Master of Business Administration, Master of Health Administration

Admission requirements

Applicants must:

normally hold an approved degree or equivalent qualification from an approved tertiary institution and have not less than four years’ full-time professional experience in the health or aged care sector following completion of the degree or equivalent qualification; or
hold either the Graduate Certificate in Health Administration or equivalent, or the Graduate Diploma in Health Administration or equivalent from Flinders University and have not less than four years’ full-time professional experience in the health or aged care sector; or
hold the Graduate Diploma in Business Administration or equivalent from Flinders University and have not less than four years’ full-time professional experience in the health or aged care sector.

However, the respective Deans of Education may, under certain circumstances and subject to specific conditions, admit others who can show evidence of fitness for candidature.

All applicants must provide their curriculum vitae providing details of their relevant work experience.

Course aims

The course aims to provide a broad foundation of health service management and business knowledge, skills and attitudes to support ethical and global management of health and aged care organisations including private sector, not-for-profit and public organisations. Through experiential learning techniques students will investigate advanced issues in management, develop knowledge and skills to conduct independent industry- and discipline-related management projects and/or research, and relate their learning to their individual organisational experience.

The course prepares graduates for entry to the Australasian College of Health Service Management in the Associate Fellow membership category.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the combined course, students are expected to be able to:

Explain the role of and apply economics, accounting, financial management, human resource management and marketing knowledge and analytical skills to their management practice and decision making in organisations.
Use critical analysis and available evidence to address problems and opportunities in health and aged care policy and practice.
Recognise the potential impact of local and global economic conditions and events, with emphasis on the Asia Pacific region, on the operations and strategic management of organisations.
Apply contemporary legal, ethical and quality and safety management practices to achieve better outcomes for communities, clients, workforce relations and organisational sustainability.
Describe a range of research methods useful in the conduct of industry and organisation based projects, and discuss their benefits and limitations.
Work both individually and in groups to conduct management projects or research and critically evaluate the findings to solve business and management problems.
Present theoretical concepts and complex ideas in both written and verbal formats appropriate for a range of stakeholder audiences.

International English language pathway

Students who are admitted to the course under the International English language pathway are required to enrol in one or both of the following English tuition topics based on their IELTS’ entrance score.

English tuition topics

BUSN8003 English Language Tuition 1 (0 units)
BUSN8004 English Language Tuition 2 (0 units)

To be eligible to complete the requirements of the course, students must complete the required English tuition topics.

Except with the permission of the Directors of Studies, enrolment in the English tuition topics must be undertaken concurrently with core topics in the first semester of study.

Credit

Credit will be granted for studies completed in the Graduate Certificate in Health Administration or equivalent, the Graduate Diploma in Health Administration or equivalent, or the Graduate Diploma in Business Administration or equivalent, from Flinders University. The level of credit will depend on the topics studied. Credit may be granted for other comparable prior postgraduate studies.

Program of study

To qualify for the Master of Business Administration/Master of Health Administration, a student must complete 72 units with a grade of P or NGP or better in each topic, according to the program of study below.

The award of a grade of Fail (F) in 9 or more units, or the award of a grade of Fail (F) in the same topic on more than one occasion, may constitute prima facie evidence of unsatisfactory progress for the purposes of the University's Policy on Student Progress.

Except with permission of the Faculty Board, the program must be completed full-time within four consecutive semesters or part-time within twelve consecutive semesters. A lesser period may be set where credit has been granted for previous studies.

Students who commence but subsequently do not wish to complete the combined degrees program may be eligible to transfer to either the Master of Business Administration or Master of Health Administration program and to receive credit for some, or all, of the topics already completed.

Core - Year 1 & 2 topics

67.5 units comprising:

BUSN9226 Accounting for Managers (4.5 units)*
BUSN9228 Strategic Marketing (4.5 units)*
BUSN9233 Data Analysis for Decision Making (4.5 units)*
BUSN9230 Economics for Business (4.5 units)*
BUSN9231 Global Business Context: An Asia Pacific Focus (4.5 units)*
BUSN9236 Leadership: Theory, Practice and Experience (4.5 units)*
BUSN9254 Business Research Methods and Project (4.5 units)
BUSN9261 Strategic Management (4.5 units)*
HACM9101 Leading Organisations in Health and Aged Care (4.5 units)
HACM9102 Financial Management and Economics in Health and Aged Care (4.5 units)
HACM9200 Health and Aged Care Systems and Policy (4.5 units)
HACM9201 Health Law and Ethics (4.5 units)
HACM9202 Safety and Quality in Health Care (4.5 units)
HACM9207 Health and Aged Care Operations Management (4.5 units)
HACM9303 Management Project (4.5 units)

Option - Year 1 & 2 topics

Select 4.5 units from the following option topics (or, with the approval of the Health Administration Director of Studies, another appropriate graduate-level 4.5 units HACM topic).

HACM9206 Health Informatics (4.5 units)
HACM9104 Corporate Communications in Health and Aged Care (4.5 units)

Not all option topics are necessarily available in a given year.

*Topic is also available online

Note - All HACM topics have some intensive full-day or full-week face-to-face on-campus attendance requirements for both internal and external students.

Every effort has been made to ensure the information published on the Course Rule pages is accurate at the time of publication. Flinders University reserves the right to amend its curriculum without prior notice, and will update the Course Rules to reflect any amendments at the earliest opportunity.