What are the Best Healthcare MBA Degrees in Toronto?
The Toronto metro is not only home to a number of the finest business schools in Canada—it is is one of the top cities in North America for healthcare and human health sciences. According to the City of Toronto, the city’s life sciences sector employs nearly 30,000 professional and contributes more than $2 billion to the local economy. In a word, Toronto healthcare is huge.
The city is home to healthcare and life sciences companies such as Apotex, ChipCare, DoT Health, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi Pasteur, and XOR Labs Toronto. There are also numerous resources, incubators and accelerators in Toronto specializing in the field. This includes Blueline Bioscience, a biotechnology incubator based in Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District that works toward translating research discoveries into high impact therapeutics, and Health Innovation Hub, a center located in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine that facilitates the translation of discoveries and ideas into problem-solving designs that impact positively on health matters.
For those who want to get into this field, options are out there that allow for ambitious business students to take on their MBA and healthcare management coursework at the same time. Let’s take a deeper look and see which may be best for you.
The Best Toronto Healthcare MBA Programs
Rotman School of Management – University of Toronto
Global Executive MBA for Healthcare and the Life Sciences
The intensive 18-month Rotman School of Management Global Executive MBA for Healthcare and the Life Sciences program is recommended for mid-to-senior level professionals from life science industries, healthcare providers and service delivery organizations, consulting firms, and public agencies who wish to advance their careers in healthcare management.
The Rotman Global Executive MBA for Healthcare and the Life Sciences only takes 18 months to complete.
The curriculum combines core management skills with strategic knowledge of healthcare and life sciences. The program stresses a global perspective on health systems and business, and focuses on leading strategic change, data-driven decision-making, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
Classrooms provide opportunities for Rotman faculty and experienced healthcare leaders to share their own experiences with students and help develop their networks. Each module of the program involves on-site experiences with firms and organizations that are leading healthcare and life sciences innovation in areas such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical technology, medical informatics, telemedicine, insurance, patient engagement, long-term care, and health system design.
The program also takes advantage of Rotman’s relationship to the global healthcare community and location in Toronto’s medical discovery district. Students have access to the Health Innovation Hub mentioned above, as well as the opportunity to apply for admission to a course with Rotman’s Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), one of the world’s premier venture scaling programs.
Major in Health Sector Management
Rotman’s Health Sector Management major focuses on management in health care delivery systems, pharmaceutical and biotechnology sales and marketing, life sciences product commercialization, and related consulting and financial industries. The major also covers various regulatory bodies and procedures in the sector.
In order to complete the specialization, students must complete three of the following core courses:
- Health Sector Strategy and Organization
- Pharmaceutical Strategy
- Health Systems Consulting
- Healthcare Innovation
Because the major is still part of Rotman’s full-time MBA program, a four-month internship program is built into the curriculum. Students are required to complete the course “Applied Management: Placement” in conjunction with a work placement which may be done in the summer, fall, or winter terms. Past Rotman students in the Health Sector Management track have interned with companies like GSK, IMS Health, Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson.
You can learn more about the Global Executive MBA program here and the specialized major here.
DeGroote School of Business – McMaster University
Health Services Management Specialization
Open to students in the co-op, part-time, and full-time accelerated programs, DeGroote’s Health Services Management (HSM) MBA specialization is designed to teach the fundamentals of planning, operations and evaluation, and a broad orientation to the realities, limitations, and potentialities of health systems.
The major requires students take the following core classes, along with three additional healthcare-centric electives:
- Business, Government and the Global Environment
- Strategic Management
- Health Economics and Evaluation
- Health Policy Analysis
According to the school, the HSM specialization also provides full-time and co-op students advanced standing towards earning their Certified Health Executive (CHE) designation, Canada’s only professional credential available to health leaders, under the DeGroote School of Business’ strategic alliance with the Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL). Students who enroll in the strategic alliance must complete the CHE program requirements within three years from the date of enrollment.
You can learn more about the specialization here.
Schulich School of Business – York University
Health Industry Management Specialization
The Schulich School of Business Health Industry Management Program (HIMP) program is unique because it can be applied to a number of MBA degree options: the full-time MBA, international MBA, MBA/MFA/MA, and MBA/JD, as well as the MBA India program. The school’s industry-focused curriculum and career-based development allows students to leverage their learnings to pursue exciting career opportunities in the Toronto healthcare field. Coursework is taught by faculty members who play leading roles in the private and hospital sectors as CEOs, entrepreneurs, consultants, the public sector as policy advisors and economists, and in the not-for-profit sector as consultants, board members, and administrators.
Like DeGroote’s specialized degree, the Schulich HIMP program provides students advanced standing towards earning their CHE designation, under the Schulich School of Business’ strategic alliance with the CCHL. Students who enroll in the strategic alliance must complete the CHE program requirements within three years from the date of enrollment.
You can learn more about the specialization here.
About the Author
Max Pulcini
Max Pulcini is a Philadelphia-based writer and reporter. He has an affinity for Philly sports teams, Super Smash Bros. and cured meats and cheeses. Max has written for Philadelphia-based publications such as Spirit News, Philadelphia City Paper, and Billy Penn, as well as national news outlets like The Daily Beast.
