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Master of Health Services Administration-UMAA and
Master of Business Administration-UM Dearborn (MHSA/MBA-Dearborn)

The UM-Dearborn School of Management (SOM) and the UM-Ann Arbor School of Public Health (SPH) offer a jointly administered Dual Degree program leading to the Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA) and the Master of Business Administration (MBA). This program takes advantage of many areas of overlap between the two curricula, and allows admitted students to receive both degrees upon completion of a minimum of 81 graduate credits. (The department also offers a dual MHSA/MBA in collaboration with the UM Ann Arbor Business School.)

The UM-Dearborn MBA requires a minimum of 60 credits. This is offered in two formats – through evening courses targeted to full-time working professionals taking part-time course loads; and through web-based courses.

The program is currently open only to residential MHSA students. The department is working on a plan to extend the dual degree to MHSA Executive Program students.

Program Benefits

The MBA offers a number of skills beyond the MHSA, including expanded coverage of finance, marketing, and strategies as practiced and industries other than health care. It is valuable to understand the management of for-profit corporations in health care, and it provides a broader foundation for senior management positions in all sectors.

The MBA-Dearborn opportunity offers students great scheduling flexibility from being able to take evening and web-based MBA courses and an opportunity to earn both degrees with a total of 81 credits. (The MBA is available in a fully web-based format.) These advantages allow students who are accepted to both programs to pursue full-time work during the latter years of their study.

Admissions, Student Services, and Administration

Students must apply to and be accepted by each school to pursue the dual degree. Students already enrolled in either degree may apply for the second degree before completing one-half of their degree requirements. Applicants submit either GRE or GMAT test scores in support of their applications. Admission to the MBA requires two years full-time professional work experience. Admission to the residential MHSA does not require experience, although relevant experience is considered in the admission decision. The residential MHSA assumes students will carry full-time class loads.

The Dual MHSA/MBA is co-directed by the Director of the MHSA residential program and the Director of Graduate Programs for the SOM. Students will have an advisor in each school.

Curriculum

The courses taught for the MHSA are tailored to the health care industry, while MBA courses generalize to a broader range of business and industry. For three areas of study -- organizational behavior, information systems, and microeconomics – dual MHSA/MBA students may choose either the relevant MHSA course or the MBA course. Students take MHSA courses in the areas of law, operations, managerial accounting, and advanced finance; and take MBA courses in the areas of advanced statistics, financial accounting, marketing, and finance. The rest of the curriculum includes courses offered solely by the SOM (e.g. strategy, strategic innovation), or solely by the SPH (e.g. health services systems, epidemiology).

Depending upon where students choose to take their three “either-or” courses, the curriculum allows from one to four MBA elective courses, and from zero to three MHSA elective courses. To earn both degrees, students must complete at least 36 credits from the SOM and 45 credits from the SPH (note that 4 of the 45 SPH credits are for basic statistics, which is an admission prerequisite for the MBA).