Doctoral in Healthcare Management

What is healthcare management?
Literally every American at one point or another in their lives may find themselves in the need of healthcare . Millions of people are employed in the healthcare and social assistance sector for providing care to millions of patients every day. Across the healthcare industry, there is an increased effort on improving the quality of healthcare while cutting down costs and increasing overall profitability to maintain sustained growth. Healthcare managers are called upon to take the lead this effort and to perform a wide range of administrative duties at healthcare facilities.

How can I obtain a doctorate of healthcare management?
If you have at least a bachelor's degree in healthcare or a related field, you can potentially become eligible for enrollment into a doctoral degree program in healthcare management. The program includes a core curriculum based around biostatistics, strategic planning, ethics, medical law, public health and medical sociology. This is followed by healthcare related research, upon the completion of which the candidates present their findings to a panel of senior professors and scholars. This may be followed by a dissertation on a public forum where the research is critiqued and questioned by peers. Once the research has been approved and the dissertation process completed, students should technically be awarded their doctorate degree in healthcare management.

What are the career opportunities like?
The healthcare industry is growing to accommodate the rapidly increasing elderly population in the country. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that professionals working in medical administration, such as medical and health service managers had a median annual pay of $92,810 in May 2014. A doctoral degree of healthcare management is a smart choice at this time, and opens up a number of opportunities at graduate schools, large hospitals, government agencies, international healthcare organizations and research institutes.