Healthcare Management MSc (Armed Forces)

Postgraduate degree

Develop your skills and become a dynamic healthcare leader with our online master’s degree. Use your military qualifications for advanced entry.

  • Develop an advanced understanding of key topics including disaster prevention, change management and ethical decision making
  • Learn from experienced and passionate tutors
  • Enhance your career and take the next steps in healthcare management
  • Approved provider for the Ministry of Defence Learning Credit Scheme (ELCAS)
  • Be part of the University of the Year (THE)


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About your Armed Forces Healthcare Management MSc

Our online Armed Forces Healthcare Management MSc is ideal if you are a leader or manager in a health or social care setting, or someone looking to step into this role. You’ll build on your existing experience within your industry and gain not only the knowledge and skills to reach your full potential as a manager, but the emotional tools to lead with empathy and drive positive organisational change. You’ll study online giving you the flexibility to achieve your career aspirations around your commitments to the armed forces.

Course highlights

  • Flexible online course designed to fit around the demands of Military life
  • Enhance your professional practice and make a real difference in your workplace
  • Develop the knowledge and skills to meet today's healthcare challenges
  • Use your ELCAS credits towards the course fees

How you'll study

This course is studied 100% online
Course length

1.5-2 years depending on eligibility for an advanced entry route

Start dates

Start in January or September

Application deadlineOur next deadline is

30th April 2024

Fees: £5,467 -£8,200

Payment plans available

UK Quality Assured

Course overview

Management and leadership in the healthcare sector is increasingly important worldwide. And with The World Health Organization placing greater emphasis than ever before on the need for managers to have appropriate competencies, and the NHS promoting specific values and principles of care, an Armed Forces Healthcare Management MSc is a valuable tool in the development of healthcare services.

You’ll learn how healthcare organisations operate in today’s climate whilst developing the full range of management skills needed to help organisations achieve their strategic ambitions, exploring insights from the business world to further your understanding. You’ll be able to use these skills to develop approaches to management and leadership and be well equipped to put in place mechanisms which support the development of organisational learning.

You'll explore the important social factors, and others, which influence managing and leading both organisations and individuals, learning with other current and aspiring managers and leaders from a range of health and social care organisations from around the world.

Our Masters degree will equip you with the knowledge, skills and emotional tools you need to meet today's healthcare challenges. Key topics include:

  • Resilience and prevention of disasters
  • Leadership, management and change management skills
  • Shared interprofessional/multidisciplinary learning
  • Inter-professional/interagency working
  • Accountability
  • Ethical decision-making and its application to practice
  • Critical reflection on professional practice

Designed for you

ARU recognises and gives credit for your military training and offers advanced entry routes for members of the Armed Forces. Depending on your rank, training and experience, you may qualify for Accredited Prior Learning (APL). APL can help you meet the course entry requirements, reduce the number of modules you need to study to complete the degree, and potentially reduce the cost of studying with us. Each application is considered on an individual basis so if you would like to know if you’re eligible for an advanced entry route please do not hesitate to contact us.

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Modules

In order to successfully complete your master's degree you will need to complete 4 core modules and 1 optional module. If you are eligible for an advanced entry route you may not need to complete all of the modules below. Please contact us for more information.

Modules are subject to change and availability.

Organisational Transformation in Health and Social Care

Health and social care institutions (e.g. NHS) are continuously striving to improve themselves and attain excellence against a backdrop of relentless change. The ability to accept rapid and significant change as an inevitable consequence of life is a pre-requisite for organisational survival. We’ll cover the ability of organisations to adopt change rather than merely adapt to it as one of the major hall marks of a learning organisation. You’ll discover how organisational learning becomes the mechanism by which organisational competencies can keep pace with national, local or international challenges. The development of whole-system change initiatives have become the cornerstone; the gold standard approach in managing complex change manifested through individuals who seek to improve service delivery.

Change is inevitable, and it is readily accepted that to remain the same increases organisational risk, however, applying change management strategies to complex and high challenge organisations can be a difficult task yet essential task in today's pursuit of organisational efficiencies. You’ll explore change theory, strategic formation alongside organisational change, the application of advanced technologies and the resilience requirements of your organisation.

Global Leadership

You’ll learn about leadership styles, emotional intelligence and will have the opportunity to learn about your own leadership traits and styles. Leaders predominantly create context and together we’ll explore the skills required to successfully mould and develop the context in a complex evolving environment.

