MHA vs MBA/MIS? 1

[ifin]

I have worked as a lean manufacturing Engineer for about 5 years. I'm considering going back to school for a graduate Program. which program would better complement my work experience?. which give me a better shot at landing a job without experience?.

Masters in Health Administration
OR
Managment in Information Systems.

 

[KENAT]

Are you wanting to stay in Engineering after the study?

If so I don't really see the applicability of Masters in Health Administration.

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[SNORGY]

If you are already an engineer and then go for an MBA, your IQ will drop by 50 points immediately upon graduating.

Not that I am in any way bitter...

Regards,

SNORGY.

 

[SNORGY]

OK...now that the rant has been dispensed with...

My suggestion would be MBA / MIS, not MHA.

I concur with KENAT.

Regards,

SNORGY.

 

[TheTick]

Not another engineer with MBA disease!!! Seems like every time an engineer takes up an MBA, his work suffers, he stops answering the phone, and nothing gets done without a call to his supervisor.

 

[KirbyWan]

You ask about getting a job without experience but you have 5 years experience as an engineer. I'm guessing you are looking for a job change. Anything medical is a good idea because this is a growth field, but I would still suggest going the MBA route. The work in lean manufacturing would apply to any job, and an MBA can be used anywhere. If your tastes tend to the technical side of computing MIS might be a fair idea, but remember that most people going for a masters in information science are programmers. If you feel week in programming I would avoid this. If you have been filling your spare moments coding software to make you manufacturing processes leaner then it may be a great choice for you.

-Kirby

Kirby Wilkerson

Remember, first define the problem, then solve it.

 

[ifin]

Thanks you KirbyWan,snorgy,Kenat,tick
No i'm not wanting to stay in Engineering, but My thought process was that once I graduate and i'm competing for jobs with other graduates, I figured I can get an edge by showing my work experience. I was considering MHA because I know Lot of healthcare organizations are trying to implement Lean principles?.

 

[mechmama]

I thought the MHA did sort of make sense with your background. A dual MHA/MIS wouldn't be ridiculous. It seems a lot of the solutions needed in the healthcare system will involve the information systems, and if you really want to make a statement that you're interested in *healthcare* rather than engineering, the MHA might help. You might just try making the career transition without getting another degree first. Maybe your current skills are enough.

 

[mechmama]

Hey, be nice to the MBA people. . .

I don't think most engineering MBA wannabes are money-grubbing ladder-climbers. The ones that are quit engineering completely and go to Harvard full-time. I think most are poor innocent souls who are in jobs they hate and don't know how to get out AND keep paying their bills.

I loved engineering school, but I loathed my first job. . .the job I was in when I enrolled in my MBA program. I think that happens to a lot of people. I had friends who were bored in their jobs, but they were happy with the location, hours, salary, etc. The MBA is like a placebo. It makes you feel like you are doing something about your situation, even though you really aren't.

I am sorry, this post seemed to go off on a tangent of its own. . .

 

[mechmama]

While I was writing my post, some more of the MBA-bashing comments were deleted, and now mine makes even less sense. . .

Sorry about that. Refer to TheTick and Snorgy's first comment. That's what I'm replying to.

 

[ifin]

Mechmama -Thanks for your input. and you brought up a good point about coding...when I looked into it and talked to some friends that had finished the program they mentioned that it wasnt very much coding at all and that it was fairly easy.( ofcourse this is relative based on experience)

I was thinking along the same lines as you mentioned about MHA, but what I found is that there are very few accredited programs, and apparently there are a lot of pre med students or student with medical background going into the program...and I have a feeling that healthcare industry might prefer that.

 

[SNORGY]

No worries...

We're not really bashing MBA's...

The comments are made tongue-in-cheek for the most part, and usually arise whenever there is the ever-present conflict that exists in engineering between "being correct" and "being profitable" (or billable). Invariably, "engineering" loses those conflicts, and while business prospers, laws and rules get bent, things stop working and people get hurt.


Regards,

SNORGY.

 

[debodine]

I admit I was wrong on the MBA bashing. I didn't realize after all these years I still had that much bitterness. Won't happen again.

 

[mechmama]

I know some of the MBA bashing is tongue-in-cheek and some of it is based on real-life bad experience.

No hard feelings.

 

[mechmama]

ifin,

A couple more comments. . .

You said you have a feeling that the industry may prefer premeds --> MHA. I'm not so sure. Premeds going into MHA are probably a lot of kids who either didn't get into med school or just decided they didn't want to do that and can't find jobs with just their BS in Biology. On the other hand, I do think that most top-level hosp admin jobs go to doctors and nurses.

Unless you were looking at doing the MHA for the purpose of working at a consulting firm, you might try volunteering in a hospital. I was a greeter in an emergency department. It's boring and you might have to do some other stuff like clean rooms, but you do get exposure to a hospital setting to see if you like it. You could also get some face time with hospital administrators to see if you like that type of job, and learn what they are really looking for. For more MHA info, you should look at SDN.com (student doctor network). They have a great forum, and one subforum is for MPH people, but MHA students/prospective students also post there.

 

[FeX32]

Mighty Big Attitude


Fe

 

[FeX32]

That doesn't only apply to MBAs. It also does to most of us


Fe

 

[SNORGY]

I'll post one example of frustration with MBA's.

I work at an engineering company where business cards are being ordered for the five dozen professional engineers, engineers in training, and registered professional technologists; i.e., the people with official Canadian professional designations of P.Eng., E.I.T. and R.P.T. These folks have worked rather hard to obtain these accreditations and titles as professionals, the same way that a doctor or a professor or even a lawyer has.

It very recently came to pass that one senior manager in the company - who is not an engineer but looks after accounting and some BD, and who has an MBA, CMA or equivalent such non-engineering designation - took it upon herself / himself to not put the "dots" in those designations on the business cards, because "...I don't want them and that's the end of the discussion...".

The people with those hard-earned designations perceive this as insulting and a trivialization of their well-earned and what ought to be respected titles. In point of fact, the same cavalier and unilateral attitude often finds its way into how engineering is done ("...we're not checking that, we're only going to do this..."; "...we're not investing $750.00 in 50 runs of CAESAR II, we are spending $50,0000.00 on a new timesheet module...").

If MBA's stopped doing stuff like that, then chances are, engineers would stop bashing them.

Regards,

SNORGY.

 

[KENAT]

"No i'm not wanting to stay in Engineering"

Then why on earth are you asking career advice from a bunch of Engineers?

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