U of M Launches Executive MHA Program: Saudi Arabia
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (July 19, 2012) – The University of Minnesota School of Public Health has launched an Executive Masters of Health Administration (MHA) program at the King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh, Saudi. The program is the first of its kind available in Saudi Arabia.
The program will start with an initial class of 26 students from the KFMC working under the direction of School of Public Health faculty and following the same curriculum as existing Executive MHA students at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus.
Like the domestic Executive MHA program, the Saudi Arabia Executive MHA is designed for employed executives, physicians, and healthcare professionals. The program allows students to get a University of Minnesota MHA degree in 25 months.
Prospective students were nominated by KFMC leadership. They then enrolled via online application to the University of Minnesota and were accepted based on relevant criteria. More than 70 physicians, clinicians and hospital managers made initial application.
Why a satellite program?
Earlier this spring, School of Public Health professors Ira Moscovice, Ph.D., head of the Division of Health Policy and Management, Dan Zismer, Ph.D., director of the Master in Healthcare Administration Program and Tom Gilliam, administrative director of Executive Programs traveled to Riyadh to launch the new MHA Program.
While the two institutions stand half a world apart, many of the challenges facing both countries are the same, from a growing private health insurance market to hospital competition and the need for a sufficient, dedicated primary care network.
“We were immediately impressed with the caliber of students and their curiosity for debate and discussion regarding health care in the country and globally,” Moscovice said of the initial visit to Riyadh.
“Our full-time MHA Program continues to rank 2nd among all health management programs nationally,” added Zismer. “Sharing our expertise abroad was the perfect next step. Problems seen in other countries mimic those we see in our healthcare systems, and it’s important to learn from each other.”
Leaders from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health MHA and the Division of Health Policy and Management hope this partnership is the first of many international satellite programs, to help ensure the global and local medical community moves forward together.
For more than 60 years, the University of Minnesota School of Public Health has been among the top accredited schools of public health in the nation. With a mission focused on research, teaching, and service, the school attracts nearly $100 million in sponsored research each year, has more than 100 faculty members and more than 1,300 students, and is engaged in community outreach activities locally, nationally and in dozens of countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.sph.umn.edu. The School’s Centers for Public Health Education and Outreach promotes lifelong learning to bridge academic and public health practice communities.