Executive Master of Health Administration personal statement

Reading time: 3 minutes
Price: Free download
Published: 4th November 2021
Word count: 740 words
File format: Text

At age thirteen my mother decided she wanted to attend school and become a medical assistant. I remember her struggling to manage work, school, and also completing family obligations. At times I helped her with her school work especially writing papers because english was not her first language. This was when I was first introduced to the world of healthcare. I was naturally drawn to healthcare because I spent so much time helping my mom with her courses and I was able to understand and carry conversations about it with her. As I got older I realized that I had a very strong passion for helping others and I felt that healthcare was the way for me to fulfill that dream. My junior and senior year of high school I participated in the Patient Care Technician dual enrollment program and decided that when I went to college I wanted to become a nurse.

While attending my undergraduate years at the University of South Florida I did not apply myself as much as I should have in my studies. I still wanted to be a nurse but unfortunately my academic advisor told me that my GPA was not competitive enough so I should change my major. At that point I was so discouraged and made the decision to change my major to Gerontology so that I would not have to start all over. Surprisingly I really enjoyed gerontology and graduated with my bachelors degree. Afterwards I worked as a medical receptionist taking some time off school. During this time I felt lost and did not know what I wanted to pursue as far as a career, so I went back to what I originally wanted which was nursing.

I quickly signed myself up to re-take some courses at Valencia to boost my GPA and take a course I was missing for the Valencia College Nursing program. I knew that it would be a challenge because I was working full time and taking classes online but I was determined and focused to do well academically and I succeeded. Following that semester I came to the realization that nursing and being a clinical provider was not the way I was meant to help others. I’ve experienced different challenges in many aspects of life. Now more than ever I am certain that I’m prepared and even more passionate about my future in healthcare and how I can contribute to making a difference through leadership.

Throughout my years working in healthcare as a medical receptionist, patient coordinator, and assisted living administrator I have been able to develop a better understanding for the industry. Healthcare is a rapidly changing industry in terms of how and where care is given, how the care is financed, and who is providing the services. The significant growth of managed care in the recent years has been the primary reason as to why these changes have occurred. There are many other trends that are contributing to these rapid changes but I’m particularly interested in the efforts on how to implement continuous quality improvement initiatives similar to those found in other fields.

I recently read a book titled Delivering Happiness A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh. In his book he shares the many different lessons he learned in business and life. Tony speaks about making customer service the responsibility of the entire company not just a department. He focused on Zappos’ company culture as the number one priority and in turn the company made higher profits. He applied research from studies of happiness to running a business and helping employees grow personally and professionally. This book taught me how a very different approach in corporate culture is a strong model for achieving success and how by focusing on the happiness of those around you, you can dramatically increase your own. A happier culture for a more profitable business. As the number of well-informed patients increase, the demand for high-quality care also increases. I believe following the model of Delivering Happiness is a perfect example of a quality improvement initiative in which it can be effectively applied to the field of healthcare.

Getting accepted to the Executive Master of Health Administration and successful completion of the program will open the opportunities to improve the well-being of local communities and the organization serving the members within those communities through effective and innovative healthcare leadership.

2018-11-28-1543367851

Why this example works — strengths and ways to improve

Your statement tells an honest, coherent story of reaching health administration through family experience, setbacks and work, which suits an executive master's. Its main weakness is that the strongest evidence, your work as an assisted living administrator, is barely developed, while space goes to general industry claims and a book summary. Reflection on what you learned from leading is thin.

Subject motivation

nursing and being a clinical provider was not the way I was meant to help others

Your pivot from clinical care to leadership is central, but you never explain what made you realise this after the Valencia semester. Without that reasoning, the motivation for administration rests on a general 'passion for helping others' rather than a specific attraction to managing systems, quality or organisations.

Academic preparation

I was determined and focused to do well academically and I succeeded

Acknowledging your earlier GPA and showing recovery while working full time is useful. Yet 'succeeded' is vague, and your Gerontology degree, which you enjoyed, is not linked to health administration. Naming what that study gave you, such as ageing populations or long-term care, would strengthen preparation.

Evidence and reflection

by focusing on the happiness of those around you, you can dramatically increase your own

The Hsieh paragraph is mostly summary, and the jump from Zappos customer service to healthcare quality improvement is asserted rather than tested. Reflection would be stronger if you considered how such a culture model might work, or fail, in a regulated care setting you know.

Relevant experience

medical receptionist, patient coordinator, and assisted living administrator

This is your most persuasive material for an executive programme, yet it appears only as a list. An administrator role implies staffing, compliance, budgets or resident care decisions. One concrete example of a problem you handled, and what it taught you about leadership, would carry far more weight.

Credibility and voice

I did not apply myself as much as I should have in my studies

Your candour here is a real asset and reads as mature, not defensive. By contrast, broad claims such as managed care being 'the primary reason' for industry change sound textbook-like and overstated. Grounding such points in what you observed at work would keep your authentic voice throughout.

Structure and format

Getting accepted to the Executive Master of Health Administration and successful completion

The chronological structure is clear, but the conclusion is a single generic sentence that does not name a programme feature or a career goal. Recurring errors such as 'english', 'bachelors' and the 'patients increase' agreement slip, along with some wordy phrasing, need careful proofreading.

What you’ve done well

You present your academic setback and change of direction honestly, showing resilience and self-awareness rather than hiding the difficulty.
Your progression through receptionist, coordinator and assisted living administrator roles gives credible practical grounding for an executive health administration programme.

How this draft could improve

Replace much of the book summary with a specific episode from your assisted living administrator work, then reflect on the decision you made and its outcome.
Explain concretely why you moved away from clinical nursing towards leadership, and link your Gerontology study to your goals.
End with specific career aims and why this programme's content fits them, then proofread for capitalisation, apostrophes and agreement errors.

Write your health policy and healthcare management personal statement · £4.99 →