Medicine or Healthcare Administration?

[888lkys]

i've ALWAYS been pre-med, until now. i'm considering healthcare administration instead. anyone have any expertise on the topic?

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[Richardh]

i don't know about healthcare admin but you can check this forum :
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=692403

 

[Bojangles85]

vs.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

bean counting?

 

[LibbyJ]

DO you see medicine as treating people or as a business?

My best friend is in healthcare admin, and we have some pretty heated discussions - she see's only (though I am sure some are different) the business side of medicine, whereas I see the people, not the money. She really enjoys it though, so I say if you enjoy that kind of environment, go for it!

 

[888lkys]

i see medicine as treating people, but i'm interested in the provision of medical care as well, which would come mainly from a business/administrative point of view. so basically, i want to help individuals, and help populations. ugh, i don't know. can't i do both?

 

[DancinSarah]

i see medicine as treating people, but i'm interested in the provision of medical care as well, which would come mainly from a business/administrative point of view. so basically, i want to help individuals, and help populations. ugh, i don't know. can't i do both?

You have to be economically and very rationally minded to do this. Keep in mind a lot of this entails denying care to people, which may condemn them to their deaths. But at the same time, you hope your decision may have kept the hospitals doors open, so to speak, so that many other people can receive care. I think administration entails far more ethical considerations than medical practice itself does. Do you think about these issues a lot? Are you the kind of person that is willing to make tough, but rational decisions, that might lose you some friends but you ultimately realize its the best thing to do in the grand scheme of things?

Its difficult and I think most people can't handle it personally, but if you can, I think its a very personally rewarding endeavor.

 

[bacalaca]

Why does it have to be an OR? i know several people, myself included, who want to go into clinical medicine first then eventually work in administration. an MD always opens doors, be it research, clinical medicine, teaching, consulting, policy or administration

 

[LizzyM]

Medicine is a long and costly (time and money) road if what you want to do is administration. Most docs in administration got there after and/or in addition to practicing medicine for some length of time. Ditto for nurses (back in the old days most Catholic hospitals were headed by nuns who were nurses first and then administrators).

If you aren't wedded to the idea of personally taking care of patients, going directly into administration is not a bad idea The MBA with a focus on healthcare is one option but the MPH with a focus on "management" is another option and the one that puts as much emphasis on the health of the population as the fiscal health of the enterprise. Many people I've met who have gone this route administer outpatient clinics in underserved areas (something called federally qualified health clinics FQHCs).