The healthcare industry offers a variety of roles. From health care management and administration to marketing and consulting, there are multiple ways to make your mark in the healthcare field. Places of work span across corporate offices, consulting firms, marketing firms, hospitals, physician offices, outpatient care and rehabilitation facilities, government agencies, and many additional places of employment. Check out the professional organizations and exploration pages below to learn more about career options!
Careers at the Intersection of Business and Health
It is no secret that a significant portion of the American economy is spent on health and healthcare. Healthcare services, encompassing pharmaceuticals, medical devices, physician and allied health services, and hospital care generates an estimated $5 trillion of spending per year. Beyond that, American firms spend hundreds of billions of dollars on research in life sciences innovation and digital health technologies.
Business impacts health in many ways. Direct investments in biotechnology and care delivery innovations provide new and better ways for patients to access care. Healthcare providers (even nonprofits) benefit from the application of good business practices to improve operations, manage finances, develop employees, and better connect with their patients. Business leaders across industries impact health through their engagement as purchasers of healthcare for employees, but there are many career opportunities that leverage expertise in business to improve the well-being of individuals and societies.
When some people think of careers in the business of health, they imagine healthcare administration. Leaders in these roles do the work necessary to directly impact the way that patients experience care. Executives oversee operations, financial planning, human resources, real estate, strategic growth and other key aspects of how businesses provide services to patients. Hospitals have grown significantly and have increasingly challenging financial circumstances to manage. In response to that, health systems have increasingly used capital to make investments that generate proceeds to fund other elements of their operations. Throughout hospitals and health systems, leaders apply excellence in business to the meaningful work of helping patients live their healthiest lives.
It is worth noting that careers in health are not limited to direct patient care.
How To Get Started
Healthcare administration-Careers in hospitals and health systems provide great opportunities for professionals interested in most directly impacting the way patients experience care. A typical career path after an MBA might include an administrative fellowship, which gives you the opportunity to spend a year rotating through the functional areas of business in a healthcare environment. These programs introduce fellows to the complexities of healthcare, the specific culture of the system where they work, and the network of problem solvers with whom they can connect. Many fellows form relationships that help them find jobs within the system upon completion of the fellowship. They may work in the strategy department planning for organizational growth, hospital operations overseeing the function of a particular area (eg, emergency department, operating room, intensive care unit), or lead the business aspects of a physician practice. These director level roles lead to bigger projects and the potential for promotion throughout the organization. Many hospital presidents and health system CEOs got their start in administrative fellowships, but it is not the only path. Some come from traditional business consultancies or senior leadership roles in other industries. For those who are not interested in a CEO pathway, there are many opportunities to develop specific areas of expertise in an area of business that allow for executive leadership in a more focused way.
- For undergraduates, hospital and health system job boards provide insights to entry-level employment opportunities. Look for analyst and manager level positions in areas of business that are interesting to you.
- For general information on administrative fellowships, the American College of Healthcare Executives’ career services page is a great starting place: https://www.ache.org/career-resource-center/seek-new-opportunities/administrative-fellowships
- Several administrative fellowships are based in St. Louis:
First-year students interested in that pathway can consider spending their summers in hospital and healthcare internships. Volunteering in hospital systems is often possible by contacting the business office within the division of interest.
For sophomores and juniors, start searching in February for hospital internships.
Pharmaceutical, health technology, and medical device companies develop innovations that become the standard of care in treating complex disease. From cholesterol-lowering statin medications and weight loss drugs to inhaled therapies for asthma and ever-advancing cancer treatments, pharmaceutical advances require experts in research and development investments, marketing and sales, and manufacturing. Similarly, medical device innovations led to more effective joint replacements, implantable devices to fix abnormal heart rhythms, and even treatment resistant depression. Health technology firms increase access for patients, help physicians organize their services, and improve operations across every aspect of healthcare. From startups to massive companies, health interests consist of a significant portion of the growing technology landscape. Although companies focused in these three areas each face their own challenges, they are united by the fact that none of this progress would be possible without thoughtful approaches to business and leaders who understand the importance of their work.
Pharmaceutical companies/Medical Device/Health Tech-Across functions, these firms hire employees with different focus areas to make key decisions that drive business forward. Some also offer rotational programs that allow you to experience different aspects of the business in a dedicated way. Below, there is a list of some specific companies to consider, but you can find programs like this at many major companies. Just search for “largest (pharmaceutical/medical device/health tech) companies” and then search for the company name + “early career” to explore options.
