The degree course is part-time and can be completed in a total of 4 semesters including the final oral assessment. In general, participants are granted leave of absence by their employers to attend the course.
The course comprises a total of 42 mandatory hours per semester and counts towards 60 ECTS points. More information on lectures can be found in the course syllabus (Degree Terms and Conditions § 15). A clinical internship of 120 hours must be completed. This includes both an internal and external component.
Participants must also complete a project in their own organizations. Should such a project assignment not be available, a simulation project can be planned and carried out (Degree Terms and Conditions § 12).
The 125-hour clinical internship must be documented in a written report as part of the portfolio, which is submitted during the final oral assessment.
The external part must comprise a minimum of 24 hours which can be completed in an external medical unit and/or administration department. This may also be carried out in any inpatient facility or in collaboration with a home-care provider or social services. The goal of the clinical internship is the systematic scientific investigation of a healthcare institution. This investigation must be documented in a report, which clearly states the questions that are to be examined, the method, results, conclusion and the evaluation of its relevance and use.
The clinical internship and its scientific purpose are established in a preparatory lecture. Internal and external staff are responsible for the organization of the clinical internship.
A minimum of 96 hours are required for the completion of the internal part. This must take place within the participant’s professional field with the intent and purpose of gaining scientific insights within their own practical training. The clinical internship and its scientific purpose are established in a preparatory lecture. Internal and external staff are responsible for the organization of the clinical internship.
Participants complete a project in their own organizations. The organization itself reaps great benefit from the project, which is intended to contribute towards the innovation or optimization of structures and processes. Consequently new tools or procedures can be implemented.
The aim is to carry out a project in all its stages; from assignment to implementation and final evaluation. Students are able to practice and gain appropriate experience in project management. The project should be well structured and manageable within the time allocated. Should such a project assignment not be available, a simulation project can be planned and carried out. It includes the same components as an actual assignment and acts as a basis for decision-making. A description of a detailed project plan is given, which provides information about how the project could be implemented in the event of a positive decision.
The project must be officially assigned. The content must conform to the degree course and be confirmed by the examination board in advance. The project and project manual are presented during the project presentation course.
The Degree Course for Executives in Healthcare- Basic and Intermediate Care Management is divided into four semesters. The first two semesters focus on theory. The third semester places emphasis on the implementation of theoretical knowledge in practice. This takes place during the internship and project. An oral assessment is carried out at the end of the third semester.
The lectures are designed to convey specialized knowledge in healthcare, nursing sciences, the social sciences, law and economics. The specialized subjects are divided into five modules. The main module entitled Introduction to Scientific Work, provides basic scientific knowledge (6 hours per semester). Modules 2 to 5 focus on healthcare and leadership aspects (36 hours per semester). Each module includes one lecture, which consolidates a foundation in science, theory and current practical issues (7 hours per semester). There is a strong emphasis on the exchange between theory and practice.
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Module 1 Introduction to Scientific Methods
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Module 2 Nursing Sciences
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Module 3 Leadership
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Module 4 Management and Organization
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Module 5 Basic Law and Economics
Module 1 Introduction to Scientific Methods
In this module students are taught how to approach scientific literature. Focus is placed on acquiring strategies for responding to open questions related to healthcare. Graduates are required to have excellent research skills enabling them to draw from a great pool of resources (computerized literature search, link-lists, internet search engines, database access, etc.). The students - even those only participating in a three-semester course - should be made familiar with both core concepts and fundamental skills of scientific methods (eg citations, bibliographies, writing abstracts, handouts, etc.). Students are given a brief overview of relevant data collection methods. They should be very familiar with methodological and statistical procedures and must be able to evaluate scientific literature according to relevance and potential use. Participants must be able to analyze simple specialized literature including statistics, graphs and be able to interpret, evaluate and utilize these by the end of the course. They are not required to collect or to evaluate their own data. Students are encouraged to consider fundamental ethical questions, both in scientific theory as well as in professional and practical situations.
Module 2 Nursing Sciences
The modules Introduction to Scientific Method and Nursing Sciences are linked, which provides participants with a scientifically-biased education in healthcare. An introduction to research in healthcare and healthcare models is covered in Nursing Sciences. These modules equip participants with critical thinking skills necessary for exploring the what, how and why of healthcare interventions. Students investigate various healthcare models against a backdrop of nursing metaparadigms (the person, the environment, health and nursing). Students learn to analyze procedures and healthcare models whilst also determining how suitable they are for implementation in practice. Introduction to Research in Healthcare builds on the module Introduction to Scientific Methods and stresses how important research is to healthcare. Alongside quantitative approaches in healthcare research, students are made aware of the importance of qualitative investigation. Students can apply the ethical considerations gleaned from the courses to future research projects in their areas of expertise. The overall aim is to stimulate sustained interest in this new area and to impart confidence in dealing with scientific reports. Evidence-based nursing in combination with implementation models is addressed in Research Utilization. Basic principles for the improvement of healthcare are an essential part of the Healthcare Standards, Diagnoses and Patient Communication course. This course is closely linked to Quality Management in Healthcare (part 2, module 4), which conveys the key indicators of quality in healthcare.
Basal stimulation and kinesthetics in healthcare, the most well-known care concepts in Austria, are integrated in the course. Participants learn to apply these concepts appropriately in their professional fields. The Career Development course addresses leadership in healthcare as well as the connections between professional content, professional status and working conditions in interdisciplinary healthcare.
Module 3 Leadership
The main course in this module, Approaches to Leadership, deals with leadership culture, style and philosophy. It serves as a bridge between the science and theory of leadership and leadership in practice. The aim of the module is to teach participants how to assess their own leadership behavior in order to establish leadership strategies for future implementation. Team Building addresses group dynamics, profiling, discussion and negotiation, conflict management, moderation and presentation. Video analyses accompany all practical training.
Module 4 Management and Organization
Quality Management follows on from Introduction to Scientific Methods in module 4. Customer needs are the central focus in quality management systems. Therefore, data collection for social science purposes is carried out through surveys of patients, healthcare employees and the referring physicians. Module 1 provides participants with an overview of data collection methods. Participants also learn how to read and interpret data (descriptive statistics: graphs, tables and quantifiers). Knowledge management, which is first addressed in module 1, is the main focus of the quality management model ISO 9000/2000. The ISO 9000/2000 model requires the following from quality management systems:
Identify internal and external data, evaluate data, create transparency of data, if necessary acquire further data, share, develop, consolidate and multiply data.
The other courses included in this module (Team Organization, Basic Economics, Accounting, Organizational Development, Personal Development, Project Management) convey theory-based competences for executives in middle management healthcare.
Module 5 Basic Law and Economics
The Health Economics course which features in this module is linked to module 1, Introduction to Scientific Methods. Participants acquire a solid grounding in theory and research in healthcare. Basic Law gives participants the competence to assess legal frameworks within management.
