MBA Program: Curriculum

WHARTON CORE COURSES

All students must complete the Wharton Management Core Curriculum which provides groundwork in the basic management disciplines: economics, finance, financial and cost accounting, management science, managing people and organizational design, marketing, operations management, and the governmental and legal environment of business and statistics. The Core Curriculum is designed to maximize cross-functional integration, extend global experience, strengthen leadership training, and address key management issues.

HEALTH CARE CORE COURSES

The courses comprising the Health Care Major promote an understanding of the concepts, institutions, and issues specifically involved in the organization, financing and delivery of health services and products.

The following two courses are required of all students:

• Health Services System, HCMG 841
• Health Care Field Application Project, HCMG 653 (It is taken in the second semester of the first year. Five or six person “learning teams” are assigned to consult to a health-related firm on a current management problem.)

ELECTIVES

In addition to the two Health Care core courses above, students in the health care program are required to take at least three course units of health care courses from within specialized segments of the health care industry such as managed care organizations, hospitals, integrated delivery systems, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and long-term care organizations. (See current listing of courses offered.)

• Economics of Health Care and Policy, HCMG 844
• Managed Care and Market Structure, HCMG 845
• Financial Management of Health Institutions, HCMG 849
• Health Policy Analysis, HCMG 850
• Health Services Delivery: A Managerial Economic Approach, HCMG 852
• Legal Aspects of Health Care, HCMG 854
• Management of Care for the Elderly, HCMG 855
• Health Care Marketing, HCMG 858
• Comparative Health Care Systems, HCMG 859
• Management and Economics of Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industry, HCMG 863
• E-Health: Business Models and Impact, HCMG 866
• Health Care Entrepreneurship, HCMG 867
• Advanced Study Project: International Health, HCMG 890 (Spring)
• Advanced Study Project: Management of Health Care Service Businesses, HCMG 890-001 (Fall)
• Advanced Study Project: Medical Devices, HCMG 890-002 (Fall Q2)

JOINT DEGREES

A number of students choose to enroll in joint degree programs with other schools at Penn, such as the MD, Masters of Biotechnology, MS in Bioethics, MSN, etc.

SECONDARY MAJORS

Students may also pursue a second major in fields such as Marketing, Finance or Information Systems, by completing the requirements in these departments. They may take graduate courses throughout the University of Pennsylvania.