- Merck has opportunities for finance and health focused MBA students: https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/mba-opportunities
- Pfizer has summer internship opportunities as well as a rotational program in supply chain/operations based in St. Louis: https://www.pfizer.com/en/about/careers/early-careers
- Bristol Myers Squibb has internships and rotational programs: https://careers.bms.com/student-opportunities/
Medical Device/Tech
- Medtronic is a major manufacturer of devices and health technology that operate across a wide range of disease states: https://www.medtronic.com/en-us/our-company/careers/early-careers.html
- Stryker makes hospital equipment, joint replacement devices, and surgical tools: https://careers.stryker.com/students-and-graduates
- Abbott has a vast enterprise of health technology: https://www.jobs.abbott/us/en/early-careers
- Cerner (based in Kansas City) was acquired by Oracle and has a suite of health focused tools: https://www.oracle.com/careers/students-grads/
Health insurance companies manage pools of risk to provide the financial backing necessary for patients to afford increasingly expensive care. Services like transplantation for organ failure, immunotherapy for advanced cancer, and gene therapy for congenital diseases are extremely expensive and require thoughtful financial planning to accommodate. For patients to have access to those services, governmental and commercial insurer leaders manage the finances of the risk pool, develop relationships with large purchasers of healthcare and carefully plan operations to be sure that patients are getting the highest value care. While much controversy exists in this industry, it is one of the most impactful components of healthcare and enables all the rest of the work done in the field.
Health insurance careers provide students with an opportunity to use complex financial analysis, data management, and operations skills to help create structures that support care for patients with complex disease. There are also many opportunities for business development roles to help connect insurance firms with customers who purchase healthcare for their employees as well as hospitals and health systems who provide care.
- Health insurance firms also offer administrative rotational programs as well as early career programs that may be applicable to undergraduates and MBA students alike.
- Large insurance companies include Blue Cross Blue Shield (Anthem), United Healthcare, Aetna, and Cigna. Most of these firms have state-specific operations so you can look for opportunities in the state of your interest. Governmental payors like Medicare have opportunities listed in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Studies (https://www.cms.gov/about-cms/work-with-us/careers/pathways-programs-students-recentduates). State Medicaid programs also have opportunities.
- Within the St. Louis community, we have three large insurance firms:
- Centene: https://jobs.centene.com/us/en/our-teams/students-graduates/
- Evernorth (formerly ExpressScripts) is a Cigna company and opportunities can be found here: https://jobs.thecignagroup.com/us/en/studentandgraduates
- RGA provides insurance to other insurance companies and has specific focus areas in health and life insurance: https://www.rgarecareers.com/us/en/students-and-graduates
Venture capitalists, private equity firms, and investment bankers recognize the size of the health industry and the role of improving business practices in creating a healthier society. They leverage their expertise in evaluating investments and providing skilled insights to promote growth across industries. Although they often operate in industry-agnostic ways, the payment and regulatory nuances of the health industry benefit from specialized expertise.
Many of these jobs are specialized positions located within larger finance firms. The CCE has a dedicated page for finance careers that provides lots of tips for how to consider those jobs. Your education in health can provide you the extra qualifications to make you attractive for health-specific jobs within larger firms. Also pay attention to the venture arms of large firms. Health systems like Ascension and BJC, pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, and medical device companies like Medtronic all have venture arms that help evaluate acquisition and investment opportunities.
Healthcare consultants serve all these constituencies (including governments) to provide outside perspectives. Firms engage consultants when their teams lack the bandwidth to tackle big problems, have insufficient skills in an area of emerging interest, or want an external review to evaluate whether a solution truly addresses the intended problem. Consultants leverage skills across all business functions but those in the health industry have the added challenge of applying these skills in a unique and complex industry.
The CCE has excellent resources to help you prepare for consulting roles. Most large consulting firms have a dedicated health team and your preparation within this industry can make you an attractive candidate for those positions. Beyond the commonly discussed firms, there are many consultancies with large a large health focus that you might not have considered. Some of those include:
- American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management: the premier professional organization in healthcare administrative management. Your one-stop resource center for information, education and advocacy in the areas of reimbursement, admitting and registration, data management, medical records, patient relations and so much more.
- American College of Healthcare Executives: A professional society for healthcare leaders committed to improving health.
- Firsthand Career Guide to Health Care Management: This industry guide includes insight into the healthcare field, including day in the life content, industry outlook, and examples of various career options.
- Flexjobs “How to Start a Career as a Healthcare Consultant”: Learn about the role of a Healthcare Consultant and gather tips on how to break into the field.
- Healthcare Financial Management Association: A professional membership organization that helps healthcare finance management executives and professionals navigate the complexities of the healthcare industry.
- Learn.org’s “Healthcare Marketing Career Options”: Explore careers in marketing in the healthcare field.