Appendix 3: Master of Health Services Management

Students must provide completed forms for the following to the Master of Health Service Management program by the specified deadlines:

• Consent to enter information into information systems (e.g., HSPNet) used to share student information for job shadowing and other experiential placements with health agencies and organizations;
• Informed Consent/ Indemnity Agreement from University of Lethbridge Risk and Safety; and
• Driver’s Agreement form from University of Lethbridge Risk and Safety.

About experiential learning requirements

Students registered in the Master of Health Service Management program must complete an experiential learning activity each academic term. The activity will be a graded component of one (1) course in each academic term, with the course specified by the relevant Graduate Program Office. Job shadowing is normally the experiential learning activity, but the relevant Graduate Program Committee may substitute other experiential learning for all students in an academic term.

Each job shadow normally consists of five (5) to eight (8) hours of observation/interview/discussion with one or more managers who are engaged in work related to the topics covered in the course with which the job shadow is associated that term. Students may be asked to do up to four (4) hours of advance preparation (such as reading or researching topics) in addition to the five (5) to eight (8) hours spent job shadowing. Any managers who are shadowed must be working in a health care setting (broadly defined), such as hospitals, public health units, clinics, laboratories, private health practice offices, or administrative units that manage health care related entities. Students must not provide any patient care during the job shadow.

Arranging the experiential learning requirements

Typically, there will be one student per job shadow. However, the relevant Graduate Program Office may arrange for more than one student where circumstances warrant, such as for specialized topics, or to avoid administrative burdens on agencies providing the job shadowing. Other experiential activities may involve individuals, teams, or the class as whole for a particular activity.

The relevant Graduate Program Office will make strong efforts to arrange experiential activities, but cannot guarantee that sufficient opportunities can be identified for each individual or team, or that the days and times of the activity will suit students’ work schedules or other commitments. Students are thus encouraged to arrange their own activities when activities are being done at the individual or team level, particularly if they lack flexibility in their work schedule or other commitments. The relevant Graduate Program Office will provide information early in the preceding academic term if the experiential activity will not be a job shadow.

Students may be required to travel within the province of Alberta to complete the experiential activity. Where travel conditions are unsafe, students are ill, or otherwise have circumstances precluding them from attending the experiential activity that are beyond their control, students are asked to notify the relevant Graduate Program Office and experiential activity host as soon as possible that they are unable to conduct the activity. The Graduate Program Office will then notify the relevant course instructor. Students should then make alternative arrangements with the experiential host. If the host is unable to arrange an alternate time, students are expected to arrange their own activity, and follow the procedures for a self-arranged experiential activity noted below.

Students who intend to complete a job shadow or other experiential learning activity arranged by the relevant Graduate Program Office must complete all required placement forms by the deadlines stated by the relevant Graduate Program Office, or they will be responsible for arranging their own experiential activity, normally of the same type as stated by the relevant Graduate Program Office for the academic term. The required placement forms are normally required by the midpoint of the preceding academic term (e.g., October 15 for the Spring term; February 15 for the Summer term; and June 15 for the Fall term). For the first academic term of the program, students are requested to provide their placement forms by the deadline provided by the relevant Graduate Program Office.

When students are arranging their own job shadows, they should obtain the Self-Arranged Experiential Learning Request form from the relevant Graduate Program Office and obtain instructor approval. Self-arranged experiential learning must meet the same criteria as those arranged by the relevant Graduate Program Office with respect to hours, location, etc. The deadline for completed Self-Arranged Experiential Learning Request forms to be submitted to the relevant course instructor and relevant Graduate Program Office is the same as when the relevant Graduate Program Office organizes experiential learning. Self-arranged experiential learning may take place in the same organization that employs the student, but not the same unit/area in which the student works.

Experiential learning requirement guidelines

Students are urged to dress professionally (e.g., business casual at a minimum) for the organization/agency in which the job shadow takes place and to follow the usual norms of professional conduct. In the event of an adverse incident, such as an injury, students should follow the procedures specified by University of Lethbridge Risk and Safety. The Risk and Safety website is at www.ulethbridge.ca/risk-and-safety-services. Students should contact Risk and Safety if they have questions about what they need to do.

Completing experiential learning requirements

Upon completion of a job shadow, students will write a reflection paper which will be assessed by the course instructor for which the job shadow is a graded component. Guidelines and deadlines for the reflection paper will be provided by the course instructor. The reflection paper normally comprises 15% of the course grade. Other experiential activities may have different assessments and weights; details will be provided by the instructor of the course which includes the experiential activity.

Students are expected to attend all face-to-face class sessions. These sessions are regarded as an integral part of the program, and part of the commitment made by students in joining the program to contribute to individual and collective student learning. The only exceptions to this expectation are for illness, either the student’s or that of a dependent, or unsafe travel conditions. The relevant Graduate Program Office will provide information on the dates for the face-to-face sessions several months in advance so that students can schedule work commitments to avoid conflicts.

Missed assessments that are the result of non-attendance at the face-to-face sessions will be managed by course instructors according to the course outline. While course instructors may be able to record sessions, this will be at their discretion and the availability of technology. There are no assurances regarding the quality of any recordings. Instructors will determine their own policies regarding how students obtain any notes from missed face-to-face sessions.

About the written project

Students complete Health Services Management 6100 - Integrated Experience Point Project (Health Services Management 6100) which requires students to develop a written project as the culminating activity for the Master of Health Services Management program.

Health Services Management 6100 is offered according to the schedule provided by the relevant Graduate Program Office Normally, Health Services Management 6100 will be offered after the other coursework has been completed (i.e., after the fifth academic term). However, students are encouraged to begin work on the written project in the Fall term of their second year, although they may choose to begin work in the Summer term following their first year in the program. An orientation to the requirements of the written project will be held in the preceding academic term of the second year, along with a discussion of timelines and processes so that students can begin work on it in advance of the course.

