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anyone go from PA to MBA?


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I have thought of it!

 

I think I would enjoy a managerial position someday, and would also enjoy some more formalized learning and perhaps another degree. I think learning some business management would help to round me out as a career person as well.

 

What has kept me from truly pursuing this? In all honesty, its salary. Now, I haven't done much research and I do appreciate that MBAs can make relatively good money, but I haven't seen many other careers where one can make 90-100K 3 years out of training (as can some PAs). I may stand corrected though (?)

 

For me, as much as I'd love to look into an MBA, right now the benefits of continuing working as a PA outweigh switching fields. I would love to learn more about potential positions/job duties/salaries one can have with an MBA in HC Mgmt though!

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I want to do it later in life, although my only goal now is PA school. There is a school that does a 3 year program, 1 year of MBA 2 of PA and both degrees at the end of it. There are also several Master of Public Health (MPH)/PA programs. Health care infrastructure is really interesting. Pretty sure there is a ton of room for growth because you have MBAs in health care already making more than a PA and they don't come close to the clinical and practical knowledge of a PA.

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The earning potential is much, much more than a PA. Maybe not quite at first but there are a few MBA's that I know who work in healthcare and their first job out of school was 100K+

My mind tends to gravitate toward the business side of the practice so it seems like a great fit to me

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I went from MBA to PA. Here is my two cents. You do not need an MBA for health care. An MHA is a better way to set yourself up for success in the health care management arena. Unless you want to work for a business. I have an MBA from a top 20 school and have worked on the business end of health care in the past. Hospitals are kind of like businesses, but not really. In course work for an MBA program the amount of relative studies to the health care provider side of the industry will be slim. On the other hand if you go work for a company like JNJ it would be very relevant.

 

Additionally, unlike PA school where once you pass the board exam it generally doesn't matter what school you attended. If you attend an MBA program the name is everything! If you don't get into a top 25-30 MBA program then it is not worth even going to school. My wife is a senior manager for one of the larger companies in America and they only look at top 15 programs. One thing that may work to your advantage is that when I attended the MBA program I never heard anyone who wanted to work for a health care organization (hospital, system, etc.). This might be due to lower pay as most hospitals have very low margins and don't make much profit relative to businesses.

 

Just to put salary expectations into some perspective. I have a friend who worked for JNJ and then moved into the health care provider side taking a job for Mayo (family reasons). She is on the Mayo foundation level and does contracts for the entire system dealing with the VP's and higher ups of the device and pharma industry. There is only one of her in all Mayo and she is not in an entry level just get out of MBA school position. Her pay decreased when she took the job and last time we spoke it was just a little over six figures. I know she was making around 150k at JNJ. Just something to ponder.

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From http://www.mymbacareer.com/mba-facts/mba-salary.html

 

Average MBA

 

Health Care – $111,477

 

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MHA http://masterofhealthadministration.com/mha-masters-of-health-administration-average-salary/

 

While median annuals earnings of wage and salary medical and health services managers were $73,340 in May 2006, the highest ten percent earned more than $127,830 per year, according to the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hospitals paid the highest salaries, and home health care services offered the lowest salaries at $66,720 median annual salary.

 

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How does the actual job role differ?

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I've got an MBA and went to PA school. Never used the MBA, I worked as a bodyguard with it... I'm a new graduate and unfortunately had several people call about doing a combination of office management and patient care when all I couldn't care less about the office management part of the job.

If you have a solid medical background and know what you want after the MBA, it will help, but don't use it because you think it will get you ahead in medicine because it probably won't. I would say that it might be a great way to move into management in a medical setting, but be sure you don't want to see patients anymore.

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Just as jwallac4 said, an MBA, or an MHA/MPA/MPH in health management from a lower ranked school will not open many doors for you if one is seeking administrative opportunities. The exceptions are of course for those already in management who only want the degree to go further up the chain. Someone in a clinical role with no administrative duties or experience may want to think twice before enrolling in a convenient local program or online program.

 

Yes, the salary potential is much higher for someone with a respected health management degree. However many of these programs are not tailored to, or well suited, to the hours of a PA or other medical professional. I believe there are only three CAHME accredited "executive style" programs, these are Columbia's E-MPH in health care management, UMinnesota's E-MHA, and UCLA's E-MPH in health services management.

 

familygal to answer your question, with my clinical experience and after obtaining my graduate degree I plan to work initially as a healthcare consultant for a firm such as Deloitte or Navigant that has a strong healthcare/life science practice and research institute. I want to help hospitals improve performance, decrease costs, implement HIT, etc. I was a pre-PA, but the things I've witnessed over the last 8 yrs working in various hospitals (3 of those as a RRT) made me realize I want to improve the quality and delivery of health services. That led to researching business degrees and after realizing that a non-top 30 MBA isn't worth the money, I looked into MHA programs which have less stringent work experience requirements (kind of like the old school PA program versus the newer ones popping out.)

 

Many hospitals and hospital systems have what are called administrative fellowships which, just like PA fellowships, are a one year program where you are paid to learn. Fellows usually work on projects or are rotation based and work closely with the CEO, VPs, etc. Most fellows are offered an entry/mid or even director level position at the end of the fellowship. The fellows salary is typically the same offered to a first year medical resident.

