A career in health care administration can provide graduates with the opportunity to oversee the management and growth of key medical services, while also providing them with the chance to become an executive. Jere Pittner, who holds a master's degree in health care policy and administration, has run several clinics and practices during her career and for the last 10 years has been practice administrator and chief operating office of Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates. In this role, Ms Pittner was responsible planning and delivering care, with 23 separate office locations plus another 7 endosocopy centers generating overall revenue of more than $60 million under her jurisdiction. She also administered the expansion of the firm's medical staff from 11 physicians to 46. Ms Pittner has recently taken up another executive role as president and chief executive officer of health care consultancy Galen Advisors, as well as its subsidiary firm Galen Business Services. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 262,000 medical and health care managers in the US in 2006. Around 37% of these worked in hospitals while another 22% were employed in physicians' offices or care facilities. In May 2006, the average earnings in the profession were $73,340.  |