Health Care UST MBA

Curriculum

Here's How It Works

• New cohorts begin each September and move through the 27-month program together as a group, taking two courses at a time.  Each 2-course block lasts approximately 10 weeks.  Students complete 4 courses each semester. 
  2008 / 2009 Schedule
  
  
• On-campus sessions are held twice per semester at the beginning of each two-course block.  These three-and-a-half-day sessions on our Minneapolis campus provide concentrated, face-to-face work with faculty and fellow students.  Faculty bios
  
  
• Online coursework occurs between on-campus sessions and includes lectures, assignments, exams and group work. There are no set class times, so you can accomplish your coursework according to your own schedule, but in collaboration with your cohort colleagues.

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Classes and Timeline
 

First Semester – Fall 2008

MGMT 630 - Overview of the Health Care System
This course provides students with an accurate understanding of the various components of the health care system - providers, consumers, payers, third-parties - and how they interrelate. Students will learn about issues, motivations and incentives that influence all parts of the system. They will also gain an understanding of the political and social environment in which they operate. The course is designed to give all students a common base of understanding early in their curriculum.
Instructor: Fritz Wenzel

DSCI 600 - Statistical Methods for Decision Making
This course provides students with a basic understanding of the role of statistics in the gathering of data, the creation of information and its use in decision-making. Students will learn methods for summarizing data, both numerically and graphically, and for drawing conclusions from sample data. Statistical analyses will be carried out using the computer and statistical software. The focus of the course is on how statistical methods can be applied to business problems to improve outcomes; stress is placed on the design of statistical studies, and collection of data, and the interpretation of results (rather than the details of computation).
Instructor: Thomas Ressler

ACCT 601 - Financial Accounting
Financial accounting is an integral part of the planning, reporting and control functions of every business. It is a means to achieving insights about the firm's financial condition, operating results, cash flows and ownership and capital structure. This course covers the fundamental terminology and calculations of financial accounting and reporting, as well as the comprehension and interpretation of financial statements. Ethical aspects of accounting are included.
Instructor: Catherine Truchinski

MGMT 610 - Human Resource Management
This course surveys and analyzes the major functions within human resources covering such topics as the dynamics of the work-force, diversity and aspects of planning, staffing, legal climate; training and development; compensation; benefits; health/safety and security; employee/labor relations; personnel research; and current and future issues affecting human resource administration. The course deals with the role and challenges within management of human resources in contemporary organizations. This course is appropriate for anyone that has supervisory or management responsibilities.
Instructor: Katie White

Second Semester – Spring 2009

 MGMT 600 - Mgmt of Organizational Behavior
All organizations are impacted by how people behave in those organizations. A key role of a manager is to guide that behavior to successfully accomplish organizational goals. Organization Theory and Behavior is about this aspect of business. The class objectives are for you to (a) gain an understanding of the various theoretical views of behavior in organizations and (b) be able to use these theories to systematically analyze organizational situations and generate appropriate action plans. The course is designed to facilitate the incorporation of your experience and personal values about behavior in organizations in the development of these plans.
Instructor: Sally Power

DSCI 610 - Operations Management
This course regards the student as a consumer of operations management results rather than a producer of the results. The operations function is examined from the general manager's perspective. The role of the operations function is examined. The course discusses the decisions for which the operations manager is accountable. How those decisions are made and the various tools and methods used to make the decisions also will be addressed. You should not expect to become proficient in using these tools; rather you should expect to understand why the tool is appropriate to the decision.
Instuctor: Sanjeev Bordoloi

MKTG 600 - Marketing Management
This course offers a managerial approach to the study of strategic market decision making. It will examine the basic principles of marketing and their use in developing an optimum marketing mix. It will cover such topics as market planning; segmentation and target marketing; channels of distribution; consumer behavior; competitive analysis; pricing, demand analysis and forecasting; promotion, sales management; and product decisions. The course is designed to build a conceptual foundation for understanding and analyzing marketing situations. You will learn a managerial approach to applying marketing principles to practical marketing situations. This course provides a foundation for further education in marketing.
Instructor: Fritz Wenzel

