Close
Gain a detailed understanding of the education and experience of our Digital Health and Entrepreneurship MSc programme, including the curriculum, core modules, project work, careers and networking.
On this page:
About this degree
This unique programme that spans across health, business and innovation has been crafted by academics and industry experts at the world’s first business school dedicated to health. Taught from a global top 10 university, our Digital Health and Entrepreneurship MSc offers an unparalleled opportunity to learn from the best, secure your future employability and contribute to a healthier future society.
Moving beyond reactive medicine, the focus of the healthcare sector and global health economy is changing for the better. Disease prevention, early detection and intervention is widely accepted as being the future of a more proactive approach to medicine. This translates into a significant opportunity for digital health innovations and the start-up world, who will design the lifestyle modification tools and ambitious medical technologies of the future.
An immersive programme that gives you direct exposure to this fast paced and inspiring world, our Digital Health and Entrepreneurship MSc teaches you the foundations of digital health and enterprise. Bringing this action learning environment to life, students also have the opportunity to take a health innovation idea from concept to business case. A Master’s degree that offers highly transferable skills, you’ll go on to bring an important blend of innovation and business skills to your future ventures and employers.
Programme curriculum
This programme is delivered through in-person lectures, recorded lectures, seminars, weekly group tutorials and workshops.
A one-week induction before the start of the programme will enable you to focus on personal and professional development, as well as team building with your peers. Prior to the commencement of the degree, you will also be invited to complete an unassessed, self-paced course on Global Health to give you a grounding in the global context of digital health and entrepreneurship.
The content for the Digital Health and Entrepreneurship MSc programme is delivered during terms one and two in four modules per term that focus on the foundations of digital health and enterprise, the financial and regulatory environment, and challenges and opportunities in this area.
Face to face attended sessions and online directed learning form approximately 15 to 18 hours per week in terms one and two. There is considerable independent reading and recorded lecture study expected through a module delivery period and in the identified revision weeks.
Throughout the 12-months, students will also work on two projects, and term three is dedicated to completing this project work and consolidating learning from terms one and two.
Assessment of the Digital Health and Entrepreneurship MSc is through written examinations, coursework essays, presentations, assignments and the two projects.
Modules
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits for this programme. This is comprised of eight compulsory modules with a value of 15 credits each, and two projects, each with a value of 30 credits.
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 is subject to change.
Core modules:
- Digital Health Start-ups - 15 credits
The focus of this module is to give you frameworks and models that will shape your thinking about businesses that drive forward digital health innovations. Aided by simulation and gamification, you’ll explore the complexities of initiating a business, the contexts in which entrepreneurship can flourish, appropriate business models, the regulatory environment and investment.
Assessed through a 2,000 word business case analysis (80%) and a 10-minute presentation (20%).
- Digital Health Research Methods and Tools - 15 credits
This module explores a range of research methods and tools for designing healthcare innovations, alongside World Health Organisation (WHO) guidance for digital health. Module content includes evidence-based approaches and ethical and legal frameworks, enabling you to identify, interrogate and interpret digital health projects.
Assessed through a 2,500 word research proposal with an annotated bibliography.
- Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence (AI) - 15 credits
The module will provide students with a systematic knowledge and practical application of digital technology to support health-real life information provision. Students will learn about the evolving eHealth landscape. There will be a focus on key technologies that will drive digital transformation such as mHealth, teleconsultation, interoperability and AI (artificial intelligence). Students will get an in-depth understanding of current and emerging approaches, concepts and issues in digital health, including online networks to provide informational and psychological support to empower patients, big data, the future of privacy, the ethics of data collection in everyday life, as well as the impact of mobile and digital technology on health and wellbeing.
This module will be delivered in blended learning format through online learning with face-to-face days. The face to face days will be studio based and interactive as the students will get the opportunity to engage with developing an eHealth solution/product.
This module – Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence – is offered through the Institute of Ophthalmology and delivered in a blended format.
