Transitioning out of Healthcare Management

[Saranda90]

Hello,

I am almost completed with my undergrad at NYU for Healthcare Management. I'm not sure if this is what I want to be doing. I currently work in an office setting, and I want to do something that is more involved with people or more along the clinical side. Any ideas of what I would be able to complete my master's in which would not be difficult to get into with a healthcare management background?

[bjcheung77]

When you refer to "more along the clinical side", what does that mean? Are you wanting to be in the Allied Health field instead of Health Care Management or do you want to work in a clinical lab setting, or do you want to interact with more staff and patients?

As per this webpage, Clinical Manager might be a good fit. It just requires an MBA Healthcare Management or a Masters in Public Health. http://www.healthcare-administration-deg...aq/1036-2/

If you want a change to Allied Health or do more hands on clinical work, it's going to require extra training and education in that field, example medical lab technologist or nursing, you'll have to take a ML or nursing program and then get your state licensure.

[sanantone]

I can't think of anything that you can easily transition to other than an MPH with an emphasis in Epidemiology. Just a plain MPH is mainly policy, but you might be able to use the degree to interact with the community educating them. Other master's degrees that will have you working with patients will pretty much make your master's and healthcare management experience useless. You'll be in the same place as someone with a bachelor's degree and no experience. You'll need to complete science prerequisites and shadow. Some master's level programs are difficult to get into without any clinical experience; that's why many aspiring physician assistants work as EMTs, CNAs, and medical assistants.

Here are some healthcare careers that can be started with a master's degree.

Occupational Therapist
Nurse Practitioner (you'll need a direct or alternate entry program)
Physician Assistant
Speech Language Pathologist
Athletic Trainer (this only require's a bachelor's degree, but I think there are direct entry master's programs)
Mental Health Counselor
Marriage and Family Therapist
Social Worker
Psychological Assistant/Technician/Examiner/Associate
Genetic Counselor
Orthotist or Prosthetist
Acupuncturist
Occupational Safety and Health (only requires a bachelor's, but there are master's programs)
Dietitian/Nutritionist (only requires a bachelor's, but there are direct entry master's programs)
Medical Physicist 

Becoming a physical therapist requires a doctorate, but the training is about as long as some of the master's programs I listed above.

Since you already have a degree in healthcare management, you don't need another degree to become a clinical manager. If you want something more scientific, consider getting a master's in clinical trials management/administration or clinical research management/administration.

[cardiacclep]

Hello,

I am almost completed with my undergrad at NYU for Healthcare Management. I'm not sure if this is what I want to be doing. I currently work in an office setting, and I want to do something that is more involved with people or more along the clinical side. Any ideas of what I would be able to complete my master's in which would not be difficult to get into with a healthcare management background?

Clinical side is a broad term. I am assuming you want a professional masters so things like PA, Occupational therapist, Physical therapy are on the table provided you complete the prereqs with good grades but  usually are 2 to 3 year fulltime programs and rarely cheap . Beyond that, clinical can mean anything like cath lab tech, ultrasound tech or RN. With a bachelors, you can complete a one years accelerated RN program at some schools. Bonus, is once you get burned out you can transition back to management easier than a pure clinical.

[cookderosa]

Hello,

I am almost completed with my undergrad at NYU for Healthcare Management. I'm not sure if this is what I want to be doing. I currently work in an office setting, and I want to do something that is more involved with people or more along the clinical side. Any ideas of what I would be able to complete my master's in which would not be difficult to get into with a healthcare management background?

Knowing what you spent to get the degree your getting, my suggestion is to spend a lot of time doing job shadows, interning, interviewing employees, and researching before signing up for a masters that you may or may not want to even do.

I'm not being critical, I'm being serious. Generally, the undergrad part of the degree is the part you can do for pennies on the dollar- grad school is expensive and specialized, and assumes a foundation.
Clinical work, in almost every field, requires significant 100/200 level sciences. Your core (if this is the same program http://www.scps.nyu.edu/academics/depart...ed_Courses) is mainly in business. So, are you thinking you want to go back and do something like earn an RN? Or are you thinking you want to shift to something like medical school? A lot of the occupations on Sanantone's list require a state license, which will mean strict parameters around the school you choose and the degree you earn. Honestly, I suggest taking some time off to decide before re-enrolling. But that's just my opinion, there are other good suggestions here too.