The lowdown
Hospital management is a profession that deals with the patient-doctor relationship. It is about connecting various hospital departments to achieve the objective of treating patients and provide non-clinical support to the medical and non-medical staff in performing their duties. Hospital managers play an important role in defining best practices to provide quality healthcare to patients
Clock Work
8am: Observation round begins
9am: Inter-departmental meetings
11.30am: Patient-visiting rounds
2pm: Quick lunch
4pm to 5pm: Resume work
7pm: Head for home
The payoff
Beginners can get anything between Rs10,000 to Rs12,000 a month. A deputy manager can take home Rs30,000 to Rs35,000 a month while the package of a COO/ CEO can be anywhere between Rs15 lakh and Rs25 lakh a year. A deserving candidate could earn more
Skills/TRAITS
. Patience, convincing power and ability to deliver
. Honesty and humility, to help solve not only the patient’s problems but also sort out issues among subordinates
Getting there
The first and foremost step is to opt for a hospital administration or hospital management degree from a recognised college. Bachelor of hospital administration is a three-year degree course for undergraduates. Minimum requirement is 10+2 pass with biology, aggregating 50 per cent marks. A masters in hospital administration is a two year postgraduate programme. Graduates in any discipline can apply for this course
Getting there
The first and foremost step is to opt for a hospital administration or hospital management degree from a recognised college. Bachelor of hospital administration is a three-year degree course for undergraduates. Minimum requirement is 10+2 pass with biology, aggregating 50 per cent marks. A masters in hospital administration is a two year postgraduate programme. Graduates in any discipline can apply for this course
Institutes
. FMS (Faculty of Management Studies), DU;
www.fms.edu/
. AIIMS (Delhi); www.aiims.edu/Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai); www.tiss.edu/
. Institute of Health Management Research (Jaipur and Bangalore);
www.iihmr.org/ and www.ihmr.org/
. Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences (Pune);
www.sihspune.org
. Armed Forces Medical College (Pune);
afmc.nic.in
Pros and cons
. Opportunity to work in a booming industry
. Difficult to keep pace with changing industry demands
. A single error in judgment may ruin one’s career
. A very well-paying profession
. Highly competetive