If you want to be in health care but maybe not be a doctor, nurse or physician assistant, you may want to consider a master’s degree for health care executives.
At California State University Long Beach (CSULB), their Accelerated Health Care Administration (HCA) master’s degree program is one of four Commission on Accreditation Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) accredited programs in the state and the only M.S. degree amongst these programs.
“Our graduates are employed primarily in hospitals and networks and HMOs with a small number of them working at public health facilities, clinics and physician practices,” said Tony Sinay, professor and chair of the Department of Health Care Administration at CSULB. “Although this is a relatively new program, just started in 2004, these graduates are already holding highly desirable positions to increase the visibility of the HCA program.”
The CSULB program already has built a solid reputation. In fact, it was recently ranked 19th in the nation by Modern Health Care on its list of Top Business Graduate Schools for Physician Executives. The only California institution ranked higher was San Diego State and UCLA. Modern Healthcare is a weekly business publication delivering news and information to executives in the healthcare industry.
“Our accelerated master’s degree program in health care administration draws applicants primarily from hospitals and networks, HMOs, public health facilities, and clinics and physician practices. In addition to physicians, nurses and other clinicians, the program admits a large number of management staff, which includes senior members of management teams in local health care organizations,” said Sinay.
Developed by a team of faculty and health care professionals, the CSULB program is designed to prepare students for administrative positions in hospitals, managed care organizations, mental health and long-term care settings, multi-institutional system central offices, governmental health agencies, and other health related organizations.
Subject areas include the analysis of the U.S. health care system, management and organizational behavior of health care organizations, economic and financial aspects of health administration, strategic planning and marketing, public policy, and ethical and legal aspects of health care management. The curriculum combines online and face-to-face weekend instruction which allows students to juggle work and integrate professional experiences into their academic studies.
“I am the administrator at Association of South Bay Surgeons in Torrance. We are a group of 15 general, vascular, and bariatric surgeons,” said Jenny Tomka, as student in the program. “I manage over 60 employees in four locations and am responsible for the daily operations of our company. Additionally, I oversee all HR, credentialing, payroll, and IT functions for the office.”
“My experience in the CSULB Health Care Administration Program has exceeded all of my expectations. I find the most beneficial aspect is the fact that many of the professors are currently working in the field. The classes we are taking are current and with the state of the healthcare industry changing rapidly, the fact that our professors are on the front lines gives us an advantage over other programs,” she continued, said Tomka.
“The other factor that has made a difference for me is the breadth of the education we are exposed to. The program covers every aspect of health care administration from finance to IT to management of people. The wealth of information provided makes me feel prepared to enter into any area of health care,” she continued.
For more information contact Natalie Whitehouse-Capuano, the accelerated program coordinator at (562) 985-5414 or by email at natalie.whitehouse-capuano@csulb.edu or contact Deby McGill, the health care department coordinator at (562) 985-5694 or email at deby.mcgill@csulb.edu.
“When I complete the program I hope to continue on my current path as an administrator of a private practice. I plan to use the education I have received at CSULB to support my daily experiences and challenges. I know I have more knowledge to offer any employer I work for because of the CSULB healthcare administration program,” said Tomka.
CAHME, an interdisciplinary group of educational, professional, clinical, and commercial organizations is devoted to accountability and quality improvement of education for healthcare management and administration professionals. CAHME serves the public by promoting, evaluating, and improving the quality of graduate health care management education in the United States and Canada.
It is the only organization recognized to grant accreditation to individual academic programs offering a professional master's degree in health care management education and is recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education for programs and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation.
Students entering CAHME accredited programs are assured of appropriate content, high standards of quality, and membership in a network of professional colleagues that transcends boundaries of universities and professional associations and colleges.
