University College London (UCL)

Health MBA

Teaching and learning

You will be expected to prepare for each week of face-to-face instruction through a series of online activities and readings. Your face-to-face experiences are offered in four-week blocks. You will cover three themes – one per week and then have your wrap-up week with health professionals. There will always be a break between blocks for you to reflect, complete assignments, and prepare for the next block.

You will also be expected to present some of your work both as an individual and as a team member to other class members and visiting experts. The focus will be on giving you core theory learning, but more importantly application of theory through case teaching, teamwork, and projects.

Weekly group tutorials allow for more detailed discussion and consideration of the material covered in lectures and case presentations.

Module consolidation seminars involve problem or case-based presentations relating to module content.

Project development workshops allow for investigative, analytical, synthesis and data interrogation skills to be developed, while being put into practice as you advance your Global Health Challenge and Health Consultant projects.

Types of assessment undertaken on the programme will include written exams, coursework essays, presentations, the Global Health Challenge and Health Consultant project, and health and business case written analysis.

Teaching blocks are delivered face-to-face in person from 1-6pm every weekday during the First and Second Term for four weeks each.

Overall, we expect full-time students to study a full 35-hour week, including time outside classes spent in group work and self-directed study. This is during First and Second Terms. During Third Term, students will come into class every Wednesday from 1- 6pm. Remaining time will be spent on completing global health challenge project as well as consultancy project. Part-time students study at a pro-rata rate.

There is considerable independent learning based on reading and recorded lectures through the module delivery period and in the identified revision weeks.

Modules

Full-time

The Health MBA core content is delivered in four blocks. Each block cluster develops an understanding and application of business disciplines in health sector contexts. They require you to develop specific knowledge and skills on themed business and management topics aligned with core MBA learning. Each block is brought together in a wrap-up week where the topics come alive through real-world scenarios and case studies presented and discussed with health experts in appropriate fields and roles. These blocks are team-taught by experts to ensure that the module comes together for you and there will always be a break between blocks for you to reflect, complete assignments, and prepare for the next block. Wednesday sessions focus on enrichment activities, particularly employability and careers.

The fourth block of the programme comprises selected health themes to assist you in exploring specific challenges and opportunities currently faced by the health sector. Given that this module focuses on contemporary issues and opportunities, the themes of the various weeks may change over time.

In January you will travel with your academic staff member and project group colleagues to the location you will be working on for your Global Health Challenge. This two-week immersive experience of undertaking primary research and collecting data and information to complete your project is an integral part of giving you practical skills and experience that will enhance your career outcomes.

In the Third Term, you will embark on the final part of your programme by working with an identified organisation on a health consultancy project that will form a report that will be presented to the organisation as well as submitted as your final assessment. This opportunity will provide you with hands-on experience of consulting on a specific health/business challenge. It will enable you to integrate what you have learned across the academic year and apply your insights to work.

Part-time

You will study over two academic years. During this time, content will be delivered across four blocks and each block cluster will be compatible with business disciplines and require you to develop specific knowledge and skills on themed business and management topics aligned with core MBA learning. Each block is brought together in a wrap-up week/consolidation sessions where the topics come alive through real-world scenarios and case studies presented and discussed with health experts in appropriate fields and roles. You will complete the Global Health Challenge project in the first year and the Health Consultant Project during the second year.

Compulsory modules

• Data Driven Management
• Strategy, People and Marketing
• Funding, Finance and Regulation
• Contemporary Topics in Health and Healthcare
• Global Health Challenge
• Health Consultant

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change.

Students undertake modules to the value of 210 credits. Upon successful completion of 210 credits, you will be awarded an MBA in Health.

Fieldwork

Global Health Challenge
For Global Health Challenge project, you will learn the importance of team dynamics and collaboration for identifying health issues and finding solutions. It brings your learning across your Health MBA programme together through an overseas project in a low- or middle-income or developing country. It will require you to use key tools of business and management that you have acquired across the programme in fields such as strategy, project management, finance, marketing and leadership together. This group project involves conceptualising issues, undertaking fieldwork, researching solutions, and working as a diverse team to find solutions to the question you are exploring. You will learn how to present and communicate your findings as part of the learning on this capstone experiential learning component of your programme.

This experience will begin as soon as you arrive at UCL GBSH. As part of your induction, you will engage in activities which will support you to collaborate in your project team.

This project is designed to give you experiential learning by allowing you to work on a current health problem in a low- or middle-income or developing country to find a solution. This contextualised approach with a two-week fieldwork experience in January will allow you and your teammates to experience what it is like to undertake research in a low- or middle-income country as you develop your research and project management skills.

