As the US healthcare industry continues to grow, there is an ever-increasing need for professionals who can steer it towards continued success, and ensure that there is no compromise on the quality of services being offered to patients. There is also a need for professionals who can develop proper policies to manage healthcare facilities, and encourage research in new avenues of medicine. If you are interested in a career in this field, you will need formal training. This can potentially be acquired through health services degrees.
What Do I Learn in Health Service Programs?
Students who sign up for programs in health services will be trained in the art of overall management of the field. They will learn how to develop policies which encourage healthy behavior and improve healthcare practices. They will also learn how to manage finances and delegate responsibility to the staff in order to streamline the hospital's functions. At an undergraduate level, health services degrees will equip you with the basic skills needed to obtain an entry-level job. This will involve building a sense of management within a healthcare facility, and learning how to organize it better. In many ways, administrative duties for a hospital are the same as the ones related to a business. The emphasis of degrees in health services is to help you apply these generic principles in a particular system.
Graduate and doctoral level health services degrees are available to those students who wish to extend their learning and assume more senior roles in the workplace. These degrees will take students through more rigorous curriculums, designed to help sharpen their managerial skills. Simultaneously, these degrees will make students become aware of the latest practices in the field, and how to incorporate them into your own professional ethics. Doctoral degrees will allow students the opportunity to research into a particular area of health services. They may evaluate the efficiency of existing practices, and test new models to manage hospitals and other healthcare facilities. These programs are aimed at making individuals better policy and decision makers.
The range and types of courses vary depending on the level of degree as well as the institute that you're enrolled in. Some courses that you may take up include:
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Health Policy Research
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Advanced Health Services
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Community Oriented Public Health
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Managing Health Care Organizations
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Health Economics
What Kinds of Jobs Are Available?
Individuals with health services qualifications under their belt can potentially gain employment in a variety of fields. You can choose to work with hospital administration boards, helping develop better management practices to improve the quality of services. You can also work for the government's health department and play a crucial part in developing better healthcare policies for the general population. In 2012, health service managers earned a median wage of $88,580 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to a list compiled by Forbes Magazine, a health care master's degree is among the top-ten best master's degree for qualifying for jobs in the US.
Online Health Services Degrees
Online degrees in health services are also available to students who wish to take them up. These online degrees offer a convenient and cost-effective method of acquiring your education while receiving the same benefits as a traditional degree. Students in online programs have access to learning materials through a virtual system. They can work through the lectures at their own convenience and at any time. For professionals currently in the field looking for a convenient way to get additional credentials, online degrees are an excellent option. You can easily accommodate them in your current schedule, without any major changes to your lifestyle.