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During your UCL Executive MBA Health, you'll work on two projects that'll give you the experience to build your business skills in this vital space of healthcare management and leadership.
On this page:
- Health Consultant projects
- Global Health Research Project
- In-Person Residential Week 1 - UK
- In-Person Residential Week 2 - USA
In term 3 of each year of your Executive MBA health, you will work on a project. The two capstone projects will be the Global Health Research Project and the Health Consultant Project.
The Health Consultant project (year 1) will see you working on an individual consultant project and depending on the brief, will either be in the public, private or charitable sector working directly with an organisation. The deliverable is an individual report agreed with the module coordinator and organisation that you will be undertaking the consultancy assignment with. You will work with your career coach to determine the best fit for your career ambitions for this project.
The Global Health Research Project (year 2) will involve working in a team with a faculty member on a healthcare research project to be agreed upon with your team supervisor. This project will culminate with a group research paper and presentation due at the end of term 3.
Health Consultant projects
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-centered learning. You will have developed your consultancy skills via a series of lectures and workshops ran 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 to your project.
There will be tutorial support from a nominated supervisor available in term three. Students will be expected to meet with their academic supervisor as well as having client contact at least three times to ensure that they develop the project in line with the client's expectations.
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
The ability to ask appropriate questions, listen and structure a brief with your client will assist you with crucial aspects of consultancy that will build your confidence and capabilities for future projects.
Global Health Research Project
Through this project, you will have the opportunity to connect with cutting-edge research working with a group of your peers to develop a health idea or innovation. You will bring together what you have learned across the programme, your career, and through desk-based research to create an original piece of research building on the various strengths of your fellow team members.
This piece of work is an opportunity for you to work collaboratively to shape, co-produce and engage on a topic that excites your team. This project can be part of the enhanced synthesis of the literature, practice, or an area of clinical practice. The ambition is to allow you and your colleagues to identify areas of needed health improvement that you can develop through ideas and innovations to inform your academic skills for professional development as innovators. You will work on the project in term 3 of your second year on the programme through several research in practice sessions to assist you with the project.
The project will be delivered primarily through supported independent study and project work and involves student-centred learning. You will develop your research project via lectures and seminars in term 3. Hence, you gain essential research skills such as a critical appraisal of articles, research design, planning, data collection and analysis, and presentation. Necessary skills methodologies, important paradigms, and approaches to research in practice will be covered, so you are confident throughout the project on what you need to do and why. Moreover, these topics will come alive for you as you work on this research project. There will also be library training in scientific literature database searching to assist you with this desk-based approach to your research project.
In-Person Residential Week 1
Year 1 – UK Health System Deep Dive
We want to make sure that you get the opportunity to network and grow as a team, both with your colleagues on the programme but also with your EMBA academic team. Consequently, we have built into this programme a one-week deep dive into health systems for you and your classmates each year of the programme.
The recent policy reforms launched in the UK National Health System coupled with the challenges faced by health systems globally with the Covid-19 pandemic, emphasise the need for a better understanding of how healthcare systems function, how they are financed, and how strategic policies are developed to ensure the provision of care to the highest quality standards. In this deep dive, you will have the opportunity to spend a week in London exploring how the state and other private and public health-related institutions and processes influence the UK National Health Service's performance. Moreover, the programme will explore the demographic and socio-economic challenges faced in the UK, particularly in terms of power and resources contested in the health sector.
This experiential week will use extensive links to the government, the NHS, charities, and the private sector for delivering lectures and seminars to support your learning. There will also be several field trips to various businesses, hospitals, and ministries to engage with London's dynamic health sector. It will also be full of networking events, great conversations, and memories for a lifetime.
In-Person Residential Week 2
Year 2 – USA Health System Deep Dive
In some ways, the USA and UK health systems could not be further apart. Yet, both health systems have experienced significant changes with the Covid-19 pandemic, emphasising the need for a better understanding of how healthcare systems function, how they are financed, and how strategic policies are developed to ensure the provision of care to the highest quality standards.
In an abroad study programme, you will have the opportunity to spend a week in two locations in the USA exploring how its health system has evolved and what is working and what is not. It will be an opportunity to compare and contrast your deep dive into the UK national health system in your first year. Moreover, the trip will allow you to explore the demographic and socio-economic challenges faced in the USA that impact the health system and how the system addresses the social determinants of health and inclusive healthcare given the contrasting financial model you witnessed in the UK in terms of payers and providers.
Again, this experiential segment of your programme will use extensive links to the USA government agencies, the public health system, charities, and insurers for delivering lectures and seminars to support your learning. There will be several excursions to various businesses, hospitals, and public agencies to get a complete picture of the health of citizens and the response of the health sector in America.
Find out more about the Executive MBA Programme and modules.