This course will examine issues and challenges related to the health of Indigenous populations in Canada. Health and illness concepts will be embedded within historical, social, cultural and political realities. Students will have the opportunity to critically examine and reflect on Indigenous health issues and health care practices.

This course is an introduction to basic biostatistical methods and principles as they apply to public health data. An emphasis is placed on the applications of statistical methods to public health data, interpretations of the resulting analyses and critical appraisal of these methods.

This course will review the historical development of the Canadian health care system and its supporting principles, governance structures and fiscal arrangements; and examine contemporary structures and relationships. Issues such as benefit coverage, health human resources, user fees, pharmaceuticals, regional health boards, and health reform in a comparative context will be examined.

This course covers the underlying concepts, principles, historical development, theory, and current practice of health promotion. The focus of learning is not so much on “how to do” health promotion, as on “how to think” about the conceptual, ideological, and political issues which underlie health promotion practice.

This course covers basic concepts and principles of the cycle of health program planning, which includes needs assessment, program development and implementation, process, impact, and outcome evaluation. Both qualitative and quantitative data collection will be addressed.

This course will address health human resource management. Its scope will include the knowledge and skills necessary to working with self-regulating professions and in a highly unionized environment. Essential aspects of collective bargaining, negotiation and professional organization will be covered, as will working with the public/private divide in healthcare provision.

This course will provide students with an understanding of issues involved in the management and organization of health services. Students will examine issues related to managing health in terms of regional health authorities, health ministries and individual health organizations.

This course will cover leadership theory and practice, with a focus on effective leadership in the public sector and ethical decision-making. It will address decision-making models relevant to the health sector, including emerging philosophies (e.g., LEAN).

This course applies the techniques of epidemiology and biostatistics to evaluate population-based health programs. In addition, students will become familiar with the principles of public health, prevention, and health care quality management.

Focusing on the health care imperative of accountability to the community, this course deals with the measurement of performance in health care organizations. Management control focuses on the implementation of business strategies and the attainment of organizational goals.

This course covers the financial management function in health care organizations including operating and capital budgeting processes along with budgetary and financial controls. There will be extensive use of financial analysis tools for the health care organization and skills needed to develop basic finance and accounting foundations will be reviewed.

This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to economic concepts and analysis relevant to health, health care and health care systems. Students will examine economic aspects of various elements of the health-care sector, identify relevant policy questions and apply economic concepts and techniques to analyze them.

This course provides an overview of issues at the intersection of health law and policy. It will include a basic introduction to the foundations of health law followed by an examination of topical issues in this domain.

In this course, students learn the key data literacy and data analysis skills required to investigate complex data sets to answer pressing healthcare questions and effectively communicate results to peers. Taking a broad-but-shallow approach, the course follows the stages of the cross-industry standard process for data mining (CRISP-DM) data life cycle; students will learn to import and filter data using databases, how to prepare data for analysis, choose appropriate data visualizations, perform exploratory data analysis to understand the properties of data, to use modern machine learning techniques to analyze data, and how best to present your findings and use them to inform evidence-based decision making.

This course covers legislation, regulation and standards governing access, use, and disclosure of health information, the ethics of information privacy, privacy program management, and privacy by design. Students will examine privacy, compliance, and risk policies and procedures, as well as emergent issues such as medical identity theft and fraud, genomic privacy, and social media health platform privacy.

An in-depth analysis of health information functions critical to health care operations; enterprise information governance with a focus on information as a strategic asset; and the role of health information professionals in quality improvement, care coordination, and performance and utilization management. Implementing strategic and organizational change and integrating best practices in project management will also be covered.

This course is an experiential learning opportunity. Students spend one month embedded within a partner organization such as the Government of Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Health, during which time they work on a designated policy project under the supervision of a mentor within the organization, and the course instructor. *Restrictions apply; approval by Graduate Chair is required.

This course introduces the principles of taxonomy and purposes of controlled terminologies and classification systems used in Canada and internationally. It addresses the importance of standards conformance, design of semantically interoperable infostructures, and the processes, policies and procedures used in the collection, coding, and mapping of health data. Labs require working with health data sets and data tools.

This is an integrative course on information technology used for tactical and strategic decision making in all facets of health care. It focuses on defining information needs, interpreting the capabilities of health information systems, setting forth feasible alternatives, adhering to international and national standards, and guiding the diffusion of information technology.

This course is an introduction to basic biostatistical methods and principles as they apply to public health data. An emphasis is placed on the applications of statistical methods to public health data, interpretations of the resulting analyses and critical appraisal of these methods.

