Specifically an MPH, but what would be the difference if I geared more towards Environmental Health more than Behavioral Health? (Any specifics, like differences in course work?) Also, what does a Masters on Health Administration entail (more business geared, I'm assuming)?
Higher Education (University +) - 2 Answers
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1
Order your perspective school's catalogue ... it should give a complete description of the majors. Every program is different so no one can really tell you how the course will be different, specifically except that one will be more focused on the environment and one on behavioral ... you have to read the course requirement descriptions to get a better idea for yourself.
2
This is a BROAD generalization, with many exceptions, of course... but it at least helps you get the gist of it... Those with an MHA are in hospital management. Those with an MPH are in health department managment (or are sworn officers). Within a health department... Those with a transcript which leans more toward environmental heath tend to be concerned with the cleanliness of restaurants, healthcare facilities, water systems, etc. Those with a transcript which leans more toward behavioral health tend to be concerned about things like disease outbreaks in public places, making sure everyone gets their flu shots, etc. Many (but certainly not all) who get an MHA are nurses (RNs). Those who get an MPH with a transcript leaning more toward behavioral health studies also tend to (but certainly need not necessarily) be nurses (RNs) as well. Those who get an MPH with a transcript leaning more toward environmental health are usually not nurses; and in many counties, these people are sworn health department officers... with badges and everything. That said, those on the behavioral health side can be officers with badges, too. It all just depends on how the county's health department is organized, and what the state's law prescribe. An MHA is, indeed, more business -- or, actually, more precisely, more management and administration -- oriented. Think of it as something at least akin (though not precisely the same as) an MBA, only specifically geared toward managing a healthcare entity rather than a business entity. I say that an MHA cannot be precisely thought of that way only because there are actually MBA programs out there which are specifically for people running the purely business aspects of healthcare entities. A person with an MHA will know a little about that area, and a little about the healthcare side of things, too. There's also, FYI, the Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree, which may be thought of as the rough equivalent of an MBA, except specifically geared toward the management of government rather than business. I mention the MPA only because I've just mentioned the MBA, and I just wanted to make it clear that there's a government equivalent of the MBA out there (since we are, after all, talking about both the private and public sectors herein). It's uncommon for someone with an MPA to be in the private sector doing what an MBA normally does; however it is VERY common for someone with an MBA to be working in government (the public sector). I explained it this way, rather than going into specific courses, because my recommendation for how to decide which degree (MHA or MPH) to get should be based on what kind of career you want, not based on the courses you must take to get there. Plus, it's very easy to find any ol' MPH and MHA degree programs on the Internet, download the appropriate college catalog for them (usually as a PDF file), and just look at the courses in the major for each. Hope that helps!
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