Health Policy and Management, MHA/MBA

Return to: School of Public Health

An outstanding opportunity to become highly skilled in the management of health care processes, quality, and finances, the MHA/MBA joint degree program is designed to create future leaders in the management of health care organizations. Uniting the strengths of the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health and Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, the program blends outstanding training in management and finance with the content expertise in health care quality improvement, outcomes measurement, and analytics.

Students must complete applications for, and be accepted into, both the School of Public Health and the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business. Application to Pitt Public Health must be submitted through SOPHAS at www.sophas.org. Application to the Katz Graduate School of Business should be made at www.business.pitt.edu/katz/apply.

Our highly trained graduates will be fully prepared to assume fast-track leadership positions in a variety of health care organizations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the demand for health care managers will grow by 17 percent in the next decade. The U.S. health care system is the largest industry in the United States, currently consuming nearly 18 percent of GDP. At the same time, there remain significant problems with access and quality. The joint training in business and health care management should provide a strong foundation for a variety of positions in health care finance, insurance, operations, disease and population heath management.

The standard full-time curriculum is a three-year, 73-credit course of study leading to the joint degree. The competency-based curriculum emphasizes both professional and leadership development, as well as functional management skills, blending courses across both the Katz School (MBA) and Pitt Public Health’s Department of Health Policy and Management (MHA) in six academic terms. 

Students are required to complete a management residency in the first summer term that may be extended into the second summer term. These supervised placements in health care services or health-related practice sites are an invaluable experience for professional development and networking. The student must also complete a master’s essay and an applied management project at the residency site.