Graduate Health Administration Students from MeHarry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee. 

Michael has a college degree in multi-disciplinary health care programming. This specialty is usually a part of a public health program. Most students think of public health programs as one strictly for doctors and nurses. But it is really one of the most dynamic and expansive fields with a wide range of multi-disciplinary opportunities leading to careers in health care. Michael himself has two years of graduate study, a one-year administrative fellowship, and participation in seven national health care educational conferences. He acquired his present position after networking with a hundred health care administrators, mailing over 200 resumes and five interviews. He is now one of a handful of African Americans in health care management. His organization has 5,000 health care employees. 

Although health care is a multibillion dollar industry, and African Americans constitute a major patient population for many of the country's 5,500 health care facilities, only 16% of the nation's five million hospital workers are Black. Nevertheless, the viability of a career in health care for African Americans hinges on their ability to continuously elevate their skills and adjust to the daily mutations of a field that changes more rapidly than any other. 

Trends of the Market 

According to the Bureau of Census, the number of Americans 65 and older will increase from 31 million in 1990 to 40 million by the year 2010, a 29% increase in 20 years. The 85 and older age group between the years 2000-2010 will experience growth of 33.2%. As the average age of the U.S. population increases, the need for quality health care organizations and well trained care givers will increase. Because of this rapid growth, changes in the field are focused on where health care is delivered and how it is financed. These changes are being driven by an increase in the number of managed health care providers. Besides traditional hospitals and hospital systems, entry-level positions can be found in settings such as the following: home health care organizations, nursing homes, consulting firms, ambulatory care facilities, mental health organizations and medical group practices. Students unfamiliar with health care as an industry may not know that every educational discipline is needed in most major health care organizations.  

Medical Technology 

As an advanced undergraduate students majoring in medical technology you should be looking at starting your careers in a large medical facility, probably one in a large city. You should definitely concentrate on your next step as soon as you start working is the field. Medical technology in a field that has been on the chopping block in health care, even though health care is expanding rapidly. Medical technologists are being looked at as four-year degree specialists doing work that two-year technology graduates from junior colleges or technical schools do well. So medical technologists with four-year degrees should be trying to get into the field through experience: a year or two of volunteer work at some hospital in their area. Even now, you should be thinking about graduate school. If you want to stay in health care, you will need a master's in business or health administration. A degree in one of these two areas will enable you to become a manager of a laboratory or a manager of a small out-patient facility such as a community health center or an ambulatory center in a larger network. Medical technologists with four-year degrees are on the high end of the areas that are being cut by health care facilities. 

Nursing 

Nursing in the near future eight to ten years is one of the fastest and strongest growing fields of any profession today. The demand for nurses has increased, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Recently the Department of Labor named nursing as one of the most demanded careers by the year 2005. There will be double digit growth in nursing jobs in the year 2005 and that will be in all areas of the country. Health care agencies in major cities will be looking for nurses, especially for African Americans in nursing. Some of the hot cities are Raleigh, NC, St. Paul, MN, Charlottesville, VA, Columbia, MS, and Honolulu, HI. In 1995, minorities made up about 20% of all the nurses with bachelor's degrees, and approximately 12% of the nurses with master's degrees were African Americans. If you are interested in nursing, you should definitely look at areas in any part of the country that African Americans and other minorities are moving into. These are the quickest growing areas for African Americans in nursing. Population diversity is driving nursing and health care facilities to hire African Americans. In the past, suburban hospitals that administered to Anglo-whites who made up the communities surrounding the hospitals are now recruiting and hiring a lot of African-American nurses because, with the growing African-American middle class, African Americans are moving out to suburban areas. Hospitals in these areas must diversify. Those are some of the trends that continue to indicate that nursing is a very promising field for African Americans. 

You should consider graduate school if you want to advance in health care. In Texas, as of January 1, 1998, nurse practitioners may have provider numbers and be billed for their services independent of doctors. With billing numbers, independent nurse providers can offer their own services. These nurses are going to be highly sought after, in Texas and other states because nurses can provide some of the care that doctors now provide, cheaper. Independent nurse providers offer cost-cutting measures for insurance agencies. Nurse practitioners will be the providers for ambulatory centers and community health centers and so forth. Nurses will be filling the gap by providing primary care, which is the focus of health care at this point, to all of the population. But these are nurses at the master's degree level. Nurses with master's degrees in business are highly sought after. Nurses with clinical backgrounds, business degrees or financial backgrounds will be able to go into operations and management. They will be able to run their own facilities. 
 

