Health Management, Planning and Policy – (M.A.)

Imagine you are promoted to be Director of the Planning Office in the Ministry of Health, and are told that you are responsible for the overall management of national health planning. But do you really know what management is? Or the latest proposal for health sector reform in your country, which is strongly backed by international donors, appears on your desk for comment. The proposal makes a strong call for adapting private management practices in the government health services. Is this a good idea? What comments do you write?

Answers to both these questions require a critical and analytical view of the key issues around health management, planning and policy. Health managers and planners provide the crucial vision, direction, governance and stewardship a health system needs to operate efficiently. Great expectations for achieving objectives are placed upon health managers and planners. Unfortunately, they have to work within constraints (for example, lack of resources, lack of motivation, political instability) and these restrict their choice and activity. How can these constraints be managed?

The Masters in Health Management, Planning and Policy provides a multi-disciplinary, critically analytical and practice-based approach to the main challenges and issues in management, planning and policy which face the providers of health and health-related services in low-middle income countries and is designed for health professionals planners and managers.

Candidates will normally be graduates with a good honours degree or equivalent in a related subject. Extensive work experience in health services or health systems may exceptionally constitute an alternative basis for admissions. Given the competitive nature of this course, preference will be given to candidates with a minimum of two years work experience in areas related to health policy, planning or management.