SDU aims to strengthen the healthcare system of the future with new master's degree programme in health economics

The healthcare system is facing complex challenges and growing pressure on resources due to rising demand for healthcare services, driven by an ageing population and new treatment opportunities.

Meeting this demand in the best possible way calls for fresh thinking: new structures, new incentives, new technologies and greater prioritisation. Making the right decisions requires analytical skills that combine deep insight into healthcare, welfare systems and economics.

The new master's degree programme is one of the new one-year programmes introduced as part of the graduate education reform. It concludes with a final thesis. The aim is for graduates to take on a significant role in society.

- There is currently a shortage of specialists who can combine knowledge of healthcare with advanced economic methods. This is exactly the kind of graduate we aim to educate through this initiative – because there is a real need, says Ole Skøtt, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at SDU.

The new programme will be anchored at the Danish Centre for Health Economics (DaCHE) at the Faculty of Health Sciences and offered in collaboration with the Department of Economics at the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences.

The programme builds on experience from long-standing, international one-year master's programmes in health economics, such as those in the UK and the Netherlands.

The curriculum will include courses on health data, economic evaluation, behavioural economics, health policy, and machine learning.

The programme is open to graduates from a wide range of bachelor's degree programmes, including economics, public health science, and political science.

- Health economics already plays a key role in both political and clinical decision-making. With this new programme, SDU is taking responsibility for ensuring that future decision-makers have the necessary analytical and data-driven foundation, says Professor Dorte Gyrd-Hansen, Head of Research at the Danish Centre for Health Economics.

There are currently no standalone master's degree programmes in health economics in Denmark. That is why SDU has engaged in close dialogue with a number of public and private stakeholders to identify needs and ensure that the content of the programme matches the demands of the labour market. The result is a practice-oriented programme with a strong research foundation.