Adaptation strategies in transnational education: a case study of an australian Master of Health Administration Course offered to chinese managers

• Published in: BMC medical education 2022-01, Vol.22 (1), p.52-52, Article 52
• Main Authors: Liu, Chaojie, Wu, Qunhong, Liang, Zhanming, Karimi, Leila, Ferrier, J Adamm, Sheats, Jane, Khalil, Hanan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation; Australia; Careers; China; Core curriculum; Curricula; Curriculum; Curriculum Design; Discipline; Education; Educational Needs; Educational Status; Health Management; Health services; Health services administration; Hospital administration; Humans; International education; Learning; Management training; Managers; Medical education; Mortality; Outcomes of Education; Public health; Public sector; Student Experience; Students; Study and teaching; Systematic review; Training evaluation; Transnationalism; Workforce
• ISSN: 1472-6920; 1472-6920
• DOI: 10.1186/s12909-021-03097-6

Management decisions in health influence patient care outcomes; however, health management development courses in China are rare. This study aims to document and evaluate a transnational Master of Health Administration (MHA) course launched in 2000 for the benefit of Chinese health managers. A case study of the MHA program jointly run by an Australian university and a Chinese Medical University was conducted. We reviewed the development of the MHA course through a document analysis (key events recorded in achieves, minutes, and audits) followed by reflection (by two course coordinators), extracting key themes related to adaptative strategies. We then conducted a questionnaire survey of 139 graduates seeking their views on relevance, satisfaction and challenges associated with each subject within the course, the relevance of key management skills (as determined by the Australasian College of Health Service Management competency framework), and the impact of the course on their personal career trajectories. Chi-square tests identified differences in the responses by age, gender, pre-training position, and current workplace. The curriculum pedagogy followed the principles of practice-based reflective learning. Research findings and student feedback shaped the curriculum design and subject content, to enhance management practices of the students. Survey participants expressed high levels of satisfaction and confirmed the relevance of all study subjects. Two subjects, health economics and data management, were perceived as being the most challenging. Of the ten management skills we assessed, relatively low self-rated confidence was found in "strategic thinking" and "planning". Younger and less experienced graduates were more likely to report learning challenges (p