MSc in Healthcare Leadership
University of Hull Online
Key Information
Campus location
Hull, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
Distance Learning
Duration
2 years
Pace
Part time
Tuition fees
GBP 9,800 *
Application deadline
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Earliest start date
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* payment by instalment and funding options available
Introduction
* Subject to validation
Study healthcare leadership and management as an ever-evolving process that requires self-reflection and continuous development. Learn how to critically evaluate your activities as a leader in order to positively engage with and impact those around you.
Why this MSc in Healthcare Leadership?
Strong leadership and management is key to the delivery of safe, effective, and compassionate healthcare.
A good leader will provide clear goals and direction, motivate their team, and nurture a supportive and innovative organisational structure.
With our MSc, you will explore leadership in a global context, gaining knowledge and skills applicable to all healthcare systems. The programme encompasses leadership approaches and challenges from across the healthcare spectrum – helping you visualise how your current or future professional role functions within a larger, complex system.
You can look forward to developing the capabilities required to enhance both your own practice and those with whom you work with. You will learn how to reflect on your practice, personality, and approach to become a more effective leader and manager.
The contemporary nature of our programme also enables students to incorporate up-to-date research in their studies and identify current challenges and opportunities in the industry.
As the course is part-time, working professionals can immediately apply what they learn to their current organisation, while still earning their degree in two years.
What you learn
Built upon a model of competency development, our MSc in Healthcare Leadership will help you learn leadership theories and frameworks at the leading edge of the discipline.
You’ll learn how to adopt a diligent, systematic, and evidence-based approach to your practice through the transformative concepts introduced during your studies.
As a student of the course, you can expect to:
- Explore leadership as a dynamic and contestable concept.
- Engage in critical self-reflection and the impact of self on others.
- Learn how to conduct insightful and informed decision making.
- Build knowledge of the system and policy context in which healthcare leadership exists.
- Gain an in-depth appreciation of the rational, emotional, and political aspects of changing services and practice.
- Recognise the necessity of critical and systematic enquiry and continuous learning in and through action.
Thinking about earning your postgraduate degree online with the University of Hull?
Find out what life’s like as a part-time distance learning student during our Virtual Open Evening.
Gallery
Career Opportunities
Exceptional leadership in healthcare has a vital role to play in the face of growing global health challenges – from ageing populations to financial austerity, to disease outbreaks.
Upon completion of this distance learning course, you’ll hold the skills and understanding needed to serve effectively within management in healthcare, with the ability to challenge both yourself and others to perform to their highest potential.
With a globally relevant education and the ability to communicate, delegate, and influence across all forms of healthcare teams, you can explore a career anywhere in the world.
You’ll be able to make a positive impact on the industry and your community through a variety of roles, such as:
- Healthcare provider leadership (e.g., hospital management; primary care manager)
- Clinical leader with primary, secondary or tertiary healthcare
- Social care provider leadership (e.g., within residential or domiciliary care)
- Health or social care commissioner leadership
- Health or social care policy maker (e.g., local government)
- Leadership within professional or regulatory bodies
Curriculum
Course modules
Our modules are specifically built to help you achieve long-term success in healthcare roles. You will undertake rigorous self-development that will help cultivate a lasting appreciation of the importance of lifelong learning.
Self as Leader (30 credits)
This introductory module contains two core themes – self-awareness and leadership theory - that will equip you with the knowledge needed to thoughtfully engage with the rest of the course material.
During this module, you will learn how to identify your traits, leadership activities, strengths, and weaknesses and place them within a theoretical framework.
You’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of the value of leadership theories and frameworks and how these can be used to inform continuing professional and personal development.
Supporting Change, Innovation, and Problem-Solving (30 credits)
Gain a critical understanding of the nature of and relationships between problem-solving, innovation, and change in the context of healthcare.
You will be challenged with exploring and critically debating the way in which problem-solving and innovation may be harnessed and promoted to support organisational change, whilst maintaining awareness of the impact of change upon individuals and teams.
The module will help you learn how to compare a range of theoretical perspectives related to the nature and process of innovation and problem-solving, and how to critically evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to promote and implement change.
Promoting Quality and Safety in Healthcare (30 credits)
Explore the proficiencies required for leaders to enhance organisational effectiveness in order to improve the quality of care delivery and maximise patient safety.
Your studies will help build a necessary theoretical foundation (such as understanding quality improvement frameworks and human factors), whilst also demonstrating the importance of research by focusing on evidence-based models of best practice.
Global Perspectives on Healthcare Policy (30 credits)
In this module, you will develop the ability to explore your leadership activities and responsibilities within a policy context.
By building your understanding of how policy is developed at the macro, meso, and micro level, you will be better positioned to recognise the external drivers that influence and shape organisational priorities and clinical practice.
Your lessons will compare policy and structures from across the globe, providing you with a truly international perspective on healthcare delivery.
Capstone Project (60 credits)
The Capstone Project provides you with the chance to demonstrate the integration and application of your learning throughout the programme through a self-designed project.
Your Healthcare Leadership project will highlight your creativity, analytical skills, and overall academic excellence by completing a service improvement, personal development activity or academic exercise in a real-world setting.
This presents a valuable opportunity to explore a topic of interest in-depth – such as identifying a specific challenge at your workplace to analyse and address.
Alternative programmes
We also offer a Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert) and Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip) in Healthcare Leadership for applicants who may not feel ready to commit to a full Masters.
The PgCert is made up of two of the 30-credit modules outlined above – ‘Self as Leader’ and ‘Supporting Change, Innovation, and Problem-Solving’. The PgDip requires completion of all four 30-credit modules.
How you're assessed
All assessment for the course is based on coursework and submitted online. There are no exams.
Your performance on the course will be assessed through a range of methods, such as:
- Guided online discussions/activities
- Online lectures and seminars
- Online tutorials
- Critiques and feedback from your tutor
- Critical self-reflection and independent study
You’ll also be asked to complete a variety of written assessments. Some examples include:
- A professional development plan focused on enhancing leadership skills and based on established approaches to learning.
- Commentary on a primary research paper related to quality improvement.
- Analysis of an example patient safety incident.
- A reflective account of the process of change, with reference to established theories.
Admissions
English Language Requirements
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