If you would like a career in the medical field but don’t want to be a doctor or a nurse, then healthcare administration is an excellent field to consider. Healthcare administration is more to do with the business of healthcare rather than being directly involved with patient care. Just having a bachelor’s degree is sufficient to start working as a healthcare administrator; however, you must consider a master’s degree if you want to qualify for a top position in the field. A postgraduate degree in healthcare administration will help you advance your career into roles where you can take of greater responsibility.
There are several options for master’s degrees in healthcare administration and understanding the difference between an MPH vs MHA degree can help you determine which is the better option for you.
What Are They?
MHA
An MHA (Master of Health Administration) program teaches you how to manage healthcare organizations such as hospitals, clinics, nursing facilities, etc. The coursework enables you to study the core principles of how to run and manage a business. Once you learn the foundational concepts and skills, you can then apply these concepts in a healthcare environment.
MPH
An MPH (Master of Public Health) program educates you to investigate health-related issues within a specific population. This essentially involves studying the techniques that enable you to distinguish disease patterns within communities. You also learn about how to respond to these diseases by designing community health programs and implementing them with the objective of solving targeted health-related issues of various populations.
Coursework and Curriculum Focus
If you are interested in pursuing a degree program which emphasizes a wide range of healthcare leadership opportunities, then an MHA program is an ideal choice. However, if you are looking for a program with an in-depth science curriculum, then an MPH is suitable. While both the MPH and MHA programs are related to healthcare, the curriculum of the MHA degree emphasizes more on the business aspect of healthcare organizations, while the MPH degree focuses on health-related research and the sciences. And, while a student pursuing an MHA program learns and understands how to manage healthcare professionals, the MPH student focuses on learning about diseases, as well as research methods.
MPH
An MPH degree addresses the needs for promoters in the community who are trying to help to develop healthy groups and people. The key focus is preventing illness and disease from occurring rather than treating illnesses or diseases that are already in existence. MPH professionals can help to prevent issues such as epidemics, pandemics, bioterrorism and also help to maintain the safety of the food and water.
MPH is essentially a top degree for those working in public health and is ideal if you want to work in high-level positions in international, federal and state health organizations and in the government. In the MPH program, the main topics include:
- Epidemiology
- Environmental health sciences
- Biostatistics
- Healthcare systems and financing
- Program evaluation
- Social and behavioral aspect of health
- Quantitative and qualitative research methods
- Legal and ethical issues in public health
MHA
An MHA degree, on the other hand, focuses on the operation and administration of healthcare facilities. This program prepares you for a position in the top management in a hospital or healthcare facility and the key focus of the degree is how you can be an effective administrator in a healthcare setting. The program also lays emphasis on how to manage the operations, as well as the finances of a hospital or a healthcare facility.
Some of the topics that are included in the MHA program are:
- Strategic planning and marketing
- Quality management
- Accounting
- Healthcare financial management
- Hospital/ Nursing home administration
- Healthcare administration leadership
Admission Requirements
MHA
For admission to an MHA program, you need a bachelor’s degree; however, the specific subjects do not really matter. You may have to take the GRE for admission into the MHA program and some programs may ask for an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0.
MPH
For an MPH program admission, you must have a bachelor’s degree but the subject is not important. However, several MPH programs require a minimum GPA of 3.0 and programs may also require you to have completed some coursework in calculus or algebra, chemistry, biology and/or statistics.
Career Paths
The MHA and MPH programs prepare you to take on different roles after graduation. Typically, after graduation, an MHA graduate can get a job as a health service manager or a role that is similar. For an MPH graduate, a more hands-on science-oriented job in an area such as epidemiology is more apt.
Work Environments
MPH and MHA healthcare professionals may work in different work environments. While it is more likely for a healthcare professional with an MHA degree to be working in a leadership position in an office setting of a healthcare facility with a lot of employee interaction, as an MPH professional, you may have the opportunity to work in a wide range of work settings such as hospitals, government healthcare facilities, universities and colleges. And, depending on the specific role, MPH professionals will more likely work in a research or lab facility.
Skills
The curriculum of an MHA program is structured in such a way to help students to build a different professional skill set compared to that of a student pursuing an MPH program. If you are more competent in decision making, communication and leadership, then you may be more suitable for an MHA degree. However, if you excel at conducting research, evaluating statistics and analysis, then you would do better in an MPH program.
When you are making the decision of MPH vs MHA, you should keep in mind that both programs offer valuable skills which can be put to use in many different and unique occupations. And, if you are considering advanced education options, then you should choose a program that complements your skill sets.
Job Outlook and Salary
MHA
There is expected to be tremendous growth in careers related to healthcare administration as this field is growing by leaps and bounds. This can be especially attributed to the introduction of new healthcare programs. The expected job growth for careers that require an MHA degree is around 22% and the median salary for healthcare administrators is around $96,000 per annum.
MPH
Careers in MPH are also on the rise and this is mainly due to the increased costs of healthcare and prevention is a more cost-effective option compared to treatment of huge populations. The salaries of MPH professionals vary widely because there are a wide variety of specialties. For example, if you’re working for a government agency, you can earn a median salary of around $136,000; however, for working in a college, the salary median is around $61,000. MPH professionals who are in jobs related to developing materials for mass dissemination or in healthcare education can earn a median salary of around $86,000 and professionals working with pharma companies earn much higher salaries.
Wrap-Up
So, now that you have all the information about MPH vs MHA, you will be in a better position to make a choice between the two programs. If you are passionate about working on issues related to public health problems and you want to find solutions for them, then choosing an MPH program is ideal. However, if your interests lie in the general administration, management and finances of a healthcare organization or facility, then an MHA program will probably be a better fit for you.