Alana Hooi, an RN and Compliance and Clinical Services Co-ordinator, had a clear purpose in studying for her Masters of Health Management online, remarking, "I started this course to give me a more well-rounded experience moving into the management stream. Leadership is inherent in your personality and in your experience, but I think management is a learned skill. We see a lot of leaders in healthcare that come up through the ranks. They make wonderful leaders but not always the best managers. I really wanted to be a great leader while also being a good manager."
Comments from Lerna Courses Director Andrew Lancaster: I believe higher education offers enormous benefits for almost any aspiring health manager. Achieving your potential in a different phase of your career sometimes requires a significant mindshift, and learning outside your workplace. Your previous and current managers can serve as useful role models, both good and bad, but there is a bigger world out there.
Healthcare is a practical and people-orientated field that naturally produces good managers, in my opinion. But extra training is required. You may, for example, lack skills in areas such as finance, and strategic planning. Achieving optimal organisational performance goes well beyond the people skills needed to manage a team.
From my years spent in Canberra, at times working alongside the top public servants in the country, I can say that the best managers do have extra knowledge and insight. Moreover, I'm certain these abilities were cultivated with the help of postgraduate education. I could see the benefit of formal study in the fluency with which leaders would converse on management topics, and the confidence they had from applying proven strategies.