Management in Health

Faculty: Interdisciplinary
Degree(s): Bachelor of Health
Campus: Saint John

Management

Good healthcare requires more than doctors and nurses. It involves managing large budgets, finding ways to reduce long wait times in emergency rooms, making sure there are adequate supplies of vaccines and other medicines available when they are needed, and recruiting, hiring and managing the workforce of a hospital, nursing home, or community health clinic. It also includes activities like overseeing the health and safety of employees at a manufacturing plant, planning effective public health education campaigns about the health risks of vaping, and connecting the manufacturers of new medical devices with the surgeons who will use them. 

What all of these activities have in common is that they require management skills: financial management; human resources management; strategic planning; marketing; understanding of how organizations function, and how they can work better. These skills are in high demand in New Brunswick and elsewhere.

The Bachelor of Health – Management in Health Major is a 4-year interdisciplinary program offering a solid training in management with a focus on the health sector. All Bachelor of Health students complete core courses covering the biological and social determinants of health, current health issues, health policy, the management of healthcare services, and data analysis.

In addition to the core Health courses taken each year, Management in Health majors take a series of required and elective courses which develop the business skills necessary in the operation of various types of organizations in the health sector. The program is also comprehensive preparation for further professional or graduate studies.

Why Management in Health at UNB?

UNB Saint John offers one of the few Bachelor’s degrees in healthcare management in Canada. Our program provides students with a solid grounding in health and wellness in all its dimensions, as well as in-depth training in their chosen major in healthcare management.

Hands-on learning

Bachelor of Health students experience a variety of work settings in the healthcare system and in the community through job-shadowing and internships. 

In the fourth year capstone course, students from all three majors (Health and Society, Management in Health, and Biomedical Sciences and Health) come together to work in multidisciplinary teams to analyze and address a critical health issue identified in consultation with experts in the healthcare sector.   

Skills you will acquire

  • Knowledge of the biological and social determinants of health
  • An understanding of how the Canadian healthcare system works
  • A foundation in data analytics & health information technology
  • Business management skills applicable to a healthcare setting, with an opportunity to acquire deeper knowledge in one or more areas such as accounting, human resource management, marketing, operations management and/or strategic planning.
  • Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
  • Communicating effectively in the workplace and with a variety of audiences
  • How to work effectively in an interdisciplinary team

Facts

  • UNB’s Health program is unique in Canada in offering an interdisciplinary core curriculum integrating arts, science and business and offering corresponding majors in management, biological sciences, and health and society.
  • This is the only Bachelor of Health program offered in New Brunswick.
  • The teaching faculty are drawn from all three Faculties at UNB Saint John, and include researchers in health sciences, the social sciences and humanities, and business.
  • All Health students have a common first year. They take their HEAL classes together and progress through their degree as a group.
  • The interdisciplinary core courses in the Health program are team-taught.
  • Students in the Health program at UNB Saint John benefit from its location at Tucker Park, alongside Dalhousie Medicine NB (DalMedNB), the Horizon Health Network (HHN) Saint John Regional Hospital and New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) Allied Health programs. Together, UNB Saint John, DalMedNB, NBCC and the Horizon Health Network form a collaborative group united by the common goal of improving health outcomes for New Brunswickers by marshalling the skills and talents of a multitude of disciplines and units.

Sample courses

All Bachelor of Health students take a series of interdisciplinary courses in Health, including:

  • HEAL 1001 Current Issues and Future Trends in Health
  • HEAL 2003 Methods in Health Research and Information Literacy
  • HEAL 3001 History and Structure of the Canadian Health Care System
  • HEAL 4001 Transformation Through Collaboration and Innovation

Management in Health Majors also takes a set of required and elective courses in business administration. For example:

  • BA 1216 Accounting for Managers
  • BA 2303 Principles of Marketing
  • BA 2858 Introduction to Human Resources Management
  • BA 3661 Supply Chain Management
  • BA 4857 Management of Occupational Health and Employee Wellness

Career opportunities

  • Health care administrator (for example, managing a medical practice, or community health services like home visits to seniors)
  • Hospital administrator
  • Workplace Health and Wellness Coordinator
  • Public relations and communications
  • Fundraiser for a health-related organization or foundation
  • Health data analyst
  • Medical sales representative
  • Human resources officer

With further study:

  • Lawyer
  • MBA (Master of Business Administration)
  • Medical doctor
  • Teacher
  • Researcher
  • Graduate school in Public Administration, Public Health and Health Systems, Health Policy, Health Evaluation, Health Informatics, or related fields.

 For more information, see the Bachelor of Health.

Next steps