Leadership in Medicine
The Leadership in Medicine (LIM) program is the only direct-entry medical school program to include a master’s in healthcare management. Students have the option of completing an M.S. in Healthcare Management or an M.B.A in Healthcare Management. The only difference between the two options is the number of required courses and the cost.
Union College undergraduate tuition includes the twelve master’s degree courses required for the M.S. in Healthcare Management. The M.B.A requires an additional two courses beyond the M.S. for a total of fourteen courses. Regardless of when the additional courses are taken, M.B.A candidates pay tuition for the additional four courses directly to Clarkson University in spring of senior year.
All LIM students enroll in the MS program as freshman. Students who wish to change their program to the MBA need to take the following steps:
- Complete a “change of program” form to Clarkson University by the end of sophomore year, and
- Submit a “Declaration of Major” form to the Union College Registrar
Students declare their master's degree choice by end of sophomore year. The B.S. and master's degree are completed in four academic years with at least one summer of study. All LIM students are on campus (in Schenectady) the summer after junior year: taking two graduate courses and one undergraduate science course.
The decision between MS and MBA is a matter of personal choice. Both degrees form a solid foundation in healthcare management covering topics such as healthcare leadership, healthcare law, organization structure, finance and accounting, group practice management and health economics. The MBA requires four courses beyond the MS including statistics, marketing, informatics and policy. Students pay Clarkson University tuition for the additional four courses.
Clarkson University offers several of the required graduate courses over the summer in an online format. Students who pursue the M.B.A. often schedule summer online graduate courses after freshmen and sophomore years.
Twelve courses required for either the M.S. or M.B.A.
- AC604 Financial & Managerial Accounting for Decision Making
- HC605 Health Operations Management
- HC617 Health Care Finance
- HC620 Economics of Health
- HC630 Introduction to Health Systems (cross counts as an undergraduate course)
- HC633 Health Care Leadership (cross counts as an undergraduate course)
- HC637 Clinical Leadership Practicum (cross counts as an undergraduate course)
- HC650 Structural Dynamics of Healthcare
- HC656 Group Practice Management
- HC674 Legal Aspects of Health Care
- HC680 Managerial Epidemiology
- HC681 Health Leadership Capstone (cross counts as an undergraduate course)
Two additional courses required for the M.B.A only
- HC626 Health Systems Marketing
- HC648 Health Informatics
