Education for navigating "permanent white water:" establishing a bachelors program for Canadian health services...

A rapidly changing health services environment challenges educators to critically assess what they do, and what they should do, to prepare managers to survive and grow professionally and to contribute to clients, organizations and the health system. In this paper we describe the establishment of an undergraduate degree-completion program in Health Services Management at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto, Canada. In contrast to traditional programs which begin the process of education as the basis for later practice, this program, the first of its kind in a Canadian university, is designed to develop management skills and competencies on an existing base of professional experience and practice; it offers practitioners with 3-year diplomas in a health technology or allied health field the opportunity to complete an undergraduate degree on a part-time basis. Sections of the paper outline the multidisciplinary and multi-stage process of program development which took place outside of traditional departmental lines and involved a partnership of academics and practitioners; and the curriculum design, which integrates knowledge specific to the field of health administration, relevant knowledge from other professional fields, and liberal studies. In a final section we discuss the ongoing development of the program and factors contributing to its success.