This course covers the financial management function in health care organizations including operating and capital budgeting processes along with budgetary and financial controls. There will be extensive use of financial analysis tools for the health care organization and skills needed to develop basic finance and accounting foundations will be reviewed.

In this course, students learn the key data literacy and data analysis skills required to investigate complex data sets to answer pressing health care questions and effectively communicate results to peers. Taking a broad-but-shallow approach, the course follows the stages of the cross-industry standard process for data mining (CRISP-DM) data life cycle; students will learn to import and filter data using databases, how to prepare data for analysis, to choose appropriate data visualizations, to perform exploratory data analysis to understand the properties of data, to use modern machine learning techniques to analyze data, and how best to present your findings and use them to inform evidence-based decision making.

This course covers legislation, regulation and standards governing access, use, and disclosure of health information, the ethics of information privacy, privacy program management, and privacy by design. Students will examine privacy, compliance, and risk policies and procedures, as well as emergent issues such as medical identity theft and fraud, genomic privacy, and social media health platform privacy.

An in-depth analysis of health information functions critical to health care operations; enterprise information governance with a focus on information as a strategic asset; and the role of health information professionals in quality improvement, care coordination, and performance and utilization management. Implementing strategic and organizational change and integrating best practices in project management will also be covered.

This course introduces the principles of taxonomy and purposes of controlled terminologies and classification systems used in Canada and internationally. It addresses the importance of standards conformance, the design of semantically interoperable infostructures, and the processes, policies and procedures used in the collection, coding, and mapping of health data. Labs require working with health data sets and data tools.

MHA-HIIM students must register for two elective courses selected from the MHA offering. 

Master of Health Administration students only. Each in-person residency will be an intensive three to five-day session focusing largely on group exercises including case studies, management simulations, breakouts and presentations. Each residency will have different guiding themes including strategic planning, coaching and communication skills and managing and evaluating quality improvement initiatives. Each Residency is 1.5 credit hours.

Master of Health Administration students only. Each in-person residency will be an intensive three to five-day session focusing largely on group exercises including case studies, management simulations, breakouts and presentations. Each residency will have different guiding themes including strategic planning, coaching and communication skills and managing and evaluating quality improvement initiatives. Each Residency is 1.5 credit hours.

Master of Health Administration (MHA) students can complete their program; part time, over three years. You are welcome to take classes full time (two classes per semester), and that can speed up the time to completion to 2 years.   

All MHA students (and MHA-HIIM) have 6 years to complete their program.

At the professor's discretion, you may be invited to attend between two to 13 live sessions per course. Live virtual attendance allows students to participate in the seminar (at the instructor's discretion). If you can't make the live sessions, recordings will be posted online for viewing at a later time.

For those students that watch the recordings, they will need to follow up with the professor by email or phone if they have any questions.

Students in the MHA program should expect an average of eight to 15 hours a week for course work (including class time, readings, preparing notes, completing assignments, etc.).

This will be at the professor's discretion, as some professors will give quizzes and tests. At the graduate level, students are expected to write concisely and apply theories/concepts. Many methods of evaluation in the MHA are written assignments of various forms, where critical thinking is emphasized. There is not an over-emphasis on testing.

Written papers, proposals, group exercises, participation, case studies, posters, projects, exams, and environmental scans are some of the different evaluation methods you can expect.

Each residency course is an intensive three-day session combining lectures and group exercises including case studies, management simulations, breakouts and presentations.

Each residency will have different guiding themes, typically with a focus on leadership, health system centralization, and global health policies. Students will be required to complete the two in-person weekend residency courses in Regina. The residency classes are typically offered in May/June (JSGS 850AB) and September (JSGS 850AA) each year.  It is recommended that students take the residences mid-way through their program, and the classes can be taken in any order.

This course is an experiential learning opportunity. Students spend one month embedded within a partner organization (e.g., a ministry of health, a regional health authority, or a national health organization) during which time they work on a designated policy project under the supervision of a mentor within the organization, and the course instructor. The JSGS 886 course is a 3-credit course. There are two MHA Placement pathways including a competitive stream and a student-initiated pathway.

You will not be required to move to Regina to complete the requirements of the MHA program. You will need to travel to Regina twice for the residency classes, and possibly for the MHA Placement (if you are selected for it).

The MHA-HIIM is an optional major that complements the health care administration content gained through the MHA with foundational courses in digital health and health information technology and management. Students will develop the necessary skills for leadership and management careers in health informatics and health information management fields.

It is the same online application process as the MHA but please indicate in your personal statement that you wish to pursue the MHA-HIIM program. Address your personal statement to the details of that major.