Expand+Accredited by UCD

Level 9 (Special Purpose Award) on the National Framework for Qualifications

Audience
Postgraduate Certificates are expressly designed for those who want to obtain, in a short space of time, a further postgraduate qualificati...

Hide-Accredited by UCD

Level 9 (Special Purpose Award) on the National Framework for Qualifications

Audience
Postgraduate Certificates are expressly designed for those who want to obtain, in a short space of time, a further postgraduate qualification in a discrete subject area.

Delivery and Duration
Other than the Postgraduate Certificate in Public Management (which requires a major dissertation), all Postgraduate Certificates consists of three subjects and a minor dissertation. They are all delivered through distance education, so students can live and work anywhere in Ireland and can remain in full-time employment. Students attend some weekend seminars at the IPA in Dublin.

Accreditation
The IPA is a recognised college of University College Dublin (UCD). From 2012, any student entering an accredited IPA Programme will graduate with a UCD award. The IPA and UCD are part of the wider National University of Ireland (NUI) network. All Postgraduate Certificates are at Level 9 (Special Purpose) on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ).

Expand+Postgraduate Certificates are one-year programmes in which
students take the second year of IPA MA programmes.
There are six options:
- Postgraduate Certificate in Human Resource Management
- Postgraduate Certificate in Financial Management
- P...

Hide-Postgraduate Certificates are one-year programmes in which
students take the second year of IPA MA programmes.
There are six options:
- Postgraduate Certificate in Human Resource Management
- Postgraduate Certificate in Financial Management
- Postgraduate Certificate in Criminal Justice
- Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Management
- Postgraduate Certificate in Local Government Management
- Postgraduate Certificate in Leadership and Strategy

Students take three or four subjects and complete a minor
dissertation. For information on the subjects taken, see the
descriptions under Subjects below (Year Two of the relevant MA)

IS THIS PROGRAMME FOR YOU?
Many graduate students are interested in a number of the fields in which the IPA offers qualifications. Students who wish to focus exclusively on HRM, Financial Management or any other of the specialisms listed above may do so by studying the second year of the MA programme. On completion, they will receive a Postgraduate Certificate in the specialism of their choice. New responsibilities at work or changes in career very often mean that instruction in a new field and an extra qualification are necessary. These one-year certificates are designed to meet such needs.

Expand+YEAR TWO
Semester One
Health Strategy and Policy:
The concept of strategy, strategic management and
planning, strategy formulation, service planning, the national health strategy and its implementation, funding and resource allocation, primary he...

Hide-YEAR TWO
Semester One
Health Strategy and Policy:
The concept of strategy, strategic management and
planning, strategy formulation, service planning, the national health strategy and its implementation, funding and resource allocation, primary healthcare, community health, hospital services, statutory and voluntary provision of services, strategic issues in Irish health policy and services for
target groups.

Comparative Healthcare:
Health systems classification, healthcare developments in Europe and elsewhere, international perspectives on health funding and expenditure, role of the State, quality and management of professional practice and health service
reform initiatives in other countries.

Quality in Healthcare:
Organisational structure of the health services, patient safety, quality assessment, clinical and organisational governance, clinical audit and evidence-based medicine.

Health Economics and Finance:
The healthcare market, the demand for healthcare, issues
in pricing health services, economic evaluation of healthcare, supply-side efficiency, case-mix and diagnostic related
groups, programme budgeting, management accounting
and control accountability.

Semester Two
In the second semester of year two students write a dissertation on a specific healthcare management issue.