Master of Health Administration at Johns Hopkins University

The program's curriculum, accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME), provides for the development of conceptual, quantitative, and applied skills essential to lead contemporary health care organizations.

Program Director: Mark J. Bittle, DrPH, MBA, FACHE
Associate Director: Conan Dickson, PhD, FACHE
Assistant Director: Karen Charron, MPH, BSN
Sr. Academic Coordinator: Keasha Wormley, MA

The Johns Hopkins University, in conjunction with the Bloomberg School, offers a combined Bachelor's degree and Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree. The combined degree programs have been tailored to prepare students for a range of careers, including public health, healthcare management, and medicine.

JHU undergraduate students have the unique opportunity to seek early admission to the MHA degree. The combined Bachelor's/MHA program emphasizes innovation and strategic problem-solving by applying analytical, technical, and management skills required to improve the quality, cost-effectiveness, and integration of healthcare organizations and systems. Students in this program will receive co-advising from both schools to optimize their academic experience.

Successful applicants will demonstrate relevant experience in the U.S. health care system (paid or volunteer), strong analytical skills, and/or demonstrate a passion for, and a desire to lead, health and health care delivery transformation in the U.S. Applicants must provide evidence of strong quantitative skills as reflected by undergraduate course work in college algebra, calculus, and/or statistics with a minimum 3.0 GPA.

While not required, it is also strongly recommended that applicants take EN.660.203 Financial Accounting. Those who earn a "B" in this course and pass a waiver exam do not need to take the required MHA course PH.312.617 Fundamentals of Financial Accounting.

Applicants who are admitted and have not completed an undergraduate microeconomics course are required to complete a course before matriculating.

Requirements

Bachelor's/MHA degree applications should be submitted through SOPHAS Express by the July 1st between junior and senior years. Bachelor's/MHA students must be accepted before the start of their senior year. Please note that admitted students must complete the Bachelor's degree before formally matriculating in the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Bachelor's/MHA applicants must submit the following:

• Transcripts from Johns Hopkins University and, if applicable, transcripts from any other college-level institutions students have attended.*
• Three letters of recommendation.
• Resume or curriculum vitae.
• Statement of purpose and objectives. The Statement of Purpose should provide a compelling rationale for admittance and focus on the applicant's relevant health care experience (volunteer or paid), leadership potential, and early career goals.

*Students may upload unofficial transcripts in the document section to expedite the application review process; however, admitted students must submit an official transcript before they can matriculate into the program.

For more information on the Bachelor's/MHA program, contact Assistant Director, Karen Charron, or visit our website.

It is the program's goal that by the time students have successfully completed the course work and administrative residency, they will have mastered the competencies outlined in the following domains.

Health and Healthcare Environment

• Legal and Regulatory Environment: Explain federal, state and local laws and regulations affecting the delivery of health care and related services.
• Financing Environments: Analyze the healthcare financing and economic environments, including regulation and processes applicable to public and private payers.
• Health Policy Environment: Analyze the effects of health policy on providers, payers and populations and its implications for organizational response and change.
• Provider Environment: Describe the array of key provider organizations and health professions and their implications for the quality and cost of care of individuals and populations.
• Public Health: Establish goals and objectives for improving health outcomes that incorporate an understanding of the social determinants of health and the socioeconomic environment in which the organization functions.

Management

• Financial Capability: Apply financial and accounting information and analytical tools to evaluate short and long term options and goals and monitor financial performance.
• Budget Management: Apply key accounting principles to prepare, monitor and manage budgets.
• Market Analysis: Apply economic models to analyze health care sector events, developments and trends, and plan accordingly.
• Operatives Management and Performance Measurement: Apply quantitative and qualitative tools and models to analyze, evaluate and improve an organization's service orientation, patient safety and quality processes and outcomes.
• Knowledge Management: Create management structures that apply, analyze, evaluate and convey information (gathered from both human and technological sources) to facilitate organizational decision making.
• Population Health Management: Apply epidemiological, biostatistical and evidence-based methods to improve health system performance at the population-level. Use vital statistics and core health indicators to guide decision-making and analyze health trends of the population to guide the provision of health services.
• Workforce Systems: Organize and manage the workforce utilizing key performance indicators and employee engagement metrics.
• Workforce Management: Direct the operation of a business segment through the development of the workforce's knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies.
• Health Services Management: Explain the various organizational structures of health care delivery, funding mechanisms and the way that health care services are delivered.
• Strategic Thinking and Management: Provide overall direction to the enterprise, including specifying the organization's objectives, developing policies and plans designed to achieve these objectives, and then allocating resources to implement the plans.
• Systems Thinking: Describe the analyze an organization form a systems perspective (i.e., as a complex set of cause and effect relationships).
• Governance: Explain how to create and maintain a system of governance that ensures appropriate oversight of the organization.

Leadership

• Innovation and Creativity: Facilitate diversity of thought in pursuit of developing new ideas, creating an entrepreneurial spirit and identifying break-through opportunities to significantly enhance organization performance.
• Leading Change: Promote ongoing organizational learning, champion organizational change when necessary and manage the resources necessary to accomplish the change.
• Influence: Promote the ideas and help shape the opinions and actions of others by: Understanding their needs, interests and concerns through questioning thoughtfully and listening empathetically; Communicating clearly both in writing and orally; and Delivering persuasive and organized presentations.
• Team Leadership: Develop team-oriented structures and systems to promote team performance, balance giving direction and support for team processes and promote consensus to achieve goals.
• Organizational Leadership: Articulate and communicate the mission, objectives and priorities of the organization to internal and external stakeholders and entities.
• Cultural Engagement: Create an organizational climate built on mutual trust and transparency, establish and communicate a compelling vision and hold oneself and others accountable for achieving organizational goals.

Relationship Management

• Interpersonal Understanding: Exercise the use of empathy, listening and diagnostic behavior in order to understand others' interests, concerns, needs and non-verbal behavior.
• Relationship Management: Develop and maintain collaborative relationships and shared decision-making with key leaders, colleagues and stakeholders to achieve organization and personal goals.
• Collaboration: Facilitate a work environment focused on a shared purpose or goal, encouraging colleagues to work effectively with others, demonstrating enthusiasm for a collaborative solution and communicating a shared sense of ownership and autonomy.

Standards of Professional Behavior

• Professionalism: Demonstrate high ethical conduct, integrity, transparency and accountability for one's actions and respect for others.
• Initiative: Take action without being asked and offer solutions/options when presenting problems.
• Advocacy: Advocate for the rights and responsibilities of patients and their families.
• Professional Development: Demonstrate commitment to self-development including continuing education, networking, reflection and personal improvement.
• Self-Awareness: Be aware of one's own assumptions, values, strengths and limitations.
• Mentoring: Develop others by mentoring, advising, coaching and serving as a role model.

The curriculum for the MHA program includes coursework that has been approved to meet the foundational public health knowledge learning objectives in the Profession & Science of Public Health and Factors Related to Human Health domains as required by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).