The health care industry in the United States increasingly requires skilled management talents in all aspects or organization, delivery, and financing of services. This specialty area or track is designed for individuals interested in such responsibilities. Required courses emphasize the competencies and conceptual frameworks associated with effective health management practice. Electives permit specialization in several areas, including finance, marketing, health care information systems, and evaluation. This area is designed to provide more specialized education and training related to national, state, and local health policies as well as to both public and private sector health and medical care programs.
Required courses emphasize theory and methods in policy analysis and program evaluation.
Elective courses focus on substantive areas of interest and emphasize application with students being encouraged to select elective courses from other USF departments as appropriate. This specialty area or track prepares individuals to work either abroad or at home in the international health system, with special emphasis given to managerial positions in international agencies or organizations. Students are expected to learn, on the one hand, the principles and techniques of the health policy and management disciplines relevant to any geographic area and, on the other, the cultural, socioeconomic and technological conditions of foreign nations, especially in Third World developing nations, that mediate the character and scope of needed health policies and management practices. Required courses emphasize the application of theses principles to international health issues and settings. Elective courses emphasize particular applications in terms of either specific management techniques or foreign cultures.