If you’re considering earning an online healthcare Master of Business Administration (MBA), you probably have some expectations of how you’ll benefit from this master’s degree in healthcare management. You understand that you’ll add a valuable credential to your resume, one that prepares you to advance in one of the fastest-growing job markets in the United States (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics). You’ll develop the core business and healthcare management skills that lead to upper-level management and leadership roles in the healthcare industry. You also know that this degree could open opportunities in such healthcare fields as insurance, pharmaceuticals and biotech.
The Online MBA in Healthcare Management from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)-accredited Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University confers all these advantages plus many more. You’ll gain invaluable professional networking connections by interacting with the program faculty and your classmates, for one. You’ll also add the distinctive cachet of attending the top university in Ohio.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When you earn your healthcare MBA from Case Western Reserve, you also reap the following benefits.
Advance your career without leaving your full-time job
A full-time MBA requires most of your time; for all but superhumans, working while attending a full-time program simply isn’t possible. That means forgoing two years of work experience and income at a time when you are spending a significant amount on your education. A part-time online program allows you to continue working, earning and advancing in your career. It also distributes the cost of your education over a longer period, reducing financial strain.
Apply what you learn in real-time
Because you’ll continue working, you’ll have immediate opportunities to apply what you learn in the classroom to real-world business situations. You won’t just learn about demand curves, market segmentation and balance sheets—you’ll experience these concepts in your daily work, with a new level of understanding and appreciation for their import. This type of experiential education is highly effective in promoting learning and retention.
Access to CWRU’s network of business innovators and healthcare systems
Cleveland is home to the Cleveland Health-Tech Corridor (an innovation cluster) and the Cleveland Innovation District (formed through an alliance among government agencies, local healthcare providers and area universities). Both incubate forward-thinking business and health developments. In addition, healthcare MBA students at CWRU complete two weekend-long residencies in collaboration with Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, MetroHealth and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center. Online students at the Weatherhead School graduate with real-world experience and an expanded healthcare professional network.
8 less-obvious benefits of a Weatherhead School online healthcare MBA
An Online MBA in Healthcare Management from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University delivers numerous benefits. We’ve listed eight below that aren’t quite as obvious as the ones above.
Improved time-management skills
As a busy professional, you probably already have some serious time-management chops. Adding a part-time MBA degree program to your itinerary is going to elevate those skills. Completing an online MBA program is hardly impossible—thousands of professionals earn part-time MBAs every year—but it does require some extra planning to make sure you meet all your graduate school responsibilities. You’ll figure out which undertakings can be multitasked and which require your undivided attention. You’ll learn to squeeze that extra half hour of study out of yourself when you’d really rather watch television, play with the kids or go to bed. When you’re done, you’ll have new and better time-management skills to go along with your graduate degree. Both will carry over to your professional life.
New areas of interest
The curriculum‘s combination of core business principles and critical healthcare management skills ensures that you will engage numerous new subjects. You may discover a latent affinity for accounting or find marketing surprisingly fascinating. Health informatics may appeal to your brainy side or the seemingly limitless potential of artificial intelligence may be your siren song. One thing is for sure: The program will present you with multiple opportunities to cultivate new interests.
Analytic and quantitative skills
Case Western Reserve prides itself on its data-driven approach to problem-solving across disciplines. Business and healthcare are no exceptions. This program will help build the muscles required to perform financial projections and modeling and economic analyses, interpret earnings reports and examine massive healthcare data sets to discover new efficiencies in diagnosis, treatment and cost control. As a student pursuing an MBA with a healthcare specialization at the Weatherhead School, you’ll complete core courses in probability and statistics, decision making and healthcare AI.
Communication skills
You may be surprised to learn that this online program includes plenty of group projects, case study analyses and experiential learning opportunities. Even though you’ll learn remotely, you’ll spend many hours working with your classmates, both in live class sessions and on projects. These projects are designed to bolster the communication and leadership skills necessary to succeed in the teamwork environment inhabited by upper-level business and healthcare managers.
Personal finance skills
In the course of completing your degree, you’ll study accounting, finance, financial management, business decision-making and regulatory issues. While you’ll learn all these subjects in a business context, all apply to the way you handle your personal finances as well. By learning new ways to track your wealth and interpret business reporting, you’ll develop the skills to become a smarter personal finance manager and investor.
Seeing the bigger picture
Many professionals learn to focus on the specific details of their function. It’s sometimes easy to lose sight of the big picture in your work setting; you’re so focused on doing your piece of work the best you can that you forget the larger goals. MBA programs train you to keep long-term objectives and the big picture always in sight. Also, your coursework will expose you to essential business and healthcare functions that may not currently be on your radar. Seeing how they fit into the larger framework will help you develop a big-picture perspective.
Strategic thinking
Part of big-picture thinking is keeping long-term goals in sight and figuring out efficient and effective ways to reach those goals. Case Western Reserve’s online master’s in business administration teaches you how to approach problems strategically and tactically, using reliable quantitative analyses to anticipate a plan’s potential roadblocks and potential windfalls.
Self-confidence
When all is said and done, you will have earned an MBA from a top-ranked university. In the process, you will have succeeded in challenging academic courses, completed group projects, delivered presentations and engaged in invaluable residencies with major Cleveland-area medical centers. You’ll have a lot to be proud of, plus a distinguished credential with which to impress potential employers. All of which is to say: You’ll have plenty of reasons to exude a little extra self-confidence.
Reaping all the benefits of a Weatherhead School online healthcare MBA
When you choose the Online MBA in Healthcare Management at the Weatherhead School of Management, you opt for a program that is prestigious, rigorous and convenient. You’ll study remotely, engaging the asynchronous content on your own schedule, avoiding the time and cost of commuting to campus in the process. You’ll continue to work as you study, meaning you’ll continue earning as you learn. As an added benefit, you’ll be positioned to implement what you learn immediately in your work life.
The online healthcare MBA at CWRU foregrounds modern data-driven approaches to business and healthcare problem-solving. A curricular focus on team projects, two residencies and online classroom discussion ensure an experiential learning experience that also helps you build a valuable professional network. Virtual open-office hours with faculty and 24/7 tech support mean you’ll feel supported as you make your way through the program. Finally, you’ll walk away with a cache of beneficial skills and expertise, both those you expect and those that perhaps surprise you.
Check the program prerequisites to see whether you meet the admissions requirements. If you do, why not apply now? Two annual start dates mean you can begin this program in the fall or the spring.