In today’s complex healthcare milieu, the line between business and clinical practice is becoming increasingly blurred. Throughout the healthcare industry, a vast number of employers are looking for managers who have clinical experience. They recognize the value brought to administration by a candidate with the insight that comes from performing laboratory research.
Among the many different groups that are qualified to enter a healthcare MBA program, clinical researchers are among the foremost. The steady work ethic, teamwork skills, and intimate understanding of the details of successful healthcare that go into clinical research are the perfect preparation for the rigors of higher education in healthcare.
Here are just a few ways that clinical researchers make a great fit for healthcare MBA programs.
An Insider Perspective
If physicians are the hands and feet of a hospital, clinical researchers are its lifeblood. Clinical researchers spend their days understanding how any given treatment interacts with a patient’s health condition. It is up to clinical researchers to determine the safety and effectiveness of not only medications but also devices, diagnostic products and overall regimens prescribed for disease prevention and relief. They are used to making detailed decisions that affect the big picture of a healthcare system.
Teamwork Skills
The time a clinical researcher spends in the laboratory is not solitary. Every step of their work is done in collaboration with other clinical researchers under the supervision of a laboratory manager. To be successful, they must be committed to the overall good of the team and adept at playing different roles within that team. The teamwork skills gained from clinical research experience translate very well to the management perspective taught within a healthcare MBA.
In turn, nothing contributes to the career path of a clinical researcher like a demonstration of the ability to work well in teams. Once a clinical researcher transitions from MBA studies into the field of healthcare management, she is equipped with sound, timely insight that can help her create and guide teams under her management toward the goal of quality healthcare.
Organizational Skills
One of the core concepts taught within any MBA program is the understanding of how organizations are built. Gaining insight into a business organization’s basic structure allows leaders to not only manage them efficiently, but also to create strategies for improved performance. A healthcare MBA gives clinical researchers a broader understanding of how healthcare systems are organized to create satisfaction for all stakeholders, from board directors to patients and everyone in between. Armed with this understanding, clinical researchers can offer suggestions and design strategies for how daily operations and patient outcomes can be enhanced by big-picture organizational choices.
An experienced clinical researcher with a MBA in healthcare is a coveted asset to healthcare systems. Best of all, today’s online MBA programs make it possible to pursue higher education without sacrificing your career to do so.