Undergraduate Course Catalog 2008-2009
College of Health and Human Services
» http://www.shhs.unh.edu/
Health Management and Policy (HMP)
» http://www.chhs.unh.edu/hmp/
» Click to view course offerings
Chairperson: James B. Lewis
Professor: Cynthia M. Duncan, Jeffrey Colman Salloway, John W. Seavey, Lee F. Seidel
Associate Professor: Rosemary M. Caron, Marc D. Hiller, James B. Lewis
Assistant Professor: Leslie N.H. MacLeod, Robert J. McGrath
Research Assistant Professor: David J. Laflamme
Clinical Professor: Edgar J. Helms Jr.
Clinical Assistant Professor: Jason W. Stull
Undergraduates majoring in the health management and policy program are prepared to embark upon management careers in a wide range of health care delivery and financing organizations, public health, and health policy. Graduates work in many settings, including health care delivery systems, hospitals, nursing homes, health maintenance and other managed care organizations, public health departments, community-based and home-health agencies, mental health facilities, regulatory bodies, consulting companies, and insurance companies.
The academic program is interdisciplinary, with undergraduates taking courses in many academic units of the University. Students gain a broad view of health and health care while developing analytical skills in health care management and policy. The department uses a computer laboratory that is integrated throughout the curriculum.
The department’s undergraduate program maintains full certification by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA). Students have the opportunity to become student members in the American College of Healthcare Executives and the American College of Health Care Administrators, both of which are represented by student chapters at the University. There is also an organization for students interested in public health issues. The department curriculum is approved under the New England Regional Student Program.
Academic Program
Competencies are achieved through three components of the curriculum: University general education requirements, HMP collateral courses, and the HMP core courses including a field practicum. Students work closely with their assigned faculty advisers to develop a plan of study to achieve completion of each of these components. Upper division HMP courses are sequenced in a two year progression as described in departmental handouts to all majors. Students are expected to follow this sequence; any exceptions are made by petition. Late transfers may have to plan for an extra year. Several upper-division HMP elective courses are available.
University General Education Requirements:
Advisers assist students in selecting courses that satisfy certain program expectations and simultaneously meet University general education requirements.
HMP-Required Collateral Courses:
A basic understanding is expected in each of the following areas related to health management and policy: 1) microeconomics, 2) organizational behavior, and 3) statistics. HMP faculty advisers work with students to select the appropriate courses to fulfill these requirements. In general, students are advised to complete their collateral coursework prior to their junior year in the major. Program-approved courses in organizational behavior and U.S. Health Care Systems (HMP 401) must have been completed successfully before a student may begin junior-level studies in the major.
HMP Core Courses:
Each of the following courses must be completed by HMP majors prior to graduation.
Introductory courses include HMP 400, Introduction to Health Management and Policy; HMP 401, U.S. Health Care Systems; HMP 402, Health Management and Policy Critical Issues; HMP 501, Epidemiology and Community Medicine.
Upper-division courses include HMP 642, Health Economics; HMP 711, Health Systems Research I; HMP 712, Health Systems Research II; HMP 721, Managing Health Care Organizations; HMP 723, Health Planning; HMP 740, Health Care Financial Management; HMP 742, Strategic Management for Health Care Organizations or HMP 748, Health Policy Analysis; HMP 744, Ethical Issues in Health Management and Medicine; and HMP 746, Health Policy. Upper-division courses are not offered every semester and students progress through these courses in a sequential order.
Field Practicum:
A full-time practicum (or administrative internship) that integrates class work with a supervised managerial work experience constitutes an essential part of the academic program. It allows students to explore an area of special interest in depth. Courses comprising this component of the major include: HMP 621, Prepracticum Seminar; HMP 622, Field Practicum; and HMP 624, Post Practicum Seminar. The practicum is divided into three concurrent components: A. Field Practicum Organizational Analysis; B. Field Practicum Management Skills Development; and C. Field Practicum Project Analysis. Field practicum sites are selected by faculty with student involvement and are concentrated in central and northern New England. Given sufficient timing of student requests, efforts will be made to arrange practica at distant sites based on special needs.
HMP field practica currently occur during the summer between the junior and senior year within the curriculum. They begin in late May and end in late August and require a full-time commitment.
HMP Elective Courses:
Elective courses within the program may include: HMP 430, Alternative Medicine and Health; HMP 505, Public Health: History and Practice; HMP 569, Human Behavior and the Public Health; HMP 570, Social Marketing; HMP 730, Managed Care; HMP 750, Comparative Health Care Systems; and HMP 755, Long Term Care Management and Policy. In addition, seniors may have the opportunity to elect independent studies (HMP 796) through individual arrangements with HMP faculty. Majors are encouraged to enroll in one or more of these courses before graduation.
