How does one become the manager of a psych hospital or psych ward?

[priorities2]

Perhaps an MHA with undergrad degree in Psych? What would you recommend, and is this a growing career?

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[Leo Aquarius]

Be sure to get an MD. The last thing we need are people with no medical experience in charge of us.

A Masters degree and a bachelors in psychology as a manager of a hospital? hahahahaha......

I know of a psychiatrist (this is the guy with an MD) from a Harvard residency and came out managing a hospital. Kudos to him since he will actually understand the essentials of medical decision-making.

Let's get non-MDs out of health care management. They don't understand the needs of patients or doctors and end up sacrificing both for bigger margins.

I recommend that you first become an MD, work as a doctor in the kind of hospital system you intend to manage, and then step into that role with plenty of real live experience. That's my best recommendation.

 

[priorities2]

Hi Leo, thanks for the information. It actually didn't occur to me that an MD would manage. Is this the case in most medical settings? If so, what is the purpose of the MHA degree?

 

[zenman]

Perhaps an MHA with undergrad degree in Psych? What would you recommend, and is this a growing career?

Go for it: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Lo...nt-medical-center-Hospital-CEO-earned--616K-i

Make sure you cut support staff to the bone, especially unit clerks and CNAs, so you can hear the rest of the staff crying, bitching, and treating patients like crap because they are so stressed out.

 

[priorities2]

Heh... okay. I sense some hostility toward medical management. I'm not at all looking to be the CEO of a major hospital. Only interested in getting into management in a psych ward or psych hospital. I've had trouble finding information on Google, so I'm wondering if the psychiatry forum would have some insight into career paths of those who have managed psych wards. So far, it sounds like most of them are MDs?

 

[IAmAUser]

.

 

[digitlnoize]

The only people I've ever known to run psych hospitals have been MD/DO's. There are a couple state hospitals I've worked at which were run by the gov't, but each unit was run by a doctor or two.

 

[whopper]

The term "manager" is vague. Psychiatric units have nurse managers. Is that what you mean? If you want to run psychiatry on an administrative level, having a business degree, or extensive leadership experience, in addition to extensive mental healthcare experience is what you want.

I've seen CEOs not be MDs but had extensive business and healthcare experience. You don't have to have an MD, it helps, but if that's your ultimate goal, an MD can be a huge side track because you'll be accumulating more academic data than most people take in lifetime (actually a few lifetimes) where the MD is not going to be required.

Though I will say having to talk to someone with an MD about the business aspects, especially when you do something that can be cost-ineffective but good for the patient is where I want an MD in the administrative level listening to me.

One of the places I work at, a private facility, where literally top psychiatrists in the world are in the administration, is a place where if I feel most comfortable wanting to do something very expensive for the patient that is going to make the hospital lose money such as an MMPI (usually not reimbursed for inpatient psychiatric stay), a gene-test to see what meds are more likely to work, or get a second opinion from a nationally ranked doctor. When I talk to these doctors and we both know what we're doing will make the institution lose money, I know they know what's at stake, and when I've seen doctors ask them, they so far have been completely about doing the right medical option vs. the profit margin.

 

[michaelrack]

Often management roles in the psychiatry world are held by PhD psychologists- I have seen them manage units at state hospitals, in management roles at community mh centers, and also have seen them in managment roles at institutions for the mentally ******ed/autistics (adult).

 

[vistaril]

Be sure to get an MD. The last thing we need are people with no medical experience in charge of us.

A Masters degree and a bachelors in psychology as a manager of a hospital? hahahahaha......

I know of a psychiatrist (this is the guy with an MD) from a Harvard residency and came out managing a hospital. Kudos to him since he will actually understand the essentials of medical decision-making.

Let's get non-MDs out of health care management. They don't understand the needs of patients or doctors and end up sacrificing both for bigger margins.

I recommend that you first become an MD, work as a doctor in the kind of hospital system you intend to manage, and then step into that role with plenty of real live experience. That's my best recommendation.

It's sort of vague what is meant in the op's original question by manager, but I can assure you that most upper level administators at a psych hospital(especially non state ones) are not physicians.

There is generally a medical director that is a psychiatrist. But they are typically not seen as the top 'manager' of the psych hospital.

Many psych hospitals are of course attached to large hospital systems, and in very large hospital systems the ceo is usually a physician with extensive health management and business backgrounds.....but pretty sure thats not what the OP is asking.

The top couple of administators in my psych hospital are not physicians, and at my med school it was like that too. The medical director was, in both cases, just one of the staff psychiatrists(in both cases they had a somewhat reduced clinical duty workload)

 

[vistaril]

Heh... okay. I sense some hostility toward medical management. I'm not at all looking to be the CEO of a major hospital. Only interested in getting into management in a psych ward or psych hospital. I've had trouble finding information on Google, so I'm wondering if the psychiatry forum would have some insight into career paths of those who have managed psych wards. So far, it sounds like most of them are MDs?

if your main goal is to be an admin at a psych hospital somewhere, you most definately dont need to be a physician.

 

[priorities2]

if your main goal is to be an admin at a psych hospital somewhere, you most definately dont need to be a physician.

Okay. So is an MHA degree a pretty typical route toward administrative roles that do not require an MD? What kind of work do those admins do, and what are their specific titles? Thanks.

 

[sunlioness]

I've known nurses in this role as well. Usually a BSN with a masters in something administrative, I think.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Okay. So is an MHA degree a pretty typical route toward administrative roles that do not require an MD? What kind of work do those admins do, and what are their specific titles? Thanks.

If you're interested in learning more about this degree, might I suggest that you ask the admissions office of your local MHA program for referrals to 2-3 recent alumni of whom you might request informational interviews, that you might learn first-hand what their jobs entail.

Despite our frequent complaints about "pencil pushers", health care is a complicated business, and having well-trained administrators will be a plus for the treacherous years ahead.

 

[shan564]

A lot of people with MHA degrees actually have healthcare backgrounds and are just looking to shift into an administrative role. An MHA teaches you a lot of basic principles about healthcare management, but it's not all that useful if you don't already have experience in healthcare itself.

These days, it's become very easy to get an MHA or MPH - a LOT of schools are offering the degree, which cheapens its value. If you just do an undergrad degree and an MHA, you'll have a hard time finding a job as an administrator based purely on those qualifications (unless your dad owns a hospital or something). I see an MHA as a way for an experienced healthcare professional to open the door towards a management role.

If you really want to go into healthcare administration and don't want to spend a lot of time working with patients, you could try going into finance or accounting. Small hospitals and big clinics often have a CFO with a business background.

Or if you really want to go into healthcare, you can do a degree in something that actually teaches you about healthcare. Psychology is an interesting degree, but it will teach you very little about taking care of patients - that's something that you'd learn in a graduate program. But if you were to get trained as a social worker or a nurse/allied health professional, then an MHA would make you much more well-suited to be an administrator.

But this isn't the place to get reliable answers to questions like these. If you go to a nursing/allied health/psychology forum, they might be able to provide some guidance on how you can become an administrator without an MD.