About this course
- Entry year: 2012/13
- Course code: N29042
- Applications: University
- Level: Postgraduate
- Department: Bristol Business School
- Campus: Frenchay
- Duration: MSc 33 months part-time (block release plus dissertation); Postgraduate Diploma 24 months part-time (block release); Postgraduate Certificate 12 months (block release)
- Delivery: Part-time block release
- Programme leader: Doris Schedlitzki
Introduction
In recent years, the theme of leadership and management development has become increasingly important within the health and social care sector and this programme aims to develop the knowledge and skills needed by those who are and/or who aspire to be managers or leaders within organisations in this sector.
It is run collaboratively by Bristol Business School and the School of Health and Social Care and provides a clear and flexible pathway of study from Postgraduate Certificate to Masters level, providing development across a range of leadership and management subjects tailored towards the health and social care sector.
There is a strong focus on the practical needs of leaders and managers, many of whom may be at an early stage of their management careers. Emphasis is placed on learning from and through experience, and work-based learning is a central feature of the programme.
Structure
Content
Postgraduate Certificate (Year One)
Core Modules:
- Leading and Managing People - providing you with opportunities to develop an understanding of theoretical models, skills and frameworks to underpin leadership and management practice.
- Human Resource Management in Health and Social Care - providing you with a critical awareness and understanding of the key areas of Human Resource Management (HRM) of relevance to managers or aspiring managers working within the Health and Social Care sector.
- Finance for Managers in Health and Social Care - to develop and build upon knowledge and understanding of the principles and techniques of managing finance to support decision-making in a health and social care context.
- Building Effective Working Relationships - aims to develop skills and understanding of how to build effective working relationships. Also the importance within professional and managerial roles working closely with others the differences between people, communication techniques, influencing skills, and conflict management.
Postgraduate Diploma (Year Two)
Core modules:
- Applying Customer Orientated Business Thinking in Health and Social Care or Leading Change - to understand and analyse the nature of the current and future market-place for health and social care services and to support them in learning how to develop and implement their own business plans within this context.
- Evidencing Work Based Learning in Leadership for Health and Social Care - the purpose of this work based learning activity ranges from experiences with clear objectives and outcomes related to improving application of theory to practice, and vice versa, to enhancing core and key competencies related to the leadership aspects of the students' exploration.
Choose one option module from*:
- Coaching and Mentoring
- Project Management
- Strategic Leadership
- Enterprise and Creativity
*The availability of option modules is subject to demand.
Masters (Year Three)
Dissertation:
This phase consists of a dissertation which provides the opportunity to research an area of leadership and management in health and social care of particular interest to you or your organisation. This involves independent study with the support of an academic supervisor.
Teaching and learning
A variety of learning approaches have been integrated throughout the programme with an overall emphasis on active student participation. Guided learning, group learning and independent learning are used throughout the programme. Central to this programme are the two Evidencing Work Based Learning modules where you work in action learning sets. You are encouraged to develop your own action plans and move your learning into practice, sharing your experiences and grounding their learning in the realities of the work place. This design aims to:
- Enable skills beyond immediate learning
- Facilitate inter-professional and inter-agency learning
- Underpin the philosophy of Work Based Learning
- Allow practice to inform the theory
Part-time attendance
The programme is part-time over three years, with the option to progress from the Certificate to the Diploma and/or Masters level immediately or after a break. Most of the modules involve block study of three consecutive days with the exception of the Evidencing Work Based Learning modules, which involve five mornings throughout the year. The programme offers:
- Flexibility for practitioners
- Development pathways to meet personal and organisational goals
- Small learning sets
- Specific skills development
- Learning that incorporates national and local competency frameworks
Assessment
Assessment is through supervised mini-projects, presentations, time-constrained assignments and examinations.
Special Features
Study facilities
Meet leaders of industry
As a student at Bristol Business School, you will have the unique opportunity to hear about the challenges, issues and decisions being made at the highest level of strategic leadership. Our inspirational line up of speakers has included Ian Cheshire, CEO, Kingfisher who spoke on 'Leadership through teams'. For more information, visit the Business School website.
Careers/further study
In recent years, the theme of leadership and management development has become increasingly important within the health and social care sector. This course will equip you with the academic background and credibility for positions of leadership and management within both the NHS and other health services.
Entry
Entry requirements
- An honours degree from a recognised UK Higher Education institution or equivalent from a recognised overseas institution OR
- An HND or equivalent professional award (for example, at NVQ 4), plus two years of relevant work experience OR
- At least two years in a role with leadership or management responsibility with in-house leadership and/or management education/development.
Applicants without an honours degree or equivalent formal academic qualification would require the full support of their organisation and are likely to be working as middle managers in a suitable professional area. Applicants may be interviewed prior to acceptance and may be asked to undertake an additional pre-entry assessment.
Deadline for application:
The deadline for applying for this course is three weeks before the start date.
Fees
Full details of fees for this course can be found on our postgraduate fees pages.
For funding options, please see our funding and scholarship information.
How to apply
Apply for this course online or download an application by clicking on the link in the top right corner of this page, under 'next steps'.
For further information
Page last updated 14 December 2011