Recommended High School Courses to Enter Health Care Administration

Hospital administrators have the all-important of job of making sure that hospital workflows are timely and well-managed, technology is up to date, and that the building and its workers adhere to legal regulations. While a bachelor’s degree, a graduate degree and a medical professional degree can all lead to a career in hospital administration, at the high school level your best preparation for this career is to engage in the same rigorous curriculum as the future doctors that you will manage.


Typically, students who are going to study medicine or nursing at the college level take four years of math and four years of science in high school. While this workload may be the most difficult of your high school options, it gives you a foundation of scientific knowledge that doctors and nurses have in abundance. Future healthcare administrators should take at least a year of biology, a year of chemistry and a year of physics in high school. A fourth year of science may consist of an elective in organic chemistry or computer science. To understand chemistry and especially physics, students also need four years of math, including courses in algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus. If you find yourself working hard, remember that doctors study these subjects at the college level.

The Human Touch

As a healthcare administrator, you are charged with managing a team of doctors, nurses and support staff who have the high-stress job of saving lives. You will also be interacting with patients, reporters, community leaders and the public-at-large. As a result, you need excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Take four years of English in high school, ideally with one course that has a strong focus in writing and one course that has a strong focus in speaking. Because you have to understand and work with so many different kinds of people, take four years of social science in high school. History will give you a sense of how societies, laws and technologies, including those of healthcare, develop over time. An elective in psychology or sociology will give you insight into the workings of the human mind and human social groups.

Spanish and Health

Some patients do not speak English,so foreign language skill is highly desired. Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and French are all widely spoken languages in the United States, but Spanish is five times more popular than any of those. Develop Spanish-speaking ability early by taking four years of the language in high school. Since hospital personnel are responsible for promoting the message of good health to the public, take health as an elective and actively participate in physical education classes and sports.


To develop key leadership and management skills when you take on important roles in extracurricular activities, actively participate in leadership roles. Extracurricular activities provide a beneficial educational experience for a future manager, so get involved and practice your delegation, speaking, leadership and time management skills in roles beyond the classroom.

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