Academic Requirements:
HMP majors must obtain a minimum of a C- in all HMP core courses and must pass all HMP-required collateral courses. Majors must have an overall grade-point average of 2.50 by the end of the semester preceding their practicum. Students not maintaining an overall grade-point average of 2.50 are reevaluated by the faculty and may be counseled into another major at the University.
The faculty reviews student performances during the semester before the practicum to determine each student’s readiness. Students who do not successfully complete prerequisite courses may not be permitted to advance through subsequent courses in the major.
Applications for Major
Students interested in additional information or in applying for admission to the health management and policy major should contact the department’s director of undergraduate studies. Students seeking internal transfer into the major must complete an internal transfer application form. Efforts should be made to complete this process during the freshman year or early in the sophomore year to ensure sufficient time to complete all of the required collateral courses as well as those in the major in a timely manner.
Honors in Major
The department offers an honors in major program. To qualify, students must meet the department’s requirement of having an overall 3.20 grade-point average at UNH and a 3.30 grade-point average for required HMP courses taken by the end of the junior year. Honors in major students take honors courses during the last half of junior year and senior year as well as complete an honors project. Students work with a faculty member in the department in the development of the honors project. Students should contact the department’s honors in major adviser for further information.
Academic Minor in Health Management
The department offers an integrated minor in health management designed for students majoring in clinically oriented professional programs offered through other departments in the School of Health and Human Services. Students not enrolled in the school who wish to minor in health management may inquire about doing so by contacting the department’s director of undergraduate studies. Students accepted into the minor must complete: 1) three required courses (HMP 401, U.S. Health Care Systems; HMP 721, Managing Health Care Organizations; and HMP 710, Financial Management for Clinicians); 2) one HMP elective course (HMP 501, Epidemiology and Community Medicine; HMP 430, Alternative Medicine and Health; HMP 505, Public Health History and Practice; HMP 569, Human Behavior and the Public Health; HMP 642 Health Economics; HMP 744, Ethical Issues in Health Management and Medicine; or HMP 755, Long Term Care Management and Policy; HMP 746, Health Policy; and 3) one additional elective course from a list approved by the department. Students seeking to minor in health management must complete the application available in the department office and meet with the department’s director of undergraduate studies before commencing the minor.
The Department of Health Management and Policy also offers a minor in public health. Public health deals with the health of populations and focuses on health promotion and disease prevention as well as access to the medical system. Public health is interdisciplinary in nature and, therefore, the minor is composed of courses in the Department of Health Management and Policy as well as courses in other schools and colleges in the University.
Public Health Minor
The interdisciplinary public health minor is comprised of 20 credits. The minor will provide students with an introduction to many of the foundation areas of public health. It will provide students with a basic exposure to key concepts and skills in the five core disciplines of public health, as articulated by the Council on Education for Public Health. The core courses are biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health sciences, health services administration, and social and behavioral sciences. All students will be required to complete four courses: HMP 401, US Health Care Systems; HMP 501, Epidemiology; HMP 505, Public Health: History & Practice; and HMP 569, Behavior and Public Health. The elective courses available to students include offerings from a variety of schools and departments at UNH.
The minor is open to any baccalaureate student at UNH. Students majoring in Health Management and Policy will not be able to receive credit toward the minor for courses taken to fulfill a requirement of the major.
Public Health Option
This option was approved in 2005 and provides students with the knowledge and skills for entry-level positions within the public health agencies/workforce. The public health field is emerging as a key area for the protection of population health. It provides students with an introduction to many of the foundation areas of public health and gives basic exposure to key concepts and skills in the five core disciplines of public health as articulated by the Council on Education for Public Health. The core courses are biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health sciences, health services administration, and social and behavioral sciences.
In addition to the core courses, students will be required to take course work in two additional elective areas; one course from offerings in Public and Environmental Health and an additional elective from the offerings in either nutrition and public health or mechanisms of infectious and chronic disease in public health. The list of elective courses available is substantial and includes offerings from a variety of schools and departments at UNH. There are multiple traditional areas of public health practice: public health and the environment, nutrition and public health, behavior modification and infectious and chronic diseases.
The Public Health option at UNH is one of the few programs at the undergraduate level available nationally.
Required Courses
ECON 401 or 402, Micro or Macro economics
HMP 400, Exploring Health 2 cr.
HMP 401, US Health Care Systems
HHS 540 or equivalent in Statistics
HMP 402, Intro to HMP-Roles & Issues
HMP 501, Epidemiology
HMP 702, Quantitative and Research Methods in Epidemiology
HMP 505, History of Public Health
HMP 569, Public Health and Human Behavior
HMP 740, Health Care Financial Management
HMP 621, Pre-Practicum
HMP 712, Health Systems Research
HMP 642, Health Economics
HMP 723, Health Planning
HMP 622, Field Practicum (Summer session junior year)
HMP 624, Post Practicum 2 cr.
HMP 744, Ethical Issues
HMP 746, Health Policy
HMP 748, Health Policy Analysis
Total Credit Hours: 73
