Curriculum

Skills-based curriculum to make a difference in healthcare management

In just one year, you’ll learn how to make sound, data-driven decisions and develop the exact skills the healthcare industry seeks, in this joint degree offered through the O'Neill School and the Kelley School of Business. We worked with more than 50 healthcare leaders from across the industry to create a curriculum that delivers real-life competencies through real-life experiences.

You’ll be prepared for a leadership role across the healthcare spectrum, including hospitals, healthcare consulting firms, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, insurance, and long-term care providers.

Intense, holistic preparation to make a difference in healthcare management

Mission

Our mission is to develop transformational healthcare leaders.

Vision

The Indiana University Master of Science in Healthcare Management is an experience that respects the holistic needs of the student and potential employers, thus gaining the loyalty of our alumni and the trust of the community.

  • Co-creating a curriculum with healthcare employers, identifying the competencies employers value and creating strong employer networks and employment opportunities for our students
  • Co-creating a student experience based off past, present, and future student feedback. To incorporate an intentional approach to the student’s needs with respect to their mental, emotional, physical, cultural and social needs as they seek their degree and as alumni.
  • Cultivate a culture that encourages experimentation, mentorship, coaching and real life application of complex theoretical concepts.

Values

  • Respect for All People: Including students, community partners, potential employers, staff, and faculty.
  • Continuous Improvement: We are always looking for a better way. We create a safe and trust filled environment in which we can try out new ideas, methods and activities.
  • Inclusion: Recognizing that our differences make us stronger. We respect and seek out inclusion of differences, realizing we can learn from one another.
  • Authenticity: Conducting ourselves with transparency and vulnerability.
  • Empathy: Considering others’ feelings from their point of view, rather from our own.
  • Mutual Trust and Shared Accountability: We trust the intentions of our team and accept responsibility for our own actions. We believe the sum is greater than its individual parts.

The MSHM requires 36 credit hours of coursework. You’ll complete 18 credit hours through the Kelley School of Business and 18 credit hours through the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

The Practicum experience is a carefully designed, holistic immersion experience that allows you to spend 9 months as a project manager in a healthcare setting. You'll gain leadership experience as you put what you've learned into action and receive real-time feedback. This counts as 9 credit-hours toward your degree and depending on your aid package could be a paid experience.

Previous practicum sites have included:

  • Mayo Clinic
  • IU Health
  • Riley Children's Hospital
  • Humana
  • Medtronic
  • INCOG Biopharma
  • Trilogy Health Services

Download the MSHM Practicum Experience flyer

Core Classes
  • Health Policy
  • Heath Management
  • Leadership
  • Data Analysis
  • Operations
  • Marketing
Examples of electives
  • Internships
  • Healthcare Finance
  • Human Resources Management
  • Managing Diversity
  • Project Management
  • Washington Campus Program
  • Vietnam Study Abroad Trip
  • Strategy
  • Negotiation
  • Management Consulting

Healthcare Literacy
Reimbursement structures, multiple payer groups and regulatory bodies create a complex system in which healthcare leaders must operate. Knowledge of these systems is necessary to inform business strategy, formalize organizational relationships, and ensure regulatory compliance.

Business Acumen
A foundation in core business areas of finance, marketing, accounting, operations/supply chain, organization behavior and strategy are necessary to ensure that healthcare leaders are able to be responsible stewards of resources.

Problem Solving
Healthcare leaders deal with a host of complex issues including service delivery problems, management and people problems, logistics, maintenance and resource allocation problems. Healthcare leaders rely on a methodical problem-solving approach.

Leadership Skills/Emotional Intelligence
This is the demonstrated ability to inspire individual and organizational excellence, create a shared vision and successfully manage change to attain an organization’s strategic ends and successful performance. Students will demonstrate interpersonal and leadership skills necessary for lifelong career success. These skills reflect effective self-assessment, communication, and collaboration within an organization.

Data and Analytics Competency
Close to 70 percent of healthcare leaders say that health IT tools are “essential” for organizational growth and improving the consumer experience, as revealed by a survey from SAP and Oxford Economics. Data is at the heart of decision making at all levels of healthcare organizations. This skill enables leaders to make decisions based upon collection, appraisal, and analysis of data.

Career Foresight
Define a personal career vision and exhibit behavior to achieve it. To quote Stephen Covey, we will “Start with the end in mind.”

Learn how to ethically and effectively influence the public policy process through our intensive educational and professional development course in Washington, D.C. You’ll study with policy experts, political and government leaders, and key players from business, associations, media, think tanks, and NGOs.

This elective course varies depending on COVID-19 restrictions. 

Enhance your learning experience with this three-week global immersion course focused on challenges and successes of healthcare in Vietnam. Travel across four cities in Vietnam while learning from Vietnamese faculty, government officials from the Ministry of Health, leaders of NGOs and international development agencies, and cultural speakers. 

As a healthcare leader, you’ll need to know how to coach yourself and your team to ensure maximum performance.

Students will also successfully demonstrate and document self-care behaviors on a semester basis through effective utilization of the eight Dimensions of Wellness.

Be sure to work with your advisor as you make your schedule.