Big Sky Times

What can you do with an associate degree in healthcare administration?

Healthcare administration is one of the fastest growing fields in healthcare, with administrators finding jobs in hospitals, clinics, private practice, and specialty care facilities nationwide. Since healthcare administrators are so dynamic, their skills can be applied across various disciplines, including finance, human resources, information technology, medical records management, and more. With varying degree levels and specializations, you can turn a two-year degree into a rewarding career in many ways.

While degrees in healthcare administration are offered at the associate, bachelor, and master’s degree levels – breaking into the healthcare administration field does not require an advanced level of schooling. With a two-year degree in healthcare administration, you can start your career faster, preparing yourself for additional academic and vocational growth opportunities.

Start Your Career Faster

With associates in healthcare administration, you can break into a rewarding career in healthcare faster and without additional schooling. An associate’s degree is ideal for students interested in a career in healthcare administration but unsure which discipline or concentration they wish to pursue. A two-year degree prepares these students for entry-level healthcare administration roles, exposing them to many different career paths and opportunities within the discipline. Career paths can include:

• Dental Assisting
• Medical Assisting
• Department manager
• Office finance and accounting
• Medical billing
• Medical records management
• Health information technicians
• Cardiovascular Technicians & more

Gain Real-World Experience

While most healthcare administration careers require some form of formal education, more and more employers are turning toward work experience as a supplement or substitute to formal education. Gaining real-world experience shows employers that you can hold your own in the field and are experienced and adaptable enough to integrate into a team or department and execute your daily task.

In addition to building real-world experience, the exposure gained while working an entry-level healthcare administration job will help you prepare for future educational endeavors. Returning to school for a more advanced degree in a specific field can help you narrow down specific areas you want to pursue, help you better understand the material, and help you retroactively apply the things you learn to your current positions – putting your skills to the test beyond the classroom setting. With an associates degree, you will learn a variety of skills that will serve you in building valuable job experience, including:

• Healthcare Industry Knowledge
• Leadership
• Critical Thinking
• Relationship Management
• Ethical Judgement
• Communication
• Human Resources for Healthcare
• Legal Issues for Healthcare

Springboard Into Advanced Degrees

While entry-level positions in healthcare administration may expose you to different career paths, many advanced and senior-level positions will require additional education credentials that work experience cannot provide. With an associate in healthcare administration, you will be prepared to return to school for your bachelor’s degree – a critical step for obtaining a graduate degree.

An advanced degree can help you climb the ladder to more senior-level positions and open the door to new and exciting opportunities for academic and professional certificates that can be applied to your degree for advancement in a particular topic, subject area, or concentration.

Become a Healthcare Administrator At The University of Providence

From associate to graduate – The University of Providence can prepare you for all levels of healthcare administration education. With our associate, bachelor, and master’s level programs – our students are set on a path of continued success throughout all levels and course offerings.

Since courses build upon each other, following UPs healthcare administration track can help ease the burden of worrying about credit transfers, course levels and repeat information. Starting at the associate’s level – you can return to UP for a bachelor’s and master’s degree knowing you will receive the same mission-focused, quality education designed for working professionals.

Not looking to get another degree? Our academic certificate programs offer a well-rounded, guided approach to specific topics and focus areas that can be used to supplement a healthcare administration degree. For those interested in health information services and storytelling with data – the Applied Health Informatics Certificate can provide a shorter, less-expensive way to climb the informatics and health information technology career ladder. For those who choose to advance to a bachelor’s degree level, academic certificates in Community Health Investment and Health Justice break into emerging healthcare fields that focus on the social drivers of health, social justice, and equity of care.

With a two-year degree in healthcare administration, you can enter an entry-level career that can serve as a springboard for new and exciting academic and educational growth opportunities. Explore the University of Providence’s healthcare administration programs to learn more about our degrees, academic certificates, and how our program’s mission-focused programs are preparing future administrators.

Original source can be found here.