Postgraduate Taught

The MBA (Health Executive) programme, established in 1986, was the first of its kind in Europe. It provides senior managers, policymakers and professionals concerned with health and health care with a top-level qualification which enhances both career and intellectual approach to the subject. The MBA offers an advanced scheme of study involving knowledge, skills and techniques which can variously be applied to any health services agency or health related organisation in the public or private sector. Recent graduates are Chief Executives in the NHS (and overseas), board level directors of hospitals, health authorities and in primary care organisations and senior doctors and nurses.

The MBA is both a professional qualification and contributor to generic skills in health policy and management. It provides the traditional MBA options and core courses with an innovative approach to developing health and health care agendas.

Course participants will:

• Acquire a solid grounding in the corpus of leadership and management related subjects
• Develop a range of analytical problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Extend existing interpersonal skills
• Gain new knowledge and insights into the nature of the health policymaking process
• Appreciate more fully the social, economic and political environment in which their organisation operates
• Be equipped with a wider and deeper understanding of the strategic challenges facing the health sector, in order to manage them better
• Enhance career potential and capacity for lifetime self-learning and self-development

A degree at (upper second) honours or equivalent; and/or appropriate professional and/or work experience. (Normally a minimum of five years in health services or health related employment.)

The MBA comprises 6 taught modules plus a research project workshop leading to the writing and submission of a dissertation. The taught element of the programme is spread 18 months. The teaching for each module lasts four days with a further 4 weeks allowed for submission of the written assignment. The whole programme, including the dissertation, can be completed within 3 years, although it can be completed more quickly if students wish.

The six taught modules are as follows:

• Economics and Management – The aim of this module will be to familiarise students with the key analytical concepts and methodologies of health economics, in order to increase their capabilities in applying these to the planning and management of health services
• Health Policy and Strategy – This module aims to provide a synthesis of policy and management objectives, skills and techniques to expose students to opportunities and issues in the process of policy formulation, implementation and review.
• Management of Human Resources – This module increases students’ understanding of, and ability to manage, the human aspects of the health care business. The module focuses on key issues associated with leading and managing health care organisations, and explores more traditional aspects of human resource management (such as workforce planning, employment law, the human resource function and performance management)
• Accounting and Financial Management – The objective of this module is to provide candidates with an appreciation of the nature and analysis of budgets, costs, and activities, and an understanding of resource management and financial information systems in the health sector
• Operations Management – This module provides insight into the major requirements to be met in the design, planning, operation and control of hospitals and community health services, and develop a numerate approach to the challenge and practice of management.
• Research for Managers, Clinicians and Policy-Makers - This module both imparts insights about research, evaluation and their uses and also educates students in methods for their dissertation.

Assessment is by written assignment for each module and a research project leading to a dissertation. Each of the 6 modules is assessed by assignment or assignments which include role-playing exercises in which participants are asked to apply theoretical concepts to a real-life situation and to assess the value of so doing. The research project is an important and challenging culmination of the MBA Programme. It involves the formulation, conduct and presentation of an independent investigation of a health management issue within the candidate's employment and one that simultaneously provides ample scope for integrating the curriculum content
of the programme and the key health service management issues of the day.

This interplay between theory and practice, evident in all aspects of the programme, is perhaps most visible in this final phase. The outcome of the research activity is the submission of a dissertation of between 15,000 and 20,000 words. It may be that the dissertation is viewed by the employing organisation as an important piece of internal development or 'policy' work.