The written project combines conceptual and practical knowledge as well as skills and student reflection from throughout their program. Students must demonstrate their learning by identifying and addressing a question or topic related to their current or future professional life as in health services management.

Elements of the written project

The written project includes four (4) elements (more detail on the written project and presentation will be provided in the orientation to Health Services Management 6100 and in the course outline):

1. An explanation of the situation the student wishes to address related to management of health services. This can be a problem, an opportunity for improvement, or the application of techniques not currently used or not widely adopted in health care management. The problem or opportunity can be based on personal experience, what has been observed during job shadows, or practitioner or scholarly literature. The explanation should describe the importance of the situation and outline how the student will address it in their written project.

2. A literature review that provides background on the problem or opportunity, including key concepts, practices, and observations from course material, personal reflections, practitioner literature, and/or scholarly literature.

3. Student analysis of the situation, with the goal of improving the identified situation through application and implementation of concepts, practices, and/or principles that could result in better healthcare management through greater effectiveness, efficiency, or other improvements. The proposed concepts, practices, or principles should be clearly identified and assessed. The analysis will typically comprise the largest section of the written project and display clear evidence of critical thinking. Students will provide specific metrics to be used to better determine the success of their proposal and that are aligned with the types of improvements the student has claimed would occur

4. An implementation plan for their proposal, including needed resources, timeframes, and how barriers to implementation will be addressed.

The student should draw on material (either directly discussed or related to the disciplines in the modules) from at least four of the five modules of the program either in their literature review, in their analysis, or in their implementation plan.

Data collection

Students may use personal reflections, anecdotal data of others’ reflections or experiences, or archival data such as that reported in publications in their written project. Formal data collection such as through surveys or formal interviews of larger numbers of individuals is not expected; students who wish to do more formal data collection are strongly encouraged to discuss this with the Health Services Management 6100 course instructor as early as possible. Human ethics clearance is required for such data collection.

Format of the written project

The written project is approximately 40 pages (9,000 words) in length including references and any appendices. However, quality is more important than length and written projects may be shorter if particularly concisely written or slightly longer if successful development of the analysis requires it. The current edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) should be used for written project style, citations, and references; the previous edition is acceptable if the current edition has been in publication less than one (1) year.

Assessment of written project

The written project will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• A clear explanation of the situation to be addressed, supported by an explanation of why addressing the situation is important to health care management, based on personal observation and/or research.
• A thoughtful synthesis of course material, existing practitioner and/or scholarly works to provide a clear background, with appropriate application of relevant concepts, principles, and methods.
• A focused discussion of one or more plausible alternatives to address the situation, with assessment of the alternatives and a recommendation for one (1) approach if more than one (1) alternative is discussed. The alternatives and their assessment should flow logically from the analysis.
• Appropriate choice of metrics that could plausibly be used to assess the success of the student’s chosen alternative.
• The discussion of how to implement the chosen alternative, with clear consideration of implementation barriers and risks and plausible approaches to address these.
• Appropriate incorporation of concepts and knowledge from at least four (4) of the five (5) program modules, or the underlying disciplines.
• Clear conclusions and recommendations that flow logically from the analysis and address the situation initially identified.
• Demonstration of some combination of originality, insight, and creativity in identification of the problem, the analysis, or implementation plan.
• Quality of written project, organization, and logical flow of ideas, with appropriate use of headings, subheadings, tables, and figures.
• Mastery of grammar, paragraph, and sentence structure in keeping with the requirements of professional management.
• Formatting style and citations conform to an appropriate edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association requirements for written project style, citation style, and referencing.

The written project presentation

Students enrolled in Health Services Management 6100 normally present their final written projects. This may be done in an asynchronous manner or in a face-to-face session, as specified in the Health Services Management 6100 course outline. Presentations will typically be a 15-to-20-minute oral presentation, with subsequent opportunities to discuss the presentation. The instructor will gauge the effectiveness of the presentations on five (5) main criteria:

1. Clarity and interest: Presentations must be involving and informative, avoiding an over-reliance on lecture.

2. Thoroughness: Colleagues should come away with a sufficiently thorough grasp of the material to be able to discuss it intelligently.

3. Depth of Analysis: The student must demonstrate a clear understanding of the relevant concepts and some combination of originality, insight, creativity, as well as an awareness of differing points of view. The presentation must go beyond repeating what others have said and contribute something new to understanding of the topic.

4. Argumentation: The student must defend their analysis and recommendations using logical arguments and carefully selected supportive detail.

5. Discussion: The degree to which the student has achieved the above goals should be reflected in the liveliness of the subsequent discussion.

Transitioning from the Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management to the Master of Health Services Management program

Students who are currently enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management may apply to the relevant Graduate Program Committee to transition to the Master of Health Services Management program at any point in the Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management program.

Applications include a letter documenting the rationale for the application to transition. The relevant Graduate Program Committee will consider this along with their transcript of courses taken during the Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management program. If the relevant Graduate Program Committee approves the transition, students must complete all remaining courses required for the Master of Health Services Management program, normally starting in the next academic term.

Students who have already completed the Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management follow the application procedures specified in the Graduate Studies Calendar and Course Catalogue.

Transitioning from the Master of Health Services Management to the Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management program

Students who are currently enrolled in the Master of Health Services Management program may apply to the relevant Graduate Program Committee to transition to the Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management program at any point during the Master of Health Services Management program.

Applications include a letter documenting the rationale for the application to transition. The relevant Graduate Program Committee will consider this along with their transcript of courses taken during the Master of Health Services Management program. If the relevant Graduate Program Committee approves the transition, students will complete only the remaining courses required for the Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management program, normally starting the academic term following the approval.