This course is designed to give students an understanding of how cost information is used in planning, decision-making, and performance evaluation. Topics include, but are not limited to, cost allocation including Activity-Based Costing, contribution margin analysis, budgeting and performance evaluation. Ethical aspects of managerial accounting are included.
Instructor: Ron Menaker

Third Semester – Fall 2009

FINC 600 - Financial Management
This course will focus on the financial management of business. It will cover the following subject matter: risk, return, evaluation, cost of capital, capital budgeting, long-term financing, capital structure theory, financial analysis and planning, and working capital management. The international aspect of financial management will be covered as it applies to the subject matter outlined above.
Instructor: Joe White

BETH 601 - Business Ethics
This course will enhance the student's ability to recognize, understand, and express the ethical dimensions of the situations and decisions they may expect to face as professionals. It will provide the knowledge essential to making sound decisions in business and seek to develop the skills and commitments required to navigate complex ethical issues successfully.
Instructor: Dawn Elm

GBEC 630 - Health Care Economics
Important macro- and microeconomic principles are applied to the health care environment. Macroeconomic topics include aggregate economic interrelationships and indicators of economic activity; causes and consequences of health care business cycles; and the impact of government policy. Microeconomic topics include optimization; forecasting techniques; demand and cost estimation; market structure; pricing; decision making under uncertainty; and cost-benefit analysis.
Instructor: Mike McIlhon

MGMT 733 - Financing & Funding The Health Care System
Gain an overall understanding of managed care organizations, how they function and their relationships with other providers. Topics include managed care definitions; attributes of managed care models; history of managed care; health plan perspective, including underwriting, rate setting, payment methodologies and new product design; contracting issues for providers; the economics of managed care; and the future of managed care.
Instructor:  Mark Fisher

Fourth Semester – Spring 2010

MGMT 631 - Community Health
Study the relationships of factors related to community health care and the implication they have for the leaders and mangers of health care organizations. Special emphasis is placed on the impact of epidemiological factors on the usage and delivery patterns of medical care and management of populations.
Instructor: Fritz Wenzel

BLAW 745 - Health Law Biomedical Ethics
Study decision making and planning processes, liability, contracts, torts, medical records, malpractice, consent and tax-related issues.
Instructor: Ryan Johnson

MGMT 732 - Health Care Policy
We will address the socioeconomic, political, ethical and practical issues confronting the medical care system in the United States. Emphasis is given to the trends in providing and financing care in changing markets and governments, as well as the implications for clinics, medical groups and health professionals.
Instructor: Dave Durenberger

MGMT 603 - Leadership
This course will examine the general nature of leadership styles and practices; trends in leadership in American business; and personal leadership values of participating students. Leading will be distinguished from managing through a study of current literature on the subject and through a focus on the roles of defined business and community leaders. The course will be conducted in seminar fashion, where students will be expected to actively participate in the presentation and discussion of materials.
Instructor: Ron Menaker

Fifth Semester – Fall 2010

MGMT 734 - Integrative Study / Major Project
You will prepare a major study of an issue or project which integrates as many of the courses as possible. The study is both written and presented to colleagues in a formal board-like setting.
Instructor: Fritz Wenzel

MGMT 799 - Strategic Management (Capstone)
An integrative approach to the formulation and implementation of organizational strategy and policy, this course focuses on organizational performances as it relates to mission, goals and objectives. You will get practice defining multi-faceted problems and their causes; analyzing internal and external environments; reviewing key corporate and business strategies; formulating alternative strategic options; and addressing the challenges of implementation. Emphasis is on the ethical dimensions of problem solving at the general management level. The course will draw upon the analytical tools and managerial knowledge developed in all previous MBA courses, with application to both for profit and nonprofit organizations.
Instructor: Jack Militello