This project aims to provide you with:

• In-depth knowledge of a specific area of health and healthcare in the context of a low- or middle-income country.
• Appropriate use of business and leadership skills acquired across your Health MBA programme to solve real-world health challenges.

Health Consultant Project

In your Final Term of the programme, you will have the opportunity to connect with the health sector in an area that will help shape your career. You will bring together what you have learnt across the programme into a consultancy project working for a health sector client. This piece of work is an opportunity for you to work independently or in a small group depending on the project to shape and engage on a problem or opportunity that needs addressing by the health client. This project may include an enhanced synthesis of the literature, practice, or applied research. The ambition is to identify and shape the project with your client and develop your academic and professional skills for personal and professional development while delivering tangible outcomes for the client. You will begin to work on the project at the end of term two through a focused workshop and individual work with a career coach to ensure you get the right fit in terms of project and client for your future aspirations.

The consultancy project will be delivered primarily through supported independent project work. This consultancy project is primarily student-centred learning. You will have developed your consultancy skills via a series of lectures and workshops delivered in term two. Key skills, methodologies, critical paradigms, and approaches to consultancy in practice will have been covered in your other modules and through workshops. These topics will come alive for you as you work on this client-driven project. There will also be training in database searching to assist you with any desk-based work on your project.

The project aims to provide you with:

• In-depth knowledge of how to undertake effective consultancy projects in the health sector.
• Appropriate research and reviewing skills required for a successful project experience.
• Knowledge and skills on how to manage client expectations and engagement.

What this course will give you

Achieving a Health MBA from UCL GBSH will set you apart. As it is a specialist MBA fully focusing on health, you will gain all the competencies and attributes of a traditional MBA while honing the practical application of skills in healthcare management. We see this programme as part of your journey to boost not only your earning potential but to make a real difference to the global health sector. Your personal and professional journey is at the forefront as we support your career, promotion, and network building throughout the Health MBA programme.

Ultimately, we expect graduates of the UCL Health MBA programme to become the world's most distinguished health sector leaders. Prior to starting the degree, you will be invited to complete a set of fully online self-paced primer courses. These provide you with a solid grounding to undertake the Health MBA Programme. Courses include economics, finance, and accounting.

There is a one-week induction prior to the start of term focused on personal development, organisational behaviour, and team building. There is also a three-day residency off-campus with personal and group development, personality and career assessment testing, and career coaching.

The three-day residential school is designed to help you build a sense of belonging and cohort identity and to introduce you to the Health MBA experience. Most importantly, it provides you uninterrupted space to learn more about yourself, your leadership style, and teamwork skills as you begin to create your personal Health MBA journey and experience.

The foundation of your career

Previous graduates from the programme have successfully secured work in edtech start-ups, medical insurance firms in the Middle East, gained internal promotions, and engaged in mergers and acquisitions in their own businesses, as well as experiences in management consultancy and big pharma.

Employability

Graduates of the Health MBA programme can expect to have:

• An enhanced understanding of the intersection between health and business.
• Substantial research and analytical skills that can be specifically applied to health and business leadership.
• A detailed understanding of how health systems and enterprises globally are managed and lead in a rapidly changing environment.
• Highly developed professional skills, with a focus on change and innovation in health and healthcare.
• Well-honed written and verbal communication skills to support information and data management.
• The capacity to identify business opportunities arising from healthcare research.
• Important knowledge about the ethical, legal, and regulatory issues associated with bringing health innovations to market.
• A keen awareness of your professional ambitions and skillsets, along with networks of colleagues and health leaders that will last a lifetime.
• A mindset embracing innovation, nurtured by experiential learning and real-world examples used in teaching at UCL GBSH.
• An appreciation of teamwork and collaboration for problem-solving and delivering equality, diversity, and inclusion in healthcare settings.

Career Support throughout your programme

You will receive tailored career support from day one of the Health MBA programme. Through a psychometric leadership profiling process you will develop your leadership style and follow your individual professional growth plans. You will have access to a personal tutor and one-to-one career coaching to help you navigate your career strategies from consultancy to C-suite roles in health, healthcare management, and business. You will also be able to choose mentors from the health executives in residence. Across the academic year, you will tap into a full programme of events, job boards, resources, and career workshops supporting the entire recruitment processes for MBA-related positions.

Networking

Health MBA students regularly network with a wide range of guest speakers at all levels from leading organisations, entrepreneurs, policy-makers, executives, and chairs of boards as well as overseas academics. There are site visits, networking events, and field study visits which broaden personal and professional networks.