We’ll examine the fitness of health and social care institutions to tackle urgent global issues. It consists of three elements: 1) effective decision making 2) adoption of a global approach, and 3) creation of a new business paradigm. We consider the related concept of 'MisLeadership', which looks at how leaders have often failed to achieve the optimum outcomes for those they lead.

Advancing Professional Decision Making (Optional)

Responding to the continuously changing nature of service design and redesign of health and social care systems. We’ll support you, as health and social care practitioners, to develop and extend your role for advanced practice as you prepare for more autonomous and more integrated organisational roles and functions. You’ll possess the knowledge and skills to take and implement complex decisions in a rapidly changing health and social care sector environment. As advanced practitioners, you’ll have the potential to contribute to the need for organisational transformations across the care sectors.

This is particularly important in advanced organisational practice, and we’ll encourage you to focus on new or advanced areas of service development for effective organisational decision making. You’ll need to be able to utilise both strategic and operational decision-making skills at an advanced level to accommodate national, and where relevant international, strategic intentions with local implementation needs and adjustments.

Organisational and Individual Disaster Resilience (Optional)

Disasters (e.g. floods and earthquakes), pandemics (e.g. COVID-19), major emergencies and many other situations and events cause disruptions to the operation of health and social care. These disruptions often reduce effectiveness and threatens health and social care continuity. Health and social care services are highly dependent on interdisciplinary set of parameters such as infrastructure, management and human resources all of which are essential for the continuity of these critical services and demonstrate the complexity of these services.

We’ll equip you to assess and improve the resilience of your organisation. Responding to communities’ need for more effective and less interruptive health and social care services, by integrating resilience in the way the organisation operates. You’ll reflect on this complexity and the interdisciplinary nature of these services whether you are from medical, paramedical, military, engineering, or other backgrounds. You’ll specifically develop broad and detailed knowledge about the components of risks, disaster typologies, vulnerability assessment, emergency complexities and disaster response phases.

We’ll provide a framework, which’ll allow you to recognise the need for resilience, and to demonstrate capability to assess and address at least one of its key parameters that has the potential to affect the continuity of health or social care service.

Postgraduate Research Design

This module is designed to give you the necessary tools to identify and plan research in order to address real-world problems within your practice, or address existing knowledge gaps within your field. The module will provide a framework allowing you to propose and justify a research question and design appropriate to your professional practice.

Major Project

The Major Project, central to the Masters award and enables you to demonstrate your ability to synthesise learning from previous modules and use your learning as the basis for planning, conducting and writing up a research or work-based project.

Assessment

How you’ll be assessed will vary between modules. This is in order to assist you in developing submission evidence for Management and Leadership professional recognition later. Assignments include the production of reports, essays, a portfolio and Major Project.

How you'll study

Our Healthcare Management MSc (Armed Forces) is studied 100% online.

You’ll study through Canvas, our world-class online Learning Management System (LMS), which can be accessed from your phone, PC or tablet at home or on the move. Canvas provides instant access to study materials, forums, and support from tutors and classmates, as well as enabling easy submission of your assignments.

On successful completion of your studies, you’ll be invited to attend a graduation ceremony on campus. If attending the ceremony in person is not possible then we’ll arrange to have your certificate sent to you.

Supported distance learning

We understand the need to be flexible when working within the armed forces with changes to location and non-standard working hours as well as your personal commitments and responsibilities. We also understand that distance learning is different to traditional campus study and if you’re new to online study you may have concerns or apprehensions about studying your online psychology degree remotely, and that’s natural.

To help put your mind at ease we have a dedicated Distance Learning Support Team to help and support you throughout your time at ARU, starting with your first online induction and staying with you right through to graduation. In addition, you’ll also be supported by specialist healthcare tutors, well experienced in supporting distance learning students.

Once you start your online Healthcare Management MSc (Armed Forces), we encourage the creation of online communities and many of our learners find these connections with others invaluable, helping them to stay motivated, share concerns or make new friendships.

Contact us to talk through any questions or concerns or visit our support page for more information about the support services available.

Our support services

Be part of the University of the Year

We're proud to be the Times Higher Education (THE) University of the Year 2023.

The prestigious THE awards honour ’exceptional performance during the 2021-22 academic year, and reflect ARU’s success in delivering high-impact projects during this period, despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The award recognises the difference we make in the region and our communities – while also acknowledging the broader impact of our world-leading research, and the contributions our students and graduates make to society.

THE 2023 Awards Logo

Careers

What could an Armed Forces Healthcare Management MSc do for my career?

