Jessica Liang is interested in pursuing a career in health administration. She has relevant leadership experience in campus organizations and possesses skills in communication, human resources, and financial management that are important for the field. Her personality assessment results matched well with the enterprising, conventional, and social traits common for health administrators. She is considering master's programs at MUSC, UNC Chapel Hill, and UNC Charlotte, but prefers MUSC due to its affordable cost and immersive academic medical center environment. Her relevant coursework in microeconomics, accounting, and statistics also prepare her for graduate study in health administration.

1. J E S S I C A L I A N G
Health Administration Career

2. Introduction
 Some skills that are needed for a career in health
administration are human resources management,
financial management, data collection and analysis,
strategic planning, marketing, and maintaining the
morale of your coworkers and employees.1 One must also
be able to intermediate between various professional
groups who practice within the organization. I feel that I
possess these skills from my experience in a wide variety
of leadership positions on campus. As an extrovert, I
have also gained interpersonal communication skills
throughout my life, which I think is key to being a future
healthcare administrator.

3. History of Health Administration
 Early health care administrators were called
“superintendents”1
 Had little training for their job
 Most were nurses who had taken over administrative duties
 In 1933, the first professional association was formed, the
American College of Hospital Administrators (now called the
American College of Healthcare Executives)1
 In 1958, the Sloane program at Cornell in Hospital
Administration was founded as the first 2 year graduate
program1
 In 1968, the Accrediting Commission on Education for Health
Services Administration (ACEHSA) was founded as the
recognized accrediting body for master’s programs in Health
Administration1

4. Data
 Growth Potential: 17% growth from 2014-2024 2
 Salary Range
 Median Range: $76,730 - $99,930 3
 Total Range: $55,890 - $161, 150 3
 Annual Mean Range in South Carolina: $89,220 - $97,710 4
 Other Criteria
 Jobs require at least a Bachelor’s Degree
 However, most jobs prefer a Master’s Degree2

5. MUSC’s Master of Health Administration
Program
 Cost: $9000 per semester (in-state student)5
 Required GPA: 3.0 5
 Required GRE: 50th percentile on verbal and quantitative 5
 Application Deadline: March 1
 No previous work experience required
 I like this program because students can gain exposure to real
world issues and situations since they are surrounded by health
care professionals at an academic medical center such as this.
Students will also get to work on interdisciplinary teams often,
which is similar to what one will experience in the work
environment. In addition, 89% of their recent graduates found a
job within 3 months of graduating.5 So overall, I feel that MUSC’s
MHA program does a great job of preparing their students for life
in the health administration field.

6. UNC Chapel Hill’s Master of Healthcare
Administration Program
 Cost: $16,000 per semester (out of state student)6
 Average Incoming GPA: 3.5 6
 Average Incoming GRE: 74th percentile verbal, 62nd
percentile quantitative 6
 Application Deadline: January 12
 Some relevant work experience is required6
 I like this program because there are a total of 3
semesters of professional training incorporated into the
program. There is also an emphasis on incorporating
global issues and international approaches6 into the
curriculum, which I think is important in today’s
increasingly globalized world.

7. UNC Charlotte’s Master of Health Administration
Program
 Cost: $11,000 per semester (out of state student)7
 Average Incoming GPA: 3.43 7
 Average Incoming GRE: 50th percentile verbal, 46th
percentile quantitative 7
 Application Deadline: February 15
 No previous work experience required
 I like how this program offers its students a choice in
how long it will take them to complete the program. UNC
Charlotte’s MHA offers 2-, 3-, and 4-year plans of study.7
I like this flexible approach because one never knows
what may arise during the usual 2 years that it takes to
complete a master’s degree.

8. Why I am a good candidate
 Enterprising, Conventional, and Social were my top
results
 I hold many leadership positions
 I am very organized
 I pay lots of attention to detail
 I try to improve the circumstances of others
 I like interacting with and being around people
 My O*Net results and “Party Game” results matched my
ideal career exactly.
 When Ms. Simecka presented the careers and traits that
would go well with them, the ideal traits for Health
Administration were enterprising, conventional, and
social.

9. Enterprising
 I held the position of Catering Chair for Clemson Miracle
for 2 years.
 In this position, I reached out to businesses to persuade
them to support our organization in raising money for
the GHS Children’s Hospital and to donate food for our
dance marathon event, which we hold every year.
 I had to decide what times were good for reaching out to
these businesses and I had to gauge what times are good
for providing our participants with refreshments for the
day of our dance marathon event.

10. Conventional
 I am currently the Director of Academics for my sorority,
Alpha Phi. In this position, I have to be very organized to
keep track of attendance of the study hours that we hold
and “study merits” that members accumulate. I also
make the study hours schedule for my proctors in which I
assign them to specific times based on their availability.
In addition, I make academic plans tailored to each girl
whose GPA falls below a satisfactory limit. I follow up
with them regularly throughout the semester to ensure
that they are following the plan and doing their best to
improve their academics. I also oversee the notes and
study guides that girls send into me, sort these into the
correct classes and professors, and regularly update our
academic website with these documents.

11. Conventional (Cont.)
 As the Catering Chair for Clemson Miracle, I had to
follow a specific schedule for the day of dance marathon
once I set up the pick up times for the food donations. I
also had to follow schedules that I made when I booked
appointments to meet with local businesses to talk about
donating to our event. I also kept track of the dates of all
of the “proceed nights” that I set up with local
restaurants in order to relay the details to the rest of the
executive board to promote the proceed nights and make
them successful.
 As the Treasurer for Clemson Circle K, I kept the
financial records and updated them when necessary. I
also uploaded the club’s bank statements to OrgSync on a
regular basis.

12. Social
 As the Director of Academics for Alpha Phi, my purpose is to
help the girls in my sorority achieve their highest academic
potential. I am always available for study advice and hold
study hours as frequently as possible so that girls can be
rewarded for studying as much as they can.
 My reason for being the Catering Chair of Clemson Miracle
was because I wanted to take on a bigger role in an
organization that helps sick children and their families in a
variety of ways at the GHS Children’s Hospital, including
fundraising to help pay for procedures that insurance does not
cover.
 I wanted to take on a leadership position in Clemson Circle K
because I wanted to become involved in a community service
organization that helps out local people in need, including
regularly volunteering at a place called “Helping Hands,”
which is a shelter for abused and neglected children.

13. Relevant Academic Experience
 I have earned A’s in microeconomics, accounting,
and statistics, which are all prerequisites or highly
recommended courses for MHA programs.
 My grades in these classes show that I comprehend
the necessary background knowledge for graduate
level curriculum in MHA programs.

14. Conclusion
 After completing the O*Net evaluation, I am even more
sure that I want to pursue a career in health
administration. My top three traits matched up exactly
with the traits identified with this career and I am
confident that I also have the skills necessary to succeed
in this job. After researching several graduate programs,
my top choice is still MUSC’s MHA program. I really like
how the academic medical center environment
immerses students in a real work environment. The cost
of this program is also an important factor because it is
the most affordable option for me. I think that with 89%
of students finding a job within 3 months of graduating,
the value of this program really shines through.

15. Sources
1. http://www.healthmanagementcareers.org/haddock_c
h01.pdf
2. http://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-
health-services-managers.htm
3. http://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-
health-services-managers.htm#tab-5
4. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes119111.htm#st
5. http://academicdepartments.musc.edu/chp/mha/detai
ls.htm
6. http://sph.unc.edu/programs/?ppk=hpm-mha-r
7. http://publichealth.uncc.edu/degrees-and-
programs/phs-graduate-programs/master-health-
administration-mha/admissions