Health Sciences

Demand for highly competent health professionals is rising within today’s rapidly changing healthcare field. This Master’s degree course seeks to meet that need.
 

• Taught in English
• 25 places
• Interdisciplinary and modular set-up
• Individual research project in third semester
• Real-world-centred course
• Application-oriented research in centres of excellence
• The Department of Health Sciences cooperates with more than 15 higher education institutions worldwide

This course is primarily aimed at:

• Graduates (BSc/BA or Diplom, or equivalent) in subjects from the health, social or human sciences
• Other graduates in health/healthcare with a strong interest in public health, healthcare research and policymaking

This Master of Science in Health Sciences is a two-year consecutive programme (4 semesters, 120 CP in total) building directly on a previous first degree. It provides participants with scientific and practical skills for research in the field of health sciences. As an interdisciplinary programme, the course trains students to interact with healthcare practitioners, policymakers, public administrators, healthcare funders, NGO staff, industry managers and diverse population groups in order to drive informed and evidence-based decision-making and promote equity in health and healthcare. Students gain a comprehensive understanding of research methods, their use in the field of healthcare, disease prevention and health promotion, and experience of empirical, data-based research.

The first two semesters (60 CP) encompass modules conveying skills in qualitative and quantitative research methods. They include modules in concepts and dimensions of health sciences and public health; statistical data analysis; ethics and epistemology; diversity in health; family, community and occupational health; health economics and global health; infectious and non-communicable disease epidemiology; health behaviours and epidemiological research; occupational and health promotion research; health economics research and health systems research; advanced study design and biostatistics; instrument development, validation and advanced qualitative study design; and research and project Management.

The course’s third semester, entirely devoted to research and training, allows you to apply and practise the competencies acquired. You will be part of a research project conducted either at HAW Hamburg or at another relevant institution and focusing on public health and healthcare. In this way, you’ll gain practical skills and team working experience and learn how to generate evidence in a real-life research project, which will be supervised by a professor and accompanied by a colloquium.

The course culminates in your Master thesis, which gives you the opportunity to formulate a meaningful research hypothesis, choose a study design suitable for addressing the problem at hand, run the appropriate analyses in accordance with rigorous scientific standards, and draw upon the findings to make recommendations for practice.

The admission requirements are as follows:

• A first university degree in the field of health sciences providing qualification for professional practice with at least 180 ECTS or an equivalent university degree is required
• Diploma Supplement/Transcript of Records
• Proof of special knowledge of the English language Level C1 (see paragraph 3)
• For students without a German university entrance qualification, proof of sufficient knowledge of the German language Level B1

Further documents to be submitted:

• Letter of motivation
• Curriculum vitae

Optional:

• Proof of special knowledge in line with the academic objectives of the Master's degree course

Proof of especially good knowledge of the English language is provided by presentation of:

• the university of applied sciences entrance qualification with the grade of 'satisfactory' (at  least 8 points in the final year of school) or the general higher education entrance qualification with the grade of 'satisfactory' (at least 8 points in the final year of school or the examination result), or
• a certificate proving that the applicant has passed an internationally recognized English language test (TOEFL, IELTS, CAE, TOEIC, BULATS, PTE, BEC, PTE (see attachment: Zugangs- und Auswahlordnung, point 1), or
• a certificate for accomplishments achieved abroad which are equivalent to the accomplishments stated under letters a) and b) (see attachment, point 2)

Proof of sufficient knowledge of the German language is provided by presentation of:

• a first university degree in the German language providing qualification for professional practice, or
• a certificate proving that the applicant has passed an internationally recognised German language test at CEFR Level B1 (Goethe Certificate B1: the Certificate in German, the DSD German Language Certificate of the Education Ministers Conference - First Level), or
• a certificate for accomplishments achieved in a German speaking country which are equivalent to the accomplishments stated under letters a) and b). Common European Framework of References for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment

Selection criteria
Places on the course are awarded according to a ranking list. The ranking list is constituted by the awarding of points in accordance with the following criteria:

• a written explanation explaining why the applicant wishes to attend the course (letter of motivation) (0 to 5 points);
• a first university degree providing qualification for professional practice (0 to 10 points according to academic achievement);
• specialist knowledge in line with the academic objectives of the masters course (0 to 10 points)

A ranking list is constituted on the basis of the total number of points determined in this way. If several applicants have the same number of points, the successful applicants will be drawn at random.