MA in Leadership (Health Specialization)

Through a combination of online courses and a series of short residencies, the MA in Leadership with a specialization in Health program offers leadership skills to immediately meet the business and service needs of the health care system. The program will provide new competencies and insights that clearly demonstrate how inspirational leadership can deliver exceptional employee and organizational performance. Through 'real world' problem-solving, professionals in both the public and private health sectors learn to identify, analyze and build cost-effective solutions to organizational challenges, while helping to lead and manage change under dynamic conditions.

Students are expected to assess their personal and organizational learning needs in order to place in context the content related to our seven core competencies:

• Personal Leadership
• Manage Own Learning and Change Processes and Enable Others’ Learning
• Communication
• Team Leadership and Group Facilitation
• Systems Thinking
• Organizational Leadership
• Organizational Inquiry and Research

Who it’s for
The MA in Leadership Health Specialization is an applied competency-based program offering advanced leadership training for middle and senior managers who lead clinical service departments, health policy development, and community agencies, including those involved in health services, strategic planning, human resources, finance, information technology, communication and other program services. Many of the students in the program have come from provincial and federal ministries of health, regional health authorities and districts, health care agencies, health boards, and private sector health care organizations.

Applicants who do not have the formal academic education to qualify for admission may be assessed on the basis of both their formal education and their informal learning, in accordance with the Flexible Admission Policy.

Outcomes
Graduates of the MA in Leadership with a specialization in Health program return to their careers with a heightened ability to:

• Develop personal, organizational and societal learning practices
• Use systems theory, thinking and planning in problem discovery, identification and solution skills
• Apply concepts and models of strategic leadership within the organization
• Apply action research and evaluation processes to improve decision-making abilities and implement innovation, and create results
• Use business planning processes and organizational performance measures to implement change from concept to evaluation
• Use evidence-based indicators to analyze and develop strategies to engage employers, interest groups and stakeholders in implementing change.