Hospital executives: perceptions of skills and experiences desired in health care graduates

The modern health care organization is a complex entity with numerous stakeholders having divergent interests. Managing these complex organizations requires individuals with a variety of skills. In this study, an assessment of the academic preparation, skills, and experiential learning desired in health care graduates was made. To determine the perception of executives, a 16-item questionnaire was developed and distributed to over 587 hospital executives. The data showed a significant correlation (.001) between the responses of the executives regarding a preference for individuals with a master's degree with a health specialty and a preference for individuals with some experiential learning activities. The findings showed a strong preference among executives for hiring a health graduate with a master's in health administration. Although there were some limitations to this study, the hospital executives responded positively to questions regarding a preference for individuals with health care management degrees and experiential learning over persons without these experiences.