A Message from the Faculty Director

Mid-career professionals in the healthcare field know first-hand that our system needs to change. Yet, there is a great deal of uncertainty about reform efforts, including what needs to be done, and how to get it done. Now is the time to enroll in our Executive Master of Healthcare Management (EXEC) Programs to meet these challenges head-on. 

Our curriculum aims to develop students’ ability to recognize and implement changes that are needed to improve healthcare services and community health. The EXEC program gives students a strong grounding in health policy and public health so that they are prepared to analyze and influence the context in which healthcare organizations are operating. We also focus heavily on developing participants’ skills in critical areas such as leadership, quality improvement, information systems, and strategic and financial management. 

Because we meet for a four-day weekend each month, our curriculum is designed to meet the needs of working, full-time professionals. More importantly, our program design takes full advantage of students’ rich and varied experience. We use a combination of teaching methods, including case studies, simulations, and collaborative learning where participants are encouraged to work closely together, often in teams. Indeed, a key to our program’s success is the cohort-based learning that is a hallmark of the EXEC experience. Participants find this experience exhilarating and often transformational: They develop bonds that shape their professional and personal lives for decades. Further, world-class faculty members in the Department of Health Policy and Management are at the forefront of influencing healthcare systems. These instructors are full-time Columbia faculty as well as leading experts in the field who are able to apply research and theory to the realities of the workplace. 

Our EXEC MHA and MPH degree offerings are unmatched by MBA programs, which provide basic management skills, but typically have little or nothing to say about the particular challenges that healthcare systems present. In contrast, we specialize in preparing students to lead in the healthcare field today and tomorrow. 

David Rosenthal, PhD
Professor and Faculty Director