Program overview
The fields of health and social services are among the largest employment sectors in Canada and globally. Rising demands for health care; the availability of more diverse and costly treatments; and the devastating effects of infectious diseases, natural disasters, and human conflict all disrupt health and economic systems, increasing the demand for health managers and administrators.
Athabasca University’s health administration program was originally designed exclusively for and with First Nations communities. It was subsequently reformulated to provide a liberal education while maintaining a strong indigenous focus; the well-designed curriculum provides a strong foundation of business administration, management, organizational, and health systems, and cultural knowledge. The curriculum includes courses in communication, ethics, and critical thinking; finance and health economics; human resources, health law and risk management; health systems, health policy analysis, and epidemiology; and scholarly research and writing. Through a final capstone course which includes onsite practical experience with a qualified preceptor, students are able to integrate theoretical learning with practical knowledge, skills and competency development.
In addition to liberal arts courses to support scholarly research, writing, and critical reasoning, the curriculum covers:
- basic health concepts, the broad field of health administration, and health administrator competencies
- an examination of the nature and causes of major health problems and emerging global health concerns
- approaches to the financing and organization of health systems and the delivery of health services in Canada
- the Canadian legal framework governing decision-making and risk management in the health system
- approaches used by health administrators to create a culture of safety to support risk management and improve quality, and
- policies, processes, and practices to support economical, ethical, culturally relevant, evidence-based decisions in the administration and management of health and human services and programs.
Routes and options
The BHADM is a 90-credit (3-year) online degree program. If you have a related post-secondary diploma, you can take the shorter post-diploma route. There are no set start dates – you can enrol at any time and register for courses right away.
Post-diploma route
If you have a
- 2-year diploma in business administration or any health-related field, you may receive up to 60 credits toward the 90-credit degree
- 3-year diploma in business administration, you may receive up to 66 credits toward the degree
- 2- or 3-year professional diploma not in business administration or a related field, but relevant to the BHADM program, you may receive up to 36 credits toward the degree
Completion times
Finish this program in as little as 1 year (post-diploma route) to 3 years (degree route) of full-time study. Or work at your own pace and take as long as you need. There is no time limit for completion.
Admission requirements
There are no formal admission requirements for this program. All you need is to be 16 or older. You can enrol anytime and start right away, regardless of your previous education.
How to apply
You can apply to AU online, anytime. Once you’ve completed the online application form and paid the one-time general application fee (and transfer credit evaluation fee, if applicable), you’re officially an AU student and can start registering in courses.
Make sure we get your transcripts if you want us to consider your previous post-secondary education for transfer credit.
Transfer and advanced credit
If you don’t qualify for the post-diploma route, you can still get credit for courses at other institutions, or life experience. However, you must complete a minimum of 24 credits at AU.
Program requirements
To complete the program you will need to fulfill all the requirements of the Bachelor of Health Administration.
Our program plans can give you an idea of what courses you need to finish this program, and how to plan the order you’ll take them in. If you’re feeling unsure, our academic advisors can help.
Required courses
Detailed information about courses in this program can be accessed using the following links:
Tuition and fees
Once you have paid the initial application fee, tuition is pay-as-you-go for each course registration. Course fees vary depending on your location and other factors.
You can estimate your total program cost by multiplying the cost of a 3-credit course by the number of courses you need to take for the program. Remember that tuition costs may increase each year.
Program learning outcomes
Graduates from the Bachelor of Health Administration (HADM) program will demonstrate the ability to:
- Develop a broad base of foundational knowledge of health administration and health management concepts, theories, principles, practices and competencies in accounting, communication theory and practice, information systems, organizational behaviour, health economics, and health law.
- Critically analyze existing and emerging ethical, global, political, legal and environmental issues and concerns when planning and administering programs in health services settings.
- Justify decisions in health administration based on qualitative and quantitative analysis of data drawn from health research literature, government documents, and theoretical concepts derived from a range of relevant interdisciplinary sources.
- Synthesize theory, research, and evidence-based practice through a lens of social justice and cultural diversity, while engaging in course work and working with communities, health organizations, and governments to improve health equity.
- Propose strategies to address social and cultural issues that contribute to marginalization, poor health outcomes, and barriers to health equity.
- Articulate beliefs, concepts, propositions, and arguments in coherent, concise, and technically correct forms that are informed by a critical analysis of disciplinary and interdisciplinary evidence.
- Evaluate the quality and relevance of evidence and information on the basis of their sources, methods used to generate it, and motives of the authors recognizing the limits of these analytics limits, and one’s knowledge and ability to make sound judgements and recommendations to improve policy and practice in health administration.
- Apply knowledge and information synthesized from personal, academic, service learning, professional, and/or community activities while consistently following legal, ethical and professional rules of conduct and academic integrity in the roles of learners and practitioners of health administration.
Possible career options
- Health-Care Administrator/Hospital Administrator for rural hospitals or community health clinics/centres all across Canada
- Administrator/Manager for long-term care facilities/nursing homes
- middle management-level positions at large hospitals/health regions
- Administrator/Manager at mental health facilities
- provincial government’s departments of health and social services
- Government of Canada departments of health and national defence
- private health-care facilities and long-term care facilities
- large and small consultant agencies in Canada as well as abroad
- international organizations in Canada as well as in the world, such as WHO, CARE, World Vision, Global Affairs Canada and CUSO
- religious organizations across the world
Continuing education
At Athabasca University:
At other educational institutions*
- graduate studies in health administration, population health, public and community health, health education, and environmental and occupational health and safety
- post-graduate diploma in risk management
- law
- library science
- journalism
- education
* Some universities will not accept a 3-year degree for admittance into a graduate program. An additional year of study may be required. Entrance requirements vary among educational institutions. It is the students’ responsibility to research the entrance requirements of other universities.