Health Care Industry 
Entry Level Salary Ranges 

• Nursing

28,000 - 38,000 
• Nurse Practitioner

45,000 - 55,000 
• Medical Technologist

24,000 - 26,000 
• Social Worker

25,000 - 26,000 
• Accountant

25,000 - 30,000 
• Physical Therapist

35,000 - 42,000 
• Pharmacist

41,000 - 50,000 
• Provider Relations Representative

28,000 - 35,000 
• Operations Manager

30,000 - 39,000

Salaries for beginning positions vary, depending on the type of organization and its location. 

College Preparation for Employment 

In general, what the employers are looking for is universal, for most positions. They look for the following: 

• Academic training/work experience 
• Degree in discipline from an accredited school or program 
• Previous experience, internship, clinical rotations 
• Dependability 
• Commitment to the organization 
• Honesty 
• Maturity 
• Adaptability 
• Social skills 
• Career objectives 
• Leadership

Vincent Sessoms, Contract Specialist with a Medical Care Management Co., a 270,000 plus minority owned health maintenance organization and a former Assistant Administrator for Meharry Hubbard Hospital of Nashville, TN, suggests two steps for a successful entrance into a health care career. First get a good educational background in a field, such as health finance or health economics and get a couple of years of practical experience. Second, go to graduate school, and upon graduation get a health management fellowship with a large health care organization. Sessoms also states that a mentor can be an invaluable asset to success in the health care field.  

Moving Up the ladder 

Advancement for African Americans in health care to the executive ranks of major organizations has been limited, because 20 years ago, most African-American universities did not have undergraduate programs in Health Administration. There were also very few Blacks entering graduate programs in Health Administration. That picture seems to be changing. There are currently undergraduate programs with health management concentrations at Dillard University, Tennessee State University, and Florida A&M University, to name just a few. The Association of University Programs in Health Administration reported in 1996 that of 3,330 students enrolled in the nation's 75 graduate programs 17% were minorities. Currently of the 67 graduate programs accredited by the Accrediting Commission on Education for health Services Adminis-tration (ACESHA), Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN has the only predominately Black program. 

Still today more Blacks need to enter the industry and move up the executive ranks. The Institute of Diversity in Health Management reports that only 1% of Chief Executive Officers at the head of Health Services Organizations are African Americans or minorities. The Institute of Diversity in Health Management was formed in 1991 by the American College of Health Care Executives (ACHE) and the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE) after their study showed that Black executives held fewer Chief Executive 0fficer positions and made a median salary 21% less than that of their white counterparts.  

ACHE, the largest health care management organization and NAHSE, a predominantly African-American health care management organization, have both made strong efforts to advance minorities in the industry. NAHSE, which is based in Silver Spring, MD, sponsors annually 10 academic scholarships to minority students and hosts a graduate student case competition that helps sharpen students' presentation skills as well as offering money to the winners. Both of these events take place at NAHSE's Annual Educational Conference. ACHE offers Albert W. Dent scholarships to help minorities in graduate education. Both organizations have excellent networking opportunities and job listings that are available to members. 

Key Organizations 

• National Association of Health Services Executives 
   8630 Fenton Street 
   Suite 126 
   Silver Srings. MD 20910 
   (202) 628-3953 
   (301) 588-0011 (fax) 

• Accrediting Commission on Education for Health Services Administration 
   1911 North Fort Myer Drive 
   Suite 503 
   Arlington, VA 22209 
   (703) 524-0511 

• American Association of Health Care Consultants 
   11208 Waples Mill Road 
   Suite 109  
   Fairfax, VA 22030 
   (703) 691-2242 

• American College of Healthcare Executives 
   1 North Franklin Street 
   Suite 1700 
   Chicago, IL 60606-3491 
   (312) 424-2800 

• American College of Medical Practice Executives 
   104 Inverness Terrace, East 
   Englewood, CO 80122-5306 
   (303) 799-1111 

• American Organization of Nurse Executives 
   1 North Franklin Street 
   Suite 3400 
   Chicago, IL 60606 
   (312) 422-2800 

• American Public Health Association 
   1015 15th Street North West 
   Suite 300 
   Washington, DC 20005 
   (202) 789-5600