Search

Objectives: This paper evaluates an Australian curriculum of health administration postgraduate program and its applicability to the workplace. Methods: This study adopted a cross-sectional design. Between January and April 2020, invitations to complete an anonymous online survey were emailed to a total of 250 Master of Health Administration (MHA) alumni who completed their course at an Australian University between 2014 and 2019. Results: A total of 44 alumni participated in the survey. Half (50%) of the respondents were female, the majority of whom (77%) were under the age of 45 years, while 63% of the participants were enrolled part time and undertook their studies in a blended mode. More than half of those responding indicated that MHA improved their strategic thinking (54%), planning (52%), and process development (48%), in addition to their ability to meet goals (48%) and perform data interpretation (45%). Resilience (39%), emotional thinking (36%), and flexibility (27%) scored lower. More than 80% of those who responded stated that they received a promotion (89%) or secured an increased income (86%) as a result of their MHA completion. Conclusion: This study finds that a mix of basic and advanced knowledge of subjects such as project management, health resources management, data analysis, and human resources management to be relevant and highly applicable to the workplace. Provision of flexibility of subjects' delivery for health administration should be encouraged to allow for the diversity and the changes in health services while maintaining the core requirements needed for health managers' competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthcare reforms and restructuring have been a global phenomenon since the early 1980s, driven by a number of factors such as increasing health expenditure and changing health needs, advancement of medical and information technology, and adoption of the new model of public health. More significant changes worldwide are the development of a new public management paradigm in the public sector. These changes were marked by the adoption of private sector management models and practices. It is widely believed that the healthcare reforms, the process of the reforms, and the instability brought about by the reforms may have not only resulted in the change of senior healthcare management practices, but also in the change of skills and competencies required for senior healthcare managers. In fact, a number of international, national, and local studies have examined the roles, skills, competencies and educational needs of health service managers since the 1980s. There are differences in findings from these studies in the 1980s, and 1990s, and early 2000s. This paper explores the above differences and their implications for further research and education development. The findings not only lead to the development of a number of questions for future research, but also indicate a new direction for healthcare managers in assisting them to acquire new skills and competencies in meeting the challenges in the new era.

A current feature of Western nations is the attention governments are giving to the interests and needs of their aged populations. This is mainly due to the aging of these societies, but also acknowledges that to be effective, policies often need to address specific groups. This paper considers the aging of the population within Australia, the related development of government policy on care services and the educational implications for the caring professions. Particular mention is made of the role of postgraduate multidisciplinary courses in gerontology and brief descriptions are given of the three such programs currently available in Australia.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the role of the Royal Australian College of Medical Administrators in the training of medical graduates who wish to pursue a career in health services management. The Royal Australian College of Medical Administrators, founded in May 1968 with an initial membership of 279, is a specialist educational body conducted along similar lines to the other medical colleges in Australia and the United Kingdom. The development of the educational requirements of the college, and the evolution of its training program over the past twenty years, is examined, as well as the appropriateness of the British college model for the training of medical administrators, and the impact that the changes in Australian health care services may have on future educational programs.

The Review of Postgraduate Public Health Training in Australia 1988, commissioned by the Australian Public Health Association, identified as a major issue the degree of collaboration between independent postgraduate courses in health administration and courses in public health. This paper suggests that the two fields share the common goal of health service education, which they pursue by the respective pathways of effectiveness and efficiency. We argue that the identity and the complementarity of the disciplines are best served by a collaborative model and discuss ways to encourage and achieve this aim.