Master of Health Leadership and Management

About the Master of Health Leadership and Management at UNSW

The UNSW Master of Health Leadership and Management is a 1-year full-time (2-year part-time) degree which will provide you with the skills, knowledge and evidence-based frameworks you’ll need to lead and manage health services in Australia and around the world.

Developed by some of Australia’s brightest innovators and critical thinkers in this field, this Masters’ degree integrates contemporary evidence with practical tools to develop work-ready graduates who will excel in leadership and management roles at any level in health systems and services.

As a graduate of this degree, you’ll be equipped with the skills, knowledge and leadership capabilities to drive strategic planning, change management, quality improvement, healthcare economics and policy formulation in hospital and community healthcare, aged care, government health departments, non-government and voluntary organisations, and primary care and general practice in public and private sectors.

Why Study Master of Health Leadership and Management? 

You’ll integrate evidence-based frameworks, theory and practical skills to lead organisations, teams and individuals to shape workplace cultures within environments of social, political and organisational change.  

Our graduates complete this research-led teaching program with a sophisticated understanding of how to ensure effective, efficient, appropriate and equitable delivery of health services. You’ll study;  

  • how to lead yourself and others 
  • strategic thought and planning  
  • clinical governance and risk management 
  • approaches for ensuring quality and safety in healthcare delivery 
  • economic, financial and human resource management 
  • approaches to policy forumulation and analysis 
  • how to integrate evidence in management decision making.   

unsw innovators

Australia’s oldest Health Management degree. 60 years of experience.

UNSW Medicine research-glyph

Research informed education - our Health Management degree is taught by leading researchers in health leadership and management

Australasia’s First  Master of Health Leadership and Management
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UNSW has a rich history in developing high performing healthcare leaders managers. For more than 60 years, our Health Leadership and Management programs have provided students with the essential knowledge, skills and attributes required to respond to the challenges faced by health managers and leaders.  Our alumni include many senior healthcare leaders at system and service levels in Ministries of Health and across public and private healthcare facilities.

As the oldest and largest health management program in Australia, our team have extensive experience in developing and delivering online and face to face offerings, ensuring flexible study options and drawing upon close connections with healthcare leaders at the front line who bring a wealth of practical experiences through real-life case studies.

Degree Options
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There are a number of degree options available to you in the Master of Health Leadership and Management.  

If you undertake a double degree you can combine your interest in health management with;  

  • International Public Health 
  • Public Health 
  • Infectious Diseases Intelligence  

An extension (a research component) to this degree will advance your knowledge and skills in health services research.  

  • Master of International Public Health (Extension) / Master of Health Leadership and Management  
  • Master of Public Health (Extension) / Master of Health Leadership and Management  
  • Master of Public Health / Master of Health Leadership and Management (Extension)  
  • Master of International Public Health / Master of Health Leadership and Management (Extension)  
  • Master of Health Leadership and Management / Master of Infectious Diseases Intelligence (Extension)  
  • Master of Health Leadership and Management (Extension) / Master of Infectious Diseases Intelligence  

The Master of Health Leadership and Management is a continuation of the Graduate Diploma in Health Management and the Graduate Certificate of Health Management. 

Your Career Opportunities 
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There’s a steady demand in Australia and globally for health management professionals to work in the public and private health sectors.

As a graduate of the Master of Health Services, you’ll develop transferable leadership skills that can be applied throughout your career into senior management positions at health service and health system levels.

Many alumni from UNSW Master of Health Leadership and Management occupy senior executive, general management health ministry and other health leadership jobs roles in Australia and across the world.

This degree is ideal if you’re looking at a career in;

  • health services general management
  • health services chief executive officer
  • health services c-suite roles
  • government and non-government policy
  • medical communications
  • medical insurance management
  • non-government health service management
  • health economics
  • health program management
  • health care consultancy.

Flexible Delivery 
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The School of Population Health which delivers this degree, provides a great deal of flexibility for students. You can tailor your study options according to your needs and choose from either full-time or part-time study. The program can be undertaken either full-time or part-time.

Courses are offered on campus with face-to-face teaching, or by distance mode using online teaching. All courses are available fully online which means the degree can be completed from anywhere in the world.

 Your  Program Structure 
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Eight courses must be completed for the Master of Health Leadership and Management, consisting of five core courses and three elective courses for a total of 48 units of credit.

Course code

Course name

Units of Credit

PHCM9391

Strategy, Policy & Change

6

PHCM9441

Healthcare Economics & Financial Management

6

PHCM9701

Health Leadership & Workforce Management

6

PHCM9748

Clinical Governance & Risk Management

6

PHCM9781

Evidence-informed Decision-making

6

 

Three electives

6UOC each

18

What Our Graduates Say 

"Working as a medical specialist in regional NSW I often face health management challenges that I would have found insurmountable before I joined the program. The Master of Health Leadership and Management has allowed me to reflect on matters that have been ‘invisible’ to me in the past due to my limited knowledge of health management. I believe the Master of Health Leadership and Management is the ideal complement not only to  those students pursuing a career in health management but also to doctors practising clinical medicine. The program is an ‘eye opener’ and contributes greatly to make clinicians better doctors by enhancing their knowledge and skills in health management.”

- Master of Health Leadership and Management Student

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