Health Economics for Health Care Professionals

Having worked in the pricing and reimbursement practice at Cambridge Pharma Consultancy for over 2 years, I realised that I needed an understanding of health economics to back up my clinical and pharmacology knowledge.

Why I chose the York programme

There were 3 main factors that led me to choose the York programme above any others:

1. As a programme for 'health care professionals', it emphasised the practical aspects that were important for decision-makers and relevant to my work. I had no aspirations to become an academic econometrician, and this has not changed!

2. I was able to do the programme with minimum impact on my busy work schedule.

3. The academic reputation of York in health economics is second-to-none, and if I was going to invest my own time in studying, I wanted it to be well-spent and result in a respected qualification.

The learning approach was fun!

It was clear that a lot of thought and effort had gone into developing the structure, breadth and content of the programme and the preparation of programme materials.

The workshop at the start of Module 1 was invaluable, providing an opportunity to get to know the other students, module leaders and tutors, learning about the web-based learning system and becoming familiar with the library services.

The workbooks were the foundation for each module, providing the core subject matter and a guide to additional reading - of which there was plenty! The workbooks also contained exercises to do and discuss on the bulletin board on the web based learning system. These discussions involved a lot of lively debate, quite a lot of humorous discussion, but more importantly the ability to share one's difficulties. The programme tutor, would monitor these discussions and come to the rescue when necessary and guide us back if we were going off the point. Each module involved the submission of two pieces of written work for marking, providing essential feedback on progress prior to the assessment.
I would highly recommend the two-day workshops in the middle of each module. These provide an opportunity to resolve any issues and difficulties with the module and interaction with module leaders and other students. The variety of backgrounds (industry, consultancy, public health service, private health care, academia) and personalities made for lively sessions, both during the day and in the evening.

Benefits I gained from the programme

The greater understanding of health economics developed during the programme has been useful in my work, even whilst studying. The programme gave me a framework for all the information I had encountered previously and not known how to put together. It enabled me to think more clearly about incentives in health care systems, to consider what might be the implications of health care reforms, to critically appraise economic evaluations and ensured that I would not commit the heinous crime of discussing average cost-effectiveness ratios!

I am currently working on a project where I have to explain in simple terms to non-health economists a decision tree model that uses Monte Carlo methodology to compare different treatment sequences in rheumatoid arthritis. Had I not done the Advanced Economic Evaluation module of the York programme, I would not know where to begin!

I completed the Diploma in June 2002. It was a considerable effort but well worth it. When introducing myself to new clients, I don't fail to mention that I have a Diploma in Health Economics from York.

Please note that, although every effort has been taken to ensure the information contained in these pages is correct, matters covered may be subject to change both before and after a student has registered. The information contained within these pages does not form part of a contract between the University and applicants or students.