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VentJock, I'm glad to see you're still around. I appreciate when those who are/were regulars on the board and have shifted paths(Firemedic, I think this includes you) share your stories and stay involved. It makes the forum feel friendlier and more welcoming, as well as a worthwhile tool for learning and sharing. Thank you.

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VentJock, I'm glad to see you're still around. I appreciate when those who are/were regulars on the board and have shifted paths(Firemedic, I think this includes you) share your stories and stay involved. It makes the forum feel friendlier and more welcoming, as well as a worthwhile tool for learning and sharing. Thank you.

 

Agree- I think we all benefit from this diversity.....

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm not a PA, I'm a respiratory therapist and yes I plan to leave the clinical side, however I'll still keep my credentials just in case. I plan on "re-branding" myself during school. So instead of finding a cushy nice paying PRN RT job while in school, I'll take a low paying administrative internship in order to build up experience. I'm hoping to land a summer internship with a health care consulting firm and usually at the end if one performs well one is offered a FT position upon graduation.

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I'm not a PA, I'm a respiratory therapist and yes I plan to leave the clinical side, however I'll still keep my credentials just in case. I plan on "re-branding" myself during school. So instead of finding a cushy nice paying PRN RT job while in school, I'll take a low paying administrative internship in order to build up experience. I'm hoping to land a summer internship with a health care consulting firm and usually at the end if one performs well one is offered a FT position upon graduation.

 

Vent, if you are able, here at Mayo, we have an Administrative Fellows Program. You might want to look into it.

 

I myself, am finishing my DHSc, and am moving into an administrative and research career track. I'm pretty involved with senior and executive leadership here, but from a PA perspective. IN order for me to make the transition into administration here, you need the street cred. Looking at moving into an Operations Manager position, which is considered here to be a "junior" administrator if you will. I'd be practicing part time in primary care, and be the Ops Manager for the entire Division (Peds, Family Med, PCIM)....I'm hoping to talking them into giving me a research component too. 0.4 Clinical...0.4 Administrative...and 0.2 Research.....

 

I'd be a happy boy.....

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I have an MHA and have been working in hospital administration for 10 years (Multi-Hospital Health System VP and CIO). I applied to a PA program last year and was wait listed due to prerequisites pending completion and plan to reapply this year.

 

MHA, MBA whatever you have ... there are jobs everywhere in healthcare administration. The question is, what do you enjoy doing. Personally I got fed up with dragging my rear into work everyday to cut staff and close community programs to offset reduced federal and state reimbursements, or chasing the doctors who are constantly pitting you against the hospital across town over a few thousand dollars worth of off the books reimbursement (they have a new scopes or a new CT/MRI etc)... honestly it's never ending.

 

Now, conversely, some of the best executives I've worked with are physicians and other credentialed care givers I just for the life of me cannot imagine why they look forward to that sort of punishment and displeasure on a daily basis.

 

my 2 cents.

 

JD

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I started PA school with an MBA and extensive experience in the pharma industry. Is anyone aware of quasi-clinical opportunities for PAs in pharma, biotech, med device, or home healthcare technology companies? I graduate next year and was thinking of emergency medicine and perhaps doing some work with industry as well, especially in the rapidly growing home healthcare technology area.

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  • 1 year later...
Vent, if you are able, here at Mayo, we have an Administrative Fellows Program. You might want to look into it.

 

I myself, am finishing my DHSc, and am moving into an administrative and research career track. I'm pretty involved with senior and executive leadership here, but from a PA perspective. IN order for me to make the transition into administration here, you need the street cred. Looking at moving into an Operations Manager position, which is considered here to be a "junior" administrator if you will. I'd be practicing part time in primary care, and be the Ops Manager for the entire Division (Peds, Family Med, PCIM)....I'm hoping to talking them into giving me a research component too. 0.4 Clinical...0.4 Administrative...and 0.2 Research.....

 

I'd be a happy boy.....

 

Small world. I will be getting flown out to Mayo Clinic next month for an on-site interview for the Business Consulting Fellowship Program (slightly different from the general administrative fellowship program). http://www.mayoclinic.org/train-sp-rst/index.html

 

I haven't had my itinerary confirmed, but I'd love to chat in person to learn more about the institution and the culture there. I should be arriving November 18th in the evening and my interview will be the 19th.

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Thank-you for this excellent thread. I think there is a great opportunity for PAs to step up in leadership positions in healthcare. There are some great examples of this around the country. I think what we are getting at is how do you gain the knowledge, skills, and credibility to step in. My perspective is that it comes to experience and education.

 

You are covering the education aspect of it well. I don't have much to add. However in regards to experience, I continue to be a proponent of PAs becoming active in our associations. You work to improve the profession, you gain a professional network, and you get experience solving real world problems.

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Small world. I will be getting flown out to Mayo Clinic next month for an on-site interview for the Business Consulting Fellowship Program (slightly different from the general administrative fellowship program). http://www.mayoclinic.org/train-sp-rst/index.html

 

I haven't had my itinerary confirmed, but I'd love to chat in person to learn more about the institution and the culture there. I should be arriving November 18th in the evening and my interview will be the 19th.

 

Sure, we could maybe meet, PM me with details.

 

Mike

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