BMP 2410 Health Care Management Skills
BMP 2410 Health Care Management Skills
| BMP 2411 | |
| BMP 2412 |
Skills in Health Management provides the foundation for moving into management positions in health and care services. The students will learn basic knowledge and skills in healthcare management (leadership and administration). The course is a publicly recognized bachelor programme which will give students 30 ECTS Credits.
The foundation course Skills in Health Management focuses on management and administration in various parts of the Norwegian health service. The Norwegian health service is a labour-intensive and complex sector consisting of highly qualified employees, strongly characterized by profession orientation, high technology with many self-confident and demanding patients and users. The foundation course Skills in Health Management has a special focus on the challenges faced by middle managers and shall provide a sound basis for creating a common meeting ground between the various disciplines within the field of health, health professionals, technology and patients/users with a focus on creating a better health service characterized by good quality and service.
Knowledge Outcomes
Students shall acquire basic knowledge in management skills and administration. They shall be familiar with relevant terms and concepts, dilemmas, theories and practical tools within the field of management as applied to a relevant health organization. For the purpose of this course the term health organization is being defined as any somatic or psychiatric hospital, municipal health service, health services provided under the auspices of a voluntary organization, private health organizations and various social services (such as detox facilities, child protective services, rehabilitation) This course shall have a future-oriented and solution-oriented perspective by focusing on challenging traditional rule-oriented and bureaucratic attitudes and behaviour patterns.
Upon completion of the course students shall have acquired the competence required to be able to take on a goal-oriented approach in their executive positions and relate in a good way to different workers, both skilled and unskilled. The course focuses on enabling the students with regard to developing their own personal anti-authoritarian leadership style focusing on the fact that each employee is the most important resource that the organization has. Upon completion of the course, students are expected to work efficiently as team leaders, make rational decisions, show good
Judgment in difficult cases pertaining to personnel and HR matters and be able to participate in change processes and development projects in an appropriate manner. Students shall also be able to facilitate for a systematic and goal-oriented competence development for their co-workers on a practical level.
The programme is founded on a perspective on humanity based on ethical values whose central focus is the best interests of patients and users. Students shall be trained in exhibiting a critical and reflective approach in relation to established systems and routines and awareness-raising with regard to continuous improvement and so-called best practice. The fact that the employees are the most important resource makes the students committed to always develop attitudes focusing on opportunities and possibilities and solutions linked to what can be done concretely to ensure that the employee succeed in their job.
· Organizational theories and management
Health management
Personnel management
Finance management
Project work related to management
The foundation course Skills in Health Management, BMP 2410, which gives students 30 ECTS credits, is completed over 2 semesters. The participants will be signed up for tuition each semester. The course consisting of lectures is entitled BMP 2411 for the first semester and BMP 2412 for the second semester.
The program includes tuition pertaining to methods and advice and guidance with regard to the project dissertation. This is being provided in connection with the gatherings. The academic scheme consists of lectures, web-based education, cases group work in which the students in the interim periods between gatherings will be expected to submit assignments and receive feedback from the teacher responsible for correcting their submitted work.
The gatherings focus on the use and application of the academic methods and materials in relation to concrete challenges and requirements within a health organization. This applies to hospitals as well as the municipal health service as well as health services provided by private health organizations on a non-profit basis and commercially run private health services
The following topics will be dealt with at gatherings during the autumn and spring semester
Organization and Management
Here the focus will be on the leadership role, leadership style and leadership tasks. The emphasis here is to give students insight and knowledge into various management theories that are relevant in relation to a health organization in order for the students to gain a better theoretical foundation to be able to feel more secure in their own leadership role to a larger extent. Practical leadership tools will also be dealt with. The objective is to master these tools, know their possible uses and limitations and be able to apply them when a relevant practical job situation calls for it.
Health Management
This course module focuses on what it means to have a leadership role within the health sector. What is special about being an executive and an employee within a health organization? The health service is a knowledge organization in which highly advanced technology is very often used in the treatment of patients. Traditionally, the health service has been segmented where the main focus has been on the individual health professional’s own interests. An important objective for this module is to raise the awareness of participants and to update their knowledge to enable them to cooperate in teams to a greater degree, irrespective of profession or ward/department towards a common goal which is the patient’s best interest. Uniform management versus the traditional dual management will be given special attention,
Personnel Management
The focus here will be on the daily interaction between executives and employees in a practical job situation within a health organization. The emphasis here is on the fact that the employee constitutes the organization’s most important resource, and that the executive must aim to get the job done through effective use of his/her co-workers. The organization’s personnel policy, its work environment and the personal satisfaction and contentment each worker derives from coming to work as well as the job motivation among employees will be given special attention. The care and attention which executives devote to their employees, both in terms of the day-to -day work situation as well as the more long-term need for competence development will be a central issue here. The most relevant labour law topics will also be dealt with here.
Finance Management
Students shall be given an introduction to central financial dilemmas and concepts that will be useful and necessary in order for them to function as executives of a department/performance unit. An important goal here is that the middle managers within the health service shall be proficient in the use of financial concepts and terms to be able to communicate with the top senior management executives and professional economists in a finance department. To establish a good interactive climate between economists working as advisers as part of the staff (for example in the finance department) and executives as decision-makers in a line-organization will be given special attention. Special attention is given to the matter of ensuring that executives shall develop the necessary skills as regards required planning work at department level within a health organization. Students shall also learn practical skills with regard to formulating a department budget, budget management throughout the budget year followed by a budget evaluation at the end of the budget year.
Project Work related to Management
Project work in management aims to put the relevant theories and tools featured in the course to practical use through a relevant project work. The students will select a project assignment that is related to a concrete job situation in their own health organization. Relevant factors shall be debated that may provide suitable suggestions for improving the participants’ leadership roles. The project assignment can be done individually or in groups, but must be related to relevant leadership challenges, It is important that the completed project dissertation shall provide concrete, creative suggestion with regard to improvement measures. The dissertation topic must be cleared with the dissertation adviser who will provide guidance and advice either individually or in groups throughout the course Dissertation length: Max 25 pages exclusive of appendices.
Higher Education Entrance Qualification
Admission to the foundation course Skills in Health Management, which is a publicly recognized course at upper secondary/higher education level. Work experience from the health sector is an advantage.
| Assessments |
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Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Invigilation Weight: 30 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 5 Hour(s) Exam code: BMP 24101 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Invigilation Weight: 30 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 5 Hour(s) Comment: The second semester ends with a five-hour written individual exam in Personnel Management and Finance Management. Exam code: BMP 24102 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 40 Grouping: Group/Individual (1 - 3) Duration: 2 Semester(s) Comment: In addition students are required to hand in a project dissertation after the second semester in which the students themselves are allowed to select a topic within the curriculum. Dissertation length: Max 25 pages excluding appendices. The project dissertation shall be completed individually or in groups of up to 3 individuals. Exam code: BMP 24103 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
All exams must be passed to get a grade in this course.
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 30 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 800 hours.
All exams must be completed and passed in order for students to have the course BMP 2410 Skills in Health Management approved and be awarded the 30 ECTS credits.