There is an ever-growing demand for healthcare managers, so if you’re looking to develop valuable skills to aid your work as an armed forces medic, or even advance your healthcare career once you leave military service, a healthcare management master’s will set you on the right track.

If you’re considering a career in healthcare management after you leave the service, starting your studies while you’re still in the armed forces will not only allow you to enhance your learning with your current work experience, but allow you continue working while you learn.

An Armed Forces Healthcare Management MSc will allow you to demonstrate your knowledge and skills, making you an attractive candidate to employers. You’ll gain the skills and experience you need to thrive in a variety of workplace environments and managerial positions, setting you on the path to reach your goals.

What job roles can I consider with an Armed Forces Healthcare Management MSc postgraduate degree?

Within your current role as an armed forces medic, the Healthcare Management MSc course will enhance your leadership skills so that you meet the personal and professional standards expected of a healthcare leader. If you're thinking past your armed forces career, you could set your sights at a mid-level or senior roles within the health and social care sector.

Examples of job roles Healthcare Management MSc graduates may consider, potentially with more training and experience depending on their starting point, are:

  • Nursing Home Supervisor/Manager/Director
  • Children's Home Supervisor/Manager/Director
  • Supported Housing Care Supervisor/Manager/Director
  • Social Worker
  • Health Service Supervisor/Manager/Director
  • Hospice Supervisor/Manager/Director

What skills will I get from an Armed Forces Healthcare Management MSc to help my career?

Choosing to study a Healthcare Management MSc will give you many transferable skills; here are just some of them:

  • Ability to Initiate change
  • Develop strong leadership skills
  • Work well with multi-disciplinary and inter-agency teams
  • Critically reflect and apply research strategies

What can I study after an Armed Forces Healthcare Management MSc?

Depending on your long-term goals and interests you may decide to explore a doctorate qualification. Having a master’s degree under your belt is a key entry requirement in opening doors to study at this level.

Careers Advice Service

Once you become an ARU student you will be able to access our Employability service to help you whatever stage of your career, whether that’s landing your dream job or the next progression step.

We offer:

  • careers advice, including one-to-one online and telephone appointments with our experienced advisers
  • help with your CV, job searches, applications, and interview preparation
  • an online portal packed with useful careers resources
  • our Employability Programme, which helps you hone the skills employers say they want in graduates.

Entry requirements

Applicants should ideally have a good first degree or equivalent and be currently working in, or have recently worked within, the arena of Management and Leadership in healthcare.

A professional qualification isn’t a necessity for access to the course, but you must meet the criteria above and demonstrate a strong interest in Management and Leadership.

If English is not your first language, you will be expected to demonstrate a certificated level of proficiency of at least IELTS 6.5 or equivalent.

As a distance learner, you'll also need a suitable computer with internet connection, together with sufficient IT competence to make effective use our online learning management system (LMS) with high-speed internet and email.

For non-graduates, non-traditional entry routes to the course may be possible by clearly demonstrating on your application that your qualifications and experience are equivalent to an Honours degree.

Various entry points are available depending on accreditation against military training. For more information on the options available to you, get in contact with us

Fees & funding

Fees

The full tuition fee for this course is £8,200.

The tuition fees you pay each year for the full Healthcare Management MSc (Armed Forces) will be £4,100. The course is studied over 2 years.

Accredited prior learning may reduce the tuition fees. This will be confirmed once your application has been submitted.

If you have completed certain Armed Forces qualifications, then you may be eligible for an advanced entry route which would reduce the cost of the course to £5,467. Please contact us for more information.

Funding

Your course can be fully funded by the new Postgraduate Student Loans now available (subject to eligibility).

We offer payment by instalments, so you can spread the cost of studying with us.

You can use your ELCs towards this course. Anglia Ruskin University is a recognised ELCAS provider (number 1007). Please contact your Learning Centre for details of ELC, eligibility and how to apply.

For more information on how you fund your studies please see our funding page.


What our students say

Cat - ARU Distance Learning Student

I would advise any Military personnel to give distance learning a go. You will be surprised what you can achieve when you have the right support and access to great resources.

Read Cat's story
Sean - ARU Distance Learning Student

I spent the majority of my MBA deployed to Eastern Europe with NATO and the resources remained easy to use and my studies were unaffected.

Read Sean's story

Frequently Asked Questions

Next application deadline:

30th April 2024

Discover what you're made of.

Apply now before the application deadline.

Further reading

Find out more about this course and more on our blog