Overview

Program Overview

UCLA’s Executive MPH in Health Policy and Management is designed to equip working professionals with the knowledge, skills, and resources to master the challenges of our changing healthcare environment. It is tailored for professionals invested in their careers and provides them the opportunity to work full-time while pursuing a rigorous graduate program.

The Executive MPH is a two-year graduate degree program offered through the internationally-renowned Fielding School of Public Health. Students attend classes twice a month on Friday and Saturday, in person on the UCLA campus. Upon completion of the program, students are conferred a fully-accredited Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in health policy and management.

COHORT LEARNING

Each year, a class of students representing various clinical, managerial, and professional backgrounds is admitted as a single cohort into the program.

The smaller class size and cohort structure promote close collaboration in an intimate learning environment, enabling participants to take full advantage of one another’s diverse knowledge and experience.

Team-based learning allows students, faculty, and mentors to engage in small group, collaborative learning that builds leadership, negotiation, and decision-making skills.

Team projects are designed to promote partnerships with fellow students, program faculty, and practitioners from the healthcare industry to analyze and address healthcare issues from multiple perspectives – organizational, managerial, financial, and public health – vital in today’s healthcare marketplace.

The collegial atmosphere fosters the development of bonds that extend beyond the program into strong alumni and professional networks for lifelong support and exchange.

CAPSTONE: APPLIED CONSULTING PROJECT

For their capstone project, all students conduct an applied consulting project which they start in the summer following the first academic year in the program, putting into practice the competencies they’ve gained thus far.

Under the direction of Professor Mike Galper, the two-person teams can address a policy development issue or involve management consultation or mentored problem resolution in coordination with students’ sponsoring organizations or other health-related entities.

At the end of Fall Quarter, the second-year student teams prepare a final consulting report, the preparation of which involves a process of concept development, implementation, analysis, and presentation. They present their findings in class to an audience that includes the preceptors, their cohort, and the first-year students, followed by a final 20-30 page consulting report deliverable that reflects the application of general principles of organization, management, planning, policy, or research to a specific concrete situation.

BUSINESS PLAN PROJECT

During Winter Quarter in the second year of the program, students complete a comprehensive business plan project that draws on the program’s core business classes in marketing, finance, and strategy.

The project provides a rewarding opportunity for students to work with alumni mentors and synthesize their academic learning and professional experience to address real-world issues and opportunities.

Most EMPH written plans range between 12-20 pages but vary in length due to the topics chosen. This is a professional business document, not academic, and therefore is written in a way that one might expect as if submitting to a Director, CEO, CFO, or other executive team member at a place of work. Students provide summarized graphics or tables in the body and supporting data and documentation in a well-marked appendix. Strong data visualizations are expected in both the presentation and the plan.

The project culminates when they present their plans to a panel of guest judges who are leaders in healthcare.

The winning team is presented with the EMPH Sinaiko Business Plan Competition Award at UCLA FSPH Health Policy and Management Alumni Association’s (HPMAA) “Leaders of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow” Annual Gala Dinner in the spring.

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH POLICY AND MANAGEMENT (HPM)

In a dynamic, rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, the Department of Health Policy and Management (HPM) at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health aims to advance the effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of health services for both personal and population health.

The department is home to some of the nation’s most prominent thought leaders on health policy issues, as well as leaders in the development of evidence that contributes to improving the performance of health institutions locally, nationally, and globally.

The department’s faculty have founded and continue to run highly influential research centers at UCLA Fielding, and are well connected with major centers and leading experts across the UCLA campus, in Southern California, and beyond. These centers also provide important sites for the department’s master’s and doctoral students to receive research training and employment.

HPM alumni, who are influential leaders in the region, remain highly engaged with the department, providing students with ample opportunities for work experiences and mentorship during their time at FSPH. These connections, combined with the stellar reputation of HPM students within the healthcare policy and management communities, lead to a nearly 100% job placement rate for the department’s graduates.

ABOUT UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Founded in 1961, the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health aims to build health and equity and to drive positive change for all people. We act on this mission through initiatives in three core areas: education, discovery, and service. In each of these realms, we affirm our commitment to developing leaders and evidence-based solutions and to partnering with communities to promote health and well-being through innovation, respect, and inclusivity.

Fielding School faculty lead efforts to improve people’s lives in Los Angeles and around the world. From preventing millions of HIV infections, improving response to COVID-19 and Ebola, boosting HPV vaccine uptake to establishing healthy lifestyle choices, addressing cancer care, and protecting people from food and occupational hazards, Fielding School faculty work on the front lines of change.

The school’s research centers lead innovative efforts in environmental genomics, health policy, global infectious diseases, climate change, human nutrition, global and immigrant health, health equity, global social policy, population and reproductive health, and more. The school also has more than 20 Memoranda of Understanding with institutions in countries that include Cambodia, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Germany, Mexico, and the Philippines. The Fielding School’s presence on UCLA’s unified Westwood campus — along with the schools of medicine, law, nursing, business, dentistry, engineering, and more — serves to encourage and enhance multidisciplinary collaboration.

UCLA is a top-ranked public university in the United States. The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health is ranked a Top 10 public health school and the UCLA Health Policy and Management Program is ranked in the Top 10 by U.S. News & World Report.