The Studer Group recently analyzed responses from 3,712 healthcare managers or supervisors to identify the competencies needed for entry-level management positions. The online survey had them assess the competency of new Master of Health Administration (MHA) graduates in 27 areas. The analysis showed that graduates are most competent in areas such as writing and presentation skills, healthcare trends and issues, and information systems and technology.

Unfortunately, those aren’t the most important competencies new graduates need to have.

The competencies they named as most important are:

1. Holding individuals accountable
2. Leading and managing others
3. Aligning team behaviors
4. Engaging employees
5. Change management
6. Time management
7. Human resources – hiring and firing
8. Professional and management ethics
9. Decision making
10. Running effective meetings
11. Quality and performance improvement

The percent of MHA graduates viewed as very competent in these ten areas ranged from 3.2 to 3.5. That means that for each of these 11 areas, three or four MHA graduates out of every 100 are considered “very competent.”

According to the survey, 24% are not at all competent at hiring and firing, 20.7% at holding individuals accountable, and 19% at aligning team behaviors and engaging employees.

You can read a summary of the survey here. The summary concludes by pointing MHA programs toward a solution: “The skills that new graduates generally possess are in areas for which there are discrete classes or a cross-cutting curriculum. The skills that new graduates are weakest in are those in actual hands-on management and are not typically taught as whole classes or are deferred until the field experience.”

The Education Criteria for Performance Excellence ask how “you identify and innovate educational programs, offerings, and services to meet the requirements and exceed the expectations of your students, stakeholders, and market segments.” (3.1a1) The survey suggests that MHA programs are inadequately preparing students for management positions and not meeting the requirements of the organizations that will hire them.

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