in the area hospitals. i dont know if i could see myself doing that, im not a doctor, so what right do i have to tell a specialty trained doc how to practice medicine?

regardless, what would you say are you likes/dislikes bout the job?

 

[rphinohio]

most are offered to recent graduates of MHA, MPH, and MBA programs.

www.ache.org/pgfd/pgfd_print_detail.cfm

there are other fellowships which aren't on the above list

they should have a standardized application system, itd make the process a lot easier for applicants

 

[kauldron26]

ive been told that about the constant politics, since the goals of hospital admin are not always in alignment with the doctors, right?

for example, my friend is a neuro, and the hosp. admin told him he was ordering too many eegs inpatient and asked him to cut it down since he was higher than the other neuros in the area hospitals. i dont know if i could see myself doing that, im not a doctor, so what right do i have to tell a specialty trained doc how to practice medicine?

regardless, what would you say are you likes/dislikes bout the job?

Regardless of an individual's "specialty" or request, you have to remember that it all comes from the same budget that produces salaries, covers hospital debt and etc. I see this everyday at work were certain physicians and other clinical department heads are convinced that their own needs and departments should take priority over everyone else. This is why an administrator is needed. Someone has to step up and make sure that EVERYONE and EVERY DEPARTMENT gets what they need so that the mission, vision and goals of the organization can be fulfilled.

 

[rphinohio]

Regardless of an individual's "specialty" or request, you have to remember that it all comes from the same budget that produces salaries, covers hospital debt and etc. I see this everyday at work were certain physicians and other clinical department heads are convinced that their own needs and departments should take priority over everyone else. This is why an administrator is needed. Someone has to step up and make sure that EVERYONE and EVERY DEPARTMENT gets what they need so that the mission, vision and goals of the organization can be fulfilled.

yea i hear ya

do you mind sharing your likes/dislikes bout your job?

 

[rysa4]

Im not a md, but rather a rph with a mba...I want to do something more in the administrative side. And the local hospital here, through contacts, has offered me a 1 yr fellowship in hospital admin

my question is what have you heard about the jobs? People Ive talked tell me its a rough place to be and that there are a lot of politics involved and what not. most of my doc friends despise the admin in their hospitals. granted these are in smaller towns.

but on the other hand, the financial opportunity over a career seems positive.

any thoughts on this field?

( i do have thread up in the pharm forums, but wanted to get some opinion here)

The RPH/MBA combination I think is a good one. I was at a meeting last week with many administrative pharmacists who had quite a variety of careers. On the hospital admin question - I find there is quite a lot of politics absolutely. So a CEO of a single hospital has to coordinate oftentimes with a CEO of a hospital system to which his or her hospital belongs to. That's not always easy. Its also tough to avoid getting into adversarial situations with some docs and doc groups, as there is a lot of sensitivity to what I would describe as conflict of interest and communication problems.

I think if you could sincerely stick with trying to make docs part of the process as a principle and try to create an environment that actively attaches both specialists and primary care to your hospital, and be convincing about, you would have a winning play. Easy to say - tough to execute. Good luck.

 

[rphinohio]

On the hospital admin question - I find there is quite a lot of politics absolutely. So a CEO of a single hospital has to coordinate oftentimes with a CEO of a hospital system to which his or her hospital belongs to. That's not always easy. Its also tough to avoid getting into adversarial situations with some docs and doc groups, as there is a lot of sensitivity to what I would describe as conflict of interest and communication problems.

I think if you could sincerely stick with trying to make docs part of the process as a principle and try to create an environment that actively attaches both specialists and primary care to your hospital, and be convincing about, you would have a winning play. Easy to say - tough to execute. Good luck.

I shadowed at the local hospital, and it was nothing but politics. for example, they went through 4 stroke directors in 1.5 years!! I found that kind of interesting. At first, I thought this is a small area, and maybe other places arent like that. But talking to different people, it seems like politics are abound everywhere. Maybe doing a full year fellowship would change my mindset, but my research is convincing me this isnt my cup of tea (hey, better to know now than later)

 

[kauldron26]

yea i hear ya

do you mind sharing your likes/dislikes bout your job?

I really enjoy working with staff and most off all, I love that everything I do contributes to the entire hospital. I've worked one-on-one with patients for a couple of years and I wasnt a fan of that, I got burnt out pretty quickly. One of the reasons I am an MPH student is that I prefer to look at the bigger picture, and I get a lot more fufillment from being a part of administration. Also, I have ideas and plans to expand a certain community hospital in Nigeria.