Selecting between an MBA or Executive MHA depends on your long-term career goals. An MBA with a healthcare specialization skims the surface of the topic while imparting skills required in other industries. Executive MHA graduates are ready to handle strategic planning and day-to-day leadership in healthcare because of their focus on industry trends.
Building In-Demand Skills with an Executive MHA
The decision on whether to choose an MBA or Executive MHA rests in part on what skills you need for your desired career path. MBA in healthcare graduates develop competencies in major areas of the business world, often with a focus on healthcare The typical MBA curriculum includes courses like:
- Accounting
- Business Ethics
- Finance
- Operations Management
- Organizational Behaviour
These skills don’t fit perfectly into most healthcare careers even if they overlap with some areas of administration. Executive MHA candidates learn from experienced faculty and visiting industry experts how to lead in a constantly changing field. Practitioner and patient expectations of healthcare experiences reveal skills met by Executive MHA curricula.
The Tools for Success in Health Administration Careers
The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) observed and surveyed 35,000 healthcare professionals to find out which skills are necessary for success. This research revealed the following five skills that are most important for healthcare leadership:
- Leading Employees
- Resourcefulness
- Straightforwardness and Composure
- Change Management
- Participative Management
Healthcare leaders need to quickly adjust to changing conditions while engaging their teams. These skills prove invaluable when addressing the health needs of their patients and clients. Ipsos Reid found the following expectations of Canadians for their healthcare experiences:
- 84% of respondents held higher expectations of healthcare than other public services
- 82% of respondents expected to use health resources more within the next decade
- 75% of respondents saw the Canadian health system as one of the best in the world
In short, Canadians expect their health services to be the best of the best. MBA programs, even with a healthcare specialization, focus on success in business settings without spending a lot of time on what it takes to succeed in healthcare. Executive MHA graduates are best prepared to make data-driven decisions on service innovations and improvements.
Executive MHA Career Paths and Candidates
The ideal candidates for an Executive MHA program are experienced managers and practitioners who want to stay ahead of industry changes. There isn’t a single Executive MHA career path because graduates complete research and practical experiences that work in multiple areas. Your ideal Executive MHA career path also depends on your starting point.
Specialists and private-practice doctors interested in improving or expanding their businesses benefit from Executive MHA degrees. Running a practice is made easier with the tools and management lessons taught by Executive MHA programs. With this degree in hand, doctors combine advanced leadership skills with their clinical acumen.
The Executive MHA degree prepares experienced managers for executive roles at hospital systems. Professionals in the pharmaceutical and medical supply industries also use Executive MHA degrees to move up the ladder. Executive MHA programs are particularly useful because candidates network with experienced colleagues.
Canada’s healthcare system relies on knowledgeable administrators at the provincial, territorial, and federal levels. Executive MHA courses focus on health technology, analytics, and policies that aren’t covered by MBA programs, even those with a healthcare specialization. Public-sector managers and leaders of government-supported care providers use these lessons to better serve the public.
The Lasting Value of an Executive MHA Degree
Anyone considering an MBA or Executive MHA to advance their healthcare career has to consider the return on their investment. An oft-used measurement of ROI for graduate degrees is salary. For example, the Economic Research Institute (ERI) lists an average salary of $139,006 for hospital executives in Canada.
Salary is an important measure of a degree’s value but it isn’t the only consideration. Healthcare professionals entered the field because they want to improve patients’ health. As they rise through the ranks, they can also empower their teams toward improved outcomes.
Various studies have found that high-quality leadership can not only increase employee satisfaction but patient outcomes. A 2017 review in Healthcare summarized how leaders can use experience and education to achieve these improvements:
“Health care organizations need to ensure technical and professional expertise, build capacity, and organizational culture, and balance leadership priorities and existing skills in order to improve quality indicators in health care and move a step forward.”
Patient and employee satisfaction are critical elements of measuring success in leadership. Executive MHA graduates also achieve satisfaction with their own careers when they reach executive positions.
Advancing Your Executive MHA Career Path at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa
An Executive MHA program turns experienced healthcare professionals into forward-thinking industry leaders. The choice between an MBA or an Executive MHA is now clear; now it is time to find the best program for your needs. The Telfer School of Management (Telfer) offers the first and only Executive MHA in Canada.
Telfer produces data-driven innovators through its online Executive MHA program. Your courses at Telfer touch on themes essential in today’s healthcare industry including:
- Data Analytics and Information Technology
- Healthcare Systems and Policy
- Innovation and Change in Healthcare
- Leadership and Management
Online Telfer Executive MHA graduates stand apart from the competition thanks to Telfer’s national reputation. The school holds accreditations from venerable institutions like the Association for MBAs and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
Telfer offers an on-campus capstone session and virtual workshops with industry experts to create a unique online Executive MHA experience. This innovative program combines advanced research with real-world lessons to produce well-rounded healthcare leaders.
Find out more about Telfer’s online Executive Master in Health Administration today.
