IMU’s MBA in Healthcare Management Produces Next Generation of Managers for a Global Healthcare Industry

In this era of digital transformation, the healthcare industry is evolving at such an astonishing pace. Professionals who aspire to achieve a thriving career in the higher management position should not remain stagnant. Managers in healthcare must be agile to address the expectations of patients and their families and communities. These managers face a wide range of challenges, including but not limited to tackling issues around cost and cost containment, new treatment modalities and technologies, increasing popularity of digital applications, changing disease patterns, an ageing population, health maintenance and health improvements.

The Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in Healthcare Management programme at IMU aims to equip students with the essential management acumen necessary for assuming leadership positions in the healthcare industry. The programme is designed for knowledge and skill attainment to manage health-related organisations such as hospitals, clinics, health authorities, non-governmental organisations, insurance and managed-care organisations, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical equipment, and other health-related industries. Even non–health-related organisations can gain from managers with the skill and knowledge in good healthcare in their workforce by applying disease prevention strategies and health promotion activities in the workplace (“a healthy workforce is a productive workforce”).

The programme can be studied in three levels; the first is Postgraduate Certificate followed by Postgraduate Diploma and finally MBA, which allows multiple entries and multiple exit pathways in line with the mission and vision of the Ministry of Education to improve better access to lifelong learning.

To date, nine students have graduated from the MBA in Healthcare Management programme which had its inaugural intake in 2019. One student graduated from Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare Management and another eight from Postgraduate Certificate of Business Administration in Healthcare Management. All of these students in the programme came from various backgrounds, including nurses, quantitative surveyors, biochemists, lawyers, doctors, lab managers, recent medical graduates and general managers.

Feedback from graduates
Dr Mohd Ab Hadi Bin Hairan @ Tohiar, a Medical Officer in Charge of a unit in a private hospital	Dr Mohd Ab Hadi felt that the knowledge and skills he gained from this programme have immensely helped him manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The unprecedented challenges he faced during the pandemic had propelled him to develop critical leadership, business acumen, and strategic decision-making skills to ensure the organisation is resilient. More on Dr Hadi’s MBA journey: Extending My Education Beyond a Medical Degree with an IMU MBA in Healthcare Management
Sandra So, a Director of Nursing and Marketing at Cengild GI Medical Center, Bangsar South	Sandra said that studying MBAHM gave her the knowledge that positively guided her operational decisions. With the knowledge garnered, she provided impactful solutions and decisions to her organisation and promoted cost-effectiveness and workflow efficiency. More on Sandra’s MBA journey: Challenging yet Memorable Times Studying IMU MBA in Healthcare Management
Chung Shin Fung, a Quantity Surveyor in a private company that deals with construction and healthcare subsidiaries	Chung Shin Fung conveyed this message: “My choice of choosing IMU to pursue my MBA was the right choice. IMU has given me a great opportunity to gather immense knowledge from the learned lecturers and the experienced high-profile guest lecturers we were introduced to, both in class and during field visits. These invaluable lessons will sharpen my skills and competence in the business healthcare industry that I ventured. Essentially, I feel that this programme has helped me to improve my administrative skills, especially in terms of the financial and operational management of my work.” More on Shin Fung’s MBA journey: First IMU MBA in Healthcare Management Graduate Shares Her Joys and Challenges

Although completing the MBA in a short duration of 15 months in full-time mode is challenging for many, the programme has structured modules that guide the students to manage their time to cope with their busy working schedule and study time. Therefore, students gain the skill of time management by finding the correct balance of time for work, study, and family, applying principles taught to them during this study.

Current student, Prasis Ja Singh, an Auxiliary Nursing Quality Coordinator at Prince Sultan Intensive Care Unit (PSICU) in Saudi Arabia, reflected that his current career had identified MBA as an option to broaden his career path. In his opinion, MBA is the answer for his plateaued career growth due to his highly specialised job scope and limited networking. Therefore, after deep consideration, Prasis chose to register for IMU’s MBA in Healthcare Management programme. The relevancy of the subjects, nurturing educators, networking opportunities, state-of-the-art resources and high-quality education is why Prasis decided to pursue his MBA at IMU, even though he is currently in Saudi Arabia.