The Olin Business School will be offering a new undergraduate major next semester in “healthcare management.” The program will include courses taught by professors from both the business and medical schools.

“Healthcare is a very important component of our economy and of the global economy,” Mahendra Gupta, dean of the Business School, said. “Our students in the Business School and at Washington University will benefit tremendously from an understanding of healthcare issues and how they affect business.”

Business School Professor Barton Hamilton and Bruce Hall, a medical school professor who also has a master’s degree in business administration, developed the program. Hall said that he has long envisioned the development of the major, which he said has become a reality because faculty resources and student interest have reached a critical mass.

“It’s always been my opinion that we ought to be devoting more effort to education around the healthcare industry,” Hall said. Hall, like Gupta, mentioned the importance of healthcare in the business sector. “The healthcare industry, if you hold out the military-industrial complex, is the largest industry in the country.”

The program will consist of three new courses: “Health, Economics and Policy,” “Healthcare Management,” and a research seminar course, which along with Olin Grand Rounds-a lecture series in the business of medicine-will comprise a “core” curriculum for the program. This core will be supplemented by several other business and medicine courses, including some in the science of medicine.

The focus of the program will be on healthcare economics, policy, management and research.

Gupta said that the program’s approach will concern both broad issues relevant to healthcare in general and specific topics that arise within the field.

“Our students will learn about many macro issues-the policies surrounding healthcare, why they arise the way they arise, and different organizational entities and interest groups,” Gupta said. “On a micro level, students will learn how healthcare organizations work, whether it be a hospital, an insurance company, or a pharmaceutical company.”

The courses will be open both to students enrolled in Olin and students outside the school, who may choose to either major or minor in the program. Students who choose to major in the program will participate in faculty-guided research on issues relevant to healthcare management, while those completing a minor will also have the option of participating in research projects.

“By the time the students come out, we would like them to have a great appreciation for business and management issues that surround healthcare, and also the great opportunities that lie in finding a career or creating a business there,” Gupta said.

Both Gupta and Hall expect the program to grow in the future.

“We hope that with every semester that goes by, we’ll be able to expand course offerings and involve even more faculty,” said Hall.

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