Master of Health Administration

The Master of Health Administration (M.H.A.) prepares students for management positions in hospitals, managed care systems, physicians groups, ambulatory care systems, government agencies concerned with health care planning, delivery, and quality assurance, and private firms involved in health care consulting, evaluation, and finance. The curriculum aims at assuring sufficient knowledge of both the public and private sectors to permit effective functioning as a manager in each.

The M.H.A. degree is offered at the University Park and Sacramento campuses only.

Requirements for Admission

General

Applicants for the Master of Health Administration must apply separately to the Health Services Administration Program. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. Applicants may take courses on limited standing pending formal admission to the master’s degree program.

Applicants with bachelor’s degrees must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 in their undergraduate course work and a score of at least 500 on the verbal and at least 500 on the quantitative sections of the GRE. Deviations from these minimums will be allowed when justified by exceptional work experience, letters of recommendation or improvement in academic performance during the third and fourth years of undergraduate study.

The Accelerated M.H.A. Program

The Health Services Administration Program will admit a small number of undergraduates specializing in Health Policy and Administration in the School of Public Administration to the M.H.A. program after three years of undergraduate studies.

Applicants to the Accelerated M.H.A. Program must be USC undergraduates specializing in Health Policy and Administration in the School of Public Administration. Applications will be considered only from those who have completed at least 80 units in the curriculum for this specialization. Students interested in the Accelerated M.H.A. Program must apply at the beginning of the second semester of their junior year. A cumulative grade point average of at least 3.2 (A = 4.0) will be required for consideration. In addition, applicants will submit a detailed essay specifying their goals and reasons for selecting the field of health service administration, as well as letters of recommendation from three instructors, at least two of whom must be full-time USC faculty members. Substantial importance, in the evaluation of applicants, will be placed on an interview procedure to be carried out by a full-time faculty member in the Health Services Administration Program and a practitioner in the health administration field who holds an adjunct appointment at USC. Academic promise, clarity of purpose and personal maturity will all weigh heavily in determining admission to the Accelerated M.H.A. Program.

Information regarding the Certificate Program in Health Services Administration can be found in Certificate Programs.

Curriculum

Curriculum for the M.H.A. includes 12 courses as indicated below. In addition, a supervised field placement (residency) in a health service organization is required.

Required Core		Units
PUAD 512	Public Sector Economics	4
PUAD 530	Problems and Issues in the Health Field	4
PUAD 531a	Financial Management of Health Services	4
PUAD 532	Health Information Systems	4
PUAD 533	Health Administration Residency Seminar	2-2
PUAD 536	Legal Issues in Health Care Delivery	4
PUAD 537	Economic Concepts Applied to Health	4
PUAD 558	Quantitative Analysis I	4
PUAD 585	Human Behavior in Public Organizations	4
PUAD 593	Advanced Seminar in Health Services Administration (Capstone Course)	4
Electives: Any two, but emphasis on:		Units
PUAD 508	Management of Managed Care Organizations	4
PUAD 509	Management of Long-Term Care Organizations	4
PUAD 516	Concepts and Practices in Public Personnel Administration	4
PUAD 535	Strategic and Operational Planning for Health Services	4
PUAD 538	Marketing of Health Services	4
PUAD 539	Seminar in Hospital Administration	4
PUAD 569	Administration of Mental Health Services	4
PUAD 573	Wellness in the Workplace	4

Note: All courses are four units, with the exception of PUAD 533 Health Administration Residency Seminar. This course is two units per semester; two semesters of PUAD 533 are required for the M.H.A.