Critical Foundations in Health Disciplines

MHST601 - Fall 2020

"As the introductory course to the Master of Health Studies (MHS) degree, MHST 601 offers a contemporary overview of health in Canada as a basis for your MHS program. The focus of this course is on understanding how to conceptualize, study, and analyze factors influencing the health of Canadians within the context of the Canadian health care system.

Students will examine ‘health’ and the foundations of health systems within an inter-professional connected environment. This connected learning will rely on interactions with your classmates and instructor, with your health professional colleagues and mentors, and with professionals and academics around the globe.

There are opportunities in this course for students to consider implications of the health care system for their own professional practice or disciplinary research. There are many learning activities and students are invited to choose activities that address their own learning needs. Students are expected to participate in forum discussions and to share their learning with their peers inside and outside of the course." - Athabasca University

Facilitating Inquiry

MHST603 - Winter 2021

"Inter-professional and inter-disciplinary research education and preparation is a key component of our graduate program. Knowledge development, creation and innovation occur within a variety of research and scholarship activities and having a sound knowledge base of research methods, the research process and understanding 'research speak' is essential. The learning outcomes will be achieved through your participation in the various Learning Activities within each Unit, as well as through writing a Research Proposal (Assignments 1, 2 and 3) and through the creation of a User's Guide to Research Methods website (Assignment 4), where you will work in small groups with your peers to create and present an in-depth and comprehensive examination of an approach to research." Athabasca University

Healthcare Informatics

MHST602 - Spring 2021

In MHST602, we examined "a number of emerging informatics technologies and processes. We learned the ways in which the technologies and processes could transform health care and then considered issues and concerns related to the application of the technologies and processes." Athabasca University

Leadership Role in Health

MHST604 - Fall 2021

In MHST604, "Leadership Roles in Health is designed to provide students with an overview of contemporary thought on leadership and the leader's role and to explore applications of that role. Resources included current literature and multi-media learning resources stemming from health care and other disciplines, plus input from participants in the course. The framework for the course focused on developing a knowledge of the theoretical perspective of leadership within the context of one's professional and personal life". Athabasca University

Policy Analysis & Development

MHST605 - Winter 2022

"MHST605 introduces you to policy analysis and development focusing on contemporary Canadian health policy. Some of the content areas we explored included identifying and defining policy problems, how policy problems get on decision-makers agendas, theoretical and methodological approaches to policy analysis, policy development and change, policy communication, and policy evaluation. There was also an emphasis on identifying and analyzing the institutions, interests, and ideas that inform policy development. Specific public, administrative, and clinical policy issues in Canadian healthcare were explored throughout the course to illustrate these concepts' application and demonstrate policy in action." Athabasca University

Trends and Issues

MHST609 - Spring 2022

In MHST609, we were "challenged to advocate for and defend a position related to a selected healthcare issue using debate as a learning medium. Debating is a transformative journey that helps you learn more about your beliefs and principles while teaching you to stand up and be heard. Further, we investigated historical and contemporary healthcare trends and share your learnings with your class colleagues in a conference format." Athabasca University

Organizational Change

MHST621 - Fall 2022

MHST621 provided the foundational knowledge and opportunity to practice:

evaluating the multi-dimensional nature of organizational change,
explaining political, economic, technological, and sociocultural influences on organizational change,
appraising the influence of overt and covert aspects of organizational life on change,
applying hard and soft systems models of organizational change to real-life case situations,
summarizing key trends that may prompt micro and macro-level organizational change in the future and
debating the influence of ethics on organizational change.

Athabasca University

Understanding Organizations

MHST622 - Winter 2023

MHST622 looked at "multiple aspects of organizations, from their structure and design to the behaviour of individuals and groups within. With a focus on what is important and useful, this course offered powerful and provocative ways of thinking about and influencing organizational life. The content of the course ranged from looking at organizations through metaphorical lenses to sharing reality-based examples of organizational situations that are both enlightening and instructive." Athabasca University

Clinical Teaching and Learning

MHST623 - Spring 2023

"This course is designed for education and service practitioners in the healthcare field interested in increasing their knowledge and skills related to teaching and learning in the clinical setting. Course topics include models of teaching and learning, the clinical learning environment, planning learning experiences, evaluation of learning, and professional socialization. The theoretical perspectives that guide the course are drawn from research on how knowledge is constructed, what factors promote and sustain student motivation and what issues instructors need to acknowledge within the social context of clinical teaching and learning." Athabasca University

Health Promotion I: Planning

MHST631 - Fall 2023

"MHST 631 Health Promotion I: Planning introduces learners to population health and health promotion concepts. Learners will acquire the conceptual tools needed to critique and analyze health promotion initiatives within the broader context (social, economic, environmental, political) in which they occur. Learners will develop a strong foundation for planning by incorporating health promotion concepts and models and current research and practice relating to the field of health promotion. We will gain a broad perspective of the health promotion landscape in Canada by exploring the Ottawa Charter and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Canadian Best Practices Portal. Taking a case study approach, learners will critically examine the strengths and limitations of various perspectives and practices as they operate at the individual, community, and organizational levels and in the broader context. Special attention will be given to how theory, models and framework operate in the digital landscape in an increasingly connected world (i.e., Digital 3.0)." Athabasca University