Understanding the differences between public health and health administration degrees can help determine which career prospects match your skills, plans, and goals. The better your understanding of these two degrees, the more likely you are to arrive at the best possible decision for your future.
Curriculum
If you are well-suited to a curriculum with a deep science treatment, consider a master’s in public health. However, if you prefer having access to diverse leadership opportunities, you are more suited to pursuing a health administration degree. While both degrees are related to health care, few of the courses in these degrees overlap. That’s why you’ll need to get the degree right the first time. If you ever decide to switch, you’ll need to start from square one. Save yourself time and trouble by choosing the right degree from the start. So, if you choose an online master’s public health degree, expect your curriculum to focus on research and science-related subjects. But if you’re an MPA student, your subjects will tackle team and health professional management rather than research methods and diseases.
Salary
Salary ranges for MPH professionals vary. Your choice of employment will affect your pay grade. That is, if you work for a public, private, or non-profit group. Your location will also factor into your salary range and your experience level. Students with an MHA degree tend to choose a career in healthcare and continue on that path. Students with an MPH degree, on the other hand, can pursue careers in several fields, including health policy, epidemiology, management, and public health education, just to name a few.
Career Paths
We’ve briefly touched on career paths already. But students with an MPH and an MHA degree have different ways of getting to the top. Graduates of an MHA program can work as health service managers or find similar roles. Graduates of an MPH program, on the other hand, can fall back on science-oriented jobs. They can work in the field, handling data directly. The main difference between the two is that MPH graduates can find themselves hired for field work positions or jobs that involve a lot of scientific processes. But graduates with an MHA degree can work their way up to a health care management position.
Work Environments
Based on those career paths, it’s already easy to see how different their work environments will be. MPH graduates can look forward to a wider range of work environments as they can work in the field, in a hospital, laboratory, colleges or universities, government facilities, and more. MHA graduates, on the other hand, are more likely to end up working in an office environment, especially since they usually aim for leadership roles. They can work in hospitals, the government, or private institutions. Their experience and training will ensure they feel at home in those roles.
Skill Sets
The MPH curriculum is ideal for students who excel at evaluating statistics, research, and analysis. Students of MHA will excel more in leadership, decision-making, and communication.
