Master of Hospital Administration shortly called as MHA is a two-year PG course divided into four semesters. This course prepares the students in such a way that on completion of the course, they will be able to take leadership roles in hospitals by equipping them with training in human resource, material, financial and operational & project management.

In India, Master of Hospital Administration course is offered in two different types of which one is meant for medical students, while the other is meant for non-medical students. This professional course is offered by a number of colleges in India and the list of government-run medical colleges offering this course in India is given below:

Government Medical Colleges:

• All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

• Armed Forces Medical College, Pune

Eligibility for seeking admission to the MHA Course:

For seeking admission to the MHA course, candidates can be graduates in any of the following streams of education from a recognized university:

• Arts

• Science

• Commerce

• Engineering & Technology

• Medical

• Dental

Objective of the MHA Course:

Master of Hospital Administration course is offered with the following objectives:

• To offer understanding to the students about professional ethics and good governance

• Develop and analyze policies pertaining to hospitals in the national and local context

• To offer ability to the students to manage workload effectively, to set priorities, to work in groups and to communicate effectively

• To offer the ability to evaluate and review services with the help of the concepts of structure and organizations, methods of planning and managing material, financial and human resources

• The ability to analyze development, growth and management issues faced by hospital managers

• To offer the ability for continuing professional development and independent learning

Course curriculum:

The Curriculum of Master of Hospital Administration course is designed in such a way as to cover quantitative and conceptual skills required by future managers in contemporary high performing hospitals. The course is divided into two stages, where in teaching of basic introductory course comprising fundamental managerial concepts, development of research methodologies and health services in India are offered in the first stage. In the second stage, subjects like basics of management information system, disaster management in hospitals, biomedical waste management, legal issues in hospital administration, equipment, marketing and financial management, personnel management, communication and computers are taught.

Future prospects for Master of Hospital Administration graduates:

It is estimated that the health care sector in India will grow to US $70 billion turnover by the end of 2012. As per the Investment Commission of India, the healthcare sector has experienced a phenomenal growth of 12 percent per annum in the past four years and with the growing population, the demand for hospitals is also increasing.

Therefore, the need for hospital administrators is expected to increase with the increasing number of hospitals in India. In addition, at the present situation, the health care sector is experiencing a shortage of capable hospital administrators and therefore private sector and government sector hospitals are looking for efficient hospital administrators and the hospitals are ready to pay a higher pay scale for these professionals.