MBA in Healthcare Management vs Paramedical courses: Key Differences

Healthcare management is perhaps one of the most in-demand job sectors at the current time. It offers professionals a way to enter the healthcare market and enhances their skills as management employees. Apart from this, professionals can also work in the administration sector of pharma, managing patients, doctors, and so on. 

However, not everyone is aware of the benefits of pursuing an MBA degree in healthcare management. As a result, many people prefer to opt for other paramedical courses in radiology, nursing, business administration, and so on, to pursue a career in healthcare management and relevant paths.

If you think that a healthcare management MBA and a paramedical course will offer you the same exposure, you are highly wrong. Both these lines are poles apart, having differences that you can’t even imagine. Before you choose any career path, it would be better if you knew about them in detail. 

So, here we have discussed the major differences between paramedical and healthcare management degrees that every professional should be aware of before making any major career decision in their lives.

Overview of MBA in healthcare management

As the name suggests, a healthcare management degree will help a professional become expert in various management and administrative jobs related to the healthcare industry. It can be regarding maintaining and managing electronic health records or forming collaborations with various vendors to get medical supplies and pharmaceutical port products right on time.

As a healthcare management professional, you will have a lot of responsibility for overseeing and managing various operations outside the medical department. In fact, the services that you want the healthcare organization to offer to the patients will also depend on how well you are with your managerial role and responsibilities.

Therefore, every professional needs to have a proper management degree in healthcare to understand the practices and challenges they can face at every step.

If the management is not proper or there are huge gaps in the strategies, not only will the operations be affected, but you won’t be able to provide the best experience to the patients and other people. The subjects to be studied for an MBA in healthcare management are: 

Semester	Subject
Semester 1	Managing People & Organizations Financial Reporting & Statement Analysis Managerial Economics Business Statistics Business Communication
Semester 2	Financial Management Marketing Management Strategic Management IT for Business Business Leadership Research Methodology
Semester 3	Management Accounting Legal Aspects of Business Health Informatics Quality Management in Healthcare Health Insurance Minor Project
Semester 4	Entrepreneurship and Innovation Sustainability Health Education & Communication Hospital Planning & Infrastructure Management Healthcare Operations Management Capstone Project

Overview of paramedical courses

A paramedical course is basically a study program on subjects related to healthcare but not involving doctors directly. For example, nursing is a type of paramedical program where students learn about medical science but not in an advanced manner as that of doctors. 

Similarly, medical equipment operators opt for other paramedical courses such as radiology. They need to learn more about human body parts, their working, structural and functional aspects, and so on. No matter what, these professionals do not have to engage in a proper medical program, which is primarily one of the benefits of opting for a paramedical course. 

Unlike professionals having MBA degrees in healthcare management, paramedical professionals won’t have to focus solely on management and administrative departments in a healthcare organization. 

Instead, they can opt for career options partly related to health and medical science. Following is a brief explanation of subjects professionals must study in paramedical courses.

Paramedical course	Major subjects
Nursing	Medical surgical nursing Anatomy and physiology Mental health nursing Nursing foundation Communication and educational technology Child health nursing Pharmacology and pathology Nursing research and statistics
Medical laboratory technology	Human anatomy one Health education and health communication Clinical hematology Human anatomy lab Microbiology, serology, and immunology lab Human physiology Histopathology and histological techniques Biomedical waste management Principles of lab management and medical ethics
Anesthesia studies	Applied anesthesia technology Human anatomy Medicine relevant to anesthesia technology Biochemistry Applied pathology Environmental science and health Clinical pathology, blood banking, and hematology
Physiotherapy	Anatomy Pharmacology Pediatrics and geriatrics PT in ortho conditions Biomechanics Pathology and microbiology Neurology Research and methodology

MBA in healthcare management vs paramedical courses: career prospects

Both MBA in healthcare and paramedical career prospects are huge and lucrative for all professionals. Not only can they work in some of the reputed healthcare organizations, but they will also get jobs with higher salaries and incentives. 

Since paramedical and MBAs in healthcare comprise different aspects of the healthcare industry, professionals will have versatile job options in terms of roles and responsibilities.

The following explanations will help you understand the different job roles that a professional with an MBA in healthcare or a degree in paramedical can get once they complete their course.

Job roles with MBA in healthcare

•  Pharmaceutical project manager

The professional is responsible for the overseas development of new pharmaceutical drugs, planning for an efficient rollout, and dealing with the risks or challenges. They are also responsible for designing medication programs, conducting clinical trials, arranging market benefits and surveys, and so on.

• Health administrator

As the name suggests, you will be responsible for all the administrative operations in the healthcare organization. For example, you will collaborate with vendors to gather the pharmaceutical and medical supplies while managing the entire procurement and supply chain.

• Clinical research manager

As a clinical research manager, you will be responsible for acquiring and handling government funds for various types of clinical and research studies. You will also be responsible for dealing with clinical budgets that are assigned for research programs.

Find out various career options after an MBA in healthcare management.

Job roles with a paramedical degree

• Physiotherapist: With a degree in physiotherapy, you can easily become a physiotherapist and have the responsibility of conducting mobility and physical exercise and training programs.

• Nurse: As a nurse, you will be able to work aside from a doctor and manage patient care.

• Medical equipment operator: One of the most in-demand careers with the paramedical course is that of a medical equipment operator. It can be an MRI machine or a simple USG machine.

MBA in healthcare management vs paramedical courses: salary potential

Professionals with MBA degrees in healthcare management usually earn more than people having paramedical degrees due to high demand and advanced skills. However, if you are able to pursue a master’s program as a paramedical professional, your salary will increase automatically.

Conclusion

In this article, we have learned more about the job roles and paramedical and healthcare management salaries that professionals can get with either of the degree programs. If you want to achieve such success, you can enroll yourself in an online MBA in healthcare management at Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). It will help you gain management skills and in-depth knowledge of the career path. 

Key takeaways

• MBA degree in healthcare concerns management and administrative operations, whereas paramedical courses are related to medical science that does not involve doctors directly. 
• Both MBA in healthcare and a paramedical degree will earn you a higher salary and a better job in reputed organizations in the industry.
• With a specialization course in MBA healthcare, you can choose from a versatile job role list.