USC MPP (Health Administration)

[lebo]

Hi all,
I wanted to know how does the USC MPP (Health Administration) program rate in comparison to MPH from UCLA or Berkeley with regards to the overall job prospects after the degree.
This is for someone who is from a technical background rather than a medicine one.
I plan to pursue health policy mgmt, administration rather than research
Your input is highly appreciated
Thanks

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[306485]

Hi all,
I wanted to know how does the USC MPP (Health Administration) program rate in comparison to MPH from UCLA or Berkeley with regards to the overall job prospects after the degree.
This is for someone who is from a technical background rather than a medicine one.
I plan to pursue health policy mgmt, administration rather than research
Your input is highly appreciated
Thanks

The degree at USC is actually called a Masters in Health Administration (MHA). The advantages with USC is that they tend to be very generous with their merit scholarships if you are a qualified candidate, and you will have a great alumni network which can be useful after graduation. Some of the students in the full-time program seem to be fairly new to healthcare which can be a plus or minus to you, depending on how much experience you already have.

At UCLA, the MPH in health services seems to be a cohort of its own - tight knit group. The school is well ranked and they have a health services alumni association which seems to be pretty strong. UCLA is higher ranked, you can decide how important that is to you.

To be honest if you're going to be working in Los Angeles after graduation you'll be fine with either school. Your graduate internship and other involvements will likely have more weight than anything else in deciding your job prospects.

As a disclaimer - I'm not a graduate from either Masters program. Through work I deal with graduate interns from both programs, so that's how I gathered the above info.

 

[lebo]

Thanks for the reply phgsbound.
Yes I am new to healthcare.I am pretty much switching careers from a technical field(IT) to healthcare.My goal is to go into health policy/mgmt.
Hospital administrator/Healthcare consulting would be my second choice.
I dont know how the MHA program from USC is rated as compared to the much discussed programs from UCLA and Berkeley. I have got an admit from USC with scholarship but still waiting for the decisions from UCLA and Berkeley.
I have searched these forums but couldnt get a concrete opinion about USC's MHA program

 

[tritonhopeful]

Thanks for the reply phgsbound.
Yes I am new to healthcare.I am pretty much switching careers from a technical field(IT) to healthcare. My goal is to go into health policy/mgmt.
Hospital administrator/Healthcare consulting would be my second choice.
I dont know how the MHA program from USC is rated as compared to the much discussed programs from UCLA and Berkeley. I have got an admit from USC with scholarship but still waiting for the decisions from UCLA and Berkeley.
I have searched these forums but couldnt get a concrete opinion about USC's MHA program

If policy is your first interest, I highly recommend you look more closely at MPH programs rather than MHA programs. The MHA degree is tailored more closely to an administrative track, not a policy track.

As mentioned in response to your other post, I recently visited USC. Here was my impression of the USC program: It is rather unique in that it requires a year-long residency (aka internship) for completion of the degree although there are a multitude of ways to satisfy this requirement. For example, if you have been working in healthcare management, they will reduce the requirement for you; alternatively, if you plan to pursue a medical degree or the like, the clinical rotations you do there can satisfy the requirement as well. This is very specific to the USC program from what I found.

The staff there does everything in its power to help set up an academic plan that suits your needs and will assist with placing you in a residency in a field you are interested in. As you probably know, USC has a strong alumni network which helps when placing into these residencies. Also, I was told during my visit that often times where you do your residency will often dictate where you end up working, no matter where your degree is from.

Another part of the USC program that I really liked was their different opportunities to satisfy unit requirements: classes in Sacramento, intensive classes (course meets for eight hours a day over two weekends and your done) and regular course schedule like undergrad (typically once a week for three hours).

I am finding that with so many different types of programs out there offering the same degree, it is important to find the style of program that best fits your needs. I hope this helps and good luck in your search.