A unique partnership between the University of Aberdeen’s Business and Medical Schools has resulted in two new courses aimed at inspiring healthcare managers and researchers to explore the delivery of healthcare in other countries in a bid to enhance the UK’s healthcare systems.
The courses, an MBA (Master of Business Administration) in International Healthcare Management and an MSc (Master of Science) in International Health and Management aim to bring together students from the UK and abroad to develop skills in leading, managing and researching key issues faced by changing healthcare.
The new MBA International Healthcare Management builds on the foundation of a thriving MBA at the University of Aberdeen and will be delivered in close partnership with the University’s Medical School and its health services researchers. The University’s business and medicine sectors have forged strong and valuable links to form a number of joint initiatives such as the Health Economics Research Unit (HERU) and the Health Services Research Unit (HSRU).
The new MBA course aims to attract a wide range of health sciences graduates as well as medical and nursing professionals who are looking to find out more about management issues in the UK NHS and international health care systems.
Dr Jane Farmer, Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen’s Business School, who is leading the new course, said she was delighted that the collaboration with the University’s Medical School will provide a strong health sciences dimension to the Business Masters.
She said: “There is currently a huge emphasis in the NHS on providing management and leadership training for frontline clinical, managerial and administrative staff. Our course is different in that it offers opportunities to think ‘out of the box’ and consider how healthcare is delivered in other countries and what the similarities and differences are.
“There are big challenges for healthcare in the modern world with diseases such as HIV and threats of pandemics hitting the media spotlight, but underlying all this there are still the ongoing difficulties of providing quality healthcare for ageing populations and managing the diseases and ill health produced by poverty – here at home in Scotland and not just in the developing world. “
Dr Farmer explained that the new MBA graduates will be in a good position to secure healthcare management jobs around the world and may also secure careers in health technologies or pharmaceuticals industries. Management or leadership roles in the aid and charities sector are another possibility.
She said: “There are a number of courses providing healthcare management training, but ours is different as it encourages students to think internationally about issues and to consider how other models and systems of healthcare deal with common issues. This will equip our students to think innovatively and creatively and to have a world view”.
Across the world, managers, policymakers and health professionals are challenged with providing high quality health services against an environment of rising patient expectations, but also increasing costs due to developments in technologies and pharmaceuticals.
Dr Farmer added: “This has given rise to producing new ways of organising and running healthcare that involve new and extended roles for health professionals and new ways of including patients and the public in decision-making. Demographic trends including higher proportions of older people in the population and evolving threats to health including pandemics, disasters and wars, bring issues that demand deep knowledge, understanding and research of policy, management and leadership issues.”
Dr Farmer and her colleagues are urging any health services professional who is contemplating returning to University to consider the MBA as an option. She said: “Those with non-scientific backgrounds will also be welcome on this strongly business-orientated course and I’d like to appeal to people of all ages working in the healthcare sector to think about a return to University.”
The MSc in International Health and Management also has a strong management focus, but is more geared towards those who want to undertake research. As such it will provide excellent research training and a good grounding for working as a researcher in policy or non-governmental agencies or going on to do a doctorate.
Dr Edwin van Teijlingen, leader of the MSc in International Health and Management said: “We are excited by the introduction of this new degree. Globalisation has a major influence on health in many countries, not least on the design, funding and delivery of its health care.
“Health care systems across the world are inter-linked, for example through the migration of health professionals. The NHS is recruiting nurses in Commonwealth countries, whilst at the same time recruitment agencies from Australia and New Zealand are advertising for nurses in the UK to work in their countries.”
Dr. Padam Simkhada, Research Fellow in International Health at the University of Aberdeen, added: “International Health Research is one of the research strengths of the University. We are currently involved in research ranging from maternal mortality to leprosy and from health needs assessment in Nepal to systematic reviews of the effectiveness of sex education in Sub-Saharan Africa. This wide range of research will give the new MSc in International Health and Management a real research-led approach.”
These new courses begin at the University of Aberdeen in September 2006. Anyone interested in gaining a place should contact the University of Aberdeen’s Student Recruitment and Admissions team on (01224) 272090/91 for further information and advice. The University also offers a range of other MBA pathways and an MSc in Public Health and Health Services Research.