- Digital Opportunities in Bioscience Entrepreneurship - 15 credits
Covering the development of digital intellectual property (IP), the extent of the current landscape, the development cycle abyss and methods to overcome it, this module enables students to critique future products. Module content also includes prototyping methods, translational schemes, legal frameworks and developmental platforms.
This module – Digital Opportunities in Bioscience Entrepreneurship – is offered through the Institute of Ophthalmology.
Assessed through a 2,000 word case report (40%) and two 15-minute group presentations (60%).
- Changing Health Systems - 15 credits
This module explores the patterns of health system financing and delivery around the world, in the context of the global goal to achieve universal health coverage. Module content includes methods of financing, purchasing of services, delivery methods in different health services and evaluating this in terms of outcomes.
Assessed through a 2,500 word policy report.
- Approaches to Health Innovations and Assessments - 15 credits
Covering the skills required to conduct a health needs assessment, as well as approaches to health innovation, intervention development and evaluation, this module will equip you with valuable skills and frameworks. Drawing on case studies from the NHS and overseas, module content also includes participatory working, collaborative leadership and interdisciplinary field methodologies.
Assessed through a two-hour open book examination.
- Human Factors for Digital Health - 15 credits
Providing an introduction to the human factors and design opportunities that relate to digital health technologies, this module explores techniques for designing and evaluating digital health technologies. Topics include safety considerations, the management of ongoing health conditions, sensitive personal data and the expertise level of users.
This module – Human Factors for Digital Health – is offered by the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences.
Assessed through a 3,000 word piece of coursework.
- Marketing Health and Healthcare - 15 credits
This module provides a foundation in marketing concepts and practices, with a focus on the opportunities and challenges of marketing in the health and healthcare sector. Topics include the regulatory environment, financial pressures, competition, social media, digital marketing and AI.
Assessed through a 2,500 word critical essay.
Elective modules:
There are no elective modules for this programme.
Projects:
Students must complete two projects for the Digital Health and Entrepreneurship MSc.
- Business project - 30 credits
This is a group project to develop a digital health solution or product from concept to business case. The project brings together learning and key aspects of business and management that you acquire throughout the programme, including strategy, project management, financing, marketing and leadership. Group work involves conceptualising, undertaking proof-of-concept, developing a business proposal, preparing an outline business case and subsequently a detailed business case on an approved project.
Assessed through an 8,000 word group project report (70%), a group presentation (20%) and 360-degree feedback (10%).
- Research project - 30 credits
This is an individual project on the topic of your choice to use and demonstrate your research skills and knowledge of digital health. Giving you the opportunity to shape and engage with a topic you are interested in, the project combines your learning from the programme with desk-based research to create an original piece of research.
Assessed through a 7,500 word research paper.
Careers
Getting an MSc in Digital Health and Entrepreneurship is probably one of the most exciting decisions you will ever make. Being in the fourth industrial revolution; a period in time where digitisation and connectivity of services is moving rapidly, there is no sector more disrupted and transformed than health and healthcare.
Even before the recent pandemic, cloud-computing, artificial intelligence, big data and wearables were revolutionising healthcare and lifestyles. With the rapid growth in healthcare demand from ageing populations, use of personalised healthcare tools and a move away from treatment to prevention, the role for digital solutions in healthcare is critical. Digital health start-ups are increasing at an exponential rate; innovative ways of bringing physical, digital and biological technologies together is the way of the future.
Whether you want to join a firm or start up your own health tech company, you will gain core skills in design thinking, health assessment, risk analysis, evaluation of digital health projects and enterprise skills on the Digital Health and Entrepreneurship programme.
There are excellent career opportunities in developing digital health solutions. This includes project management, Health or MedTech innovations, product ownership, application and/or software development for digital health, implementation facilitation, business development and many other areas. You will find these opportunities within many companies across the globe, including health care providers, charity sector, consultancy firms, tech giants and corporate organisations.
You will have the opportunity to network, attend career fairs and take advantage of tailored career guidance and events. You will have immediate access to UCL Career Services and Innovation and Enterprise Services to ensure you have all the support to meet your career ambitions.