Undergraduate Course: Health Economics (ECNM10082)
Course Outline
| School | School of Economics |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is an Honours option course for undergraduate students reading for single and joint Honours degrees offered by the School of Economics.
It introduces students to the issues, theory and applications of health economics, placing emphasis on current empirical research in the field. |
| Course description |
This is a new course running in Semester 2 and aims to provide students with an introduction to the key concepts, methods and understanding of the application of economics to health and health care. Students will gain knowledge of the core theories underpinning health economics, but more importantly, it aims to stimulate students¿ critical thinking about the major challenges health care systems face and how governments and policy makers can manage those challenges. The course covers a range of topics including demand and supply for health and health care, international perspectives on health system resources, health insurance and health care financing, economic evaluation methods and resource allocation in health care, health inequalities, health in the context of economic growth and development, an introduction to behavioural economics, and the economics of mental health.
The course will be delivered through a series of lectures and tutorials.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Students should usually have at least 3 Economics courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. This MUST INCLUDE courses in Macroeconomics, Microeconomics and statistics. We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 5,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
171 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Presentation: 10%
Essay: 30%
Final exam: 60% |
| Feedback |
Feedback on the presentations will take the form of a mark and written comments. This will be made available to students individually by e-mail, one week following their presentation. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- A knowledge and understanding of key concepts, issues and models in health economics, as well as empirical methodology and recent advances in research in health economics.
- Research and investigative skills such as problem framing and solving and the ability to assemble and evaluate complex evidence and arguments.
- Communication skills in order to critique, create and communicate understanding and to collaborate with and relate to others.
- Personal effectiveness through task-management, time-management, teamwork and group interaction, dealing with uncertainty and adapting to new situations, personal and intellectual autonomy through independent learning.
- Practical/technical skills such as, modelling skills (abstraction, logic, succinctness), qualitative and quantitative analysis and general IT literacy.
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Reading List
There is no single resource for this course, however the following book is useful for several of the topics that we will cover:
Morris, S. et al., 2012. Economic analysis in health care. Second Edition, Chichester: Wiley. Available online.
Lecture Specific Readings include but are not limited to:
Lecture 1: Introduction to Health Economics; The demand for health care
Morris, S. et al., 2012. Economic analysis in health care. Second Edition, Chapters 1 & 2
Lecture 2: The demand for health care continued; The supply of health care
Morris, S. et al., 2012. Economic analysis in health care. Second Edition, Chapter 2, 4 & 5
Lecture 3: Health insurance and health care financing
Morris, S. et al., 2012. Economic analysis in health care. Second Edition, Chapter 6
Lecture 4: Economic Evaluation I: Principles, measuring and valuing health care output.
Morris, S. et al., 2012. Economic analysis in health care. Second Edition, Chapters 10 & 11
Lecture 5: Economic Evaluation II: Economic evaluation methods.
Morris, S. et al., 2012. Economic analysis in health care. Second Edition, Chapter 12
Lecture 6: Economic Evaluation III: The use of economic evaluation in decision making.
Morris, S. et al., 2012. Economic analysis in health care. Second Edition, Chapter 13
Lecture 7: Health inequalities
Lecture 8: Health in the context of economic growth and development
Lecture 9: Behavioural economics and health
Lecture 10: The economics of mental health
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and Inquiry
B1. The ability to identify, define and analyse theoretical and applied economic problems and identify or devise approaches to investigate and solve these problems.
B3. The ability to critically assess existing understanding of economic and social issues, the limitations of that understanding and the limitations of their own knowledge and understanding of those issues.
B4. The ability to question the principles, methods, standards and boundaries of economic knowledge
Personal and Intellectual Autonomy
C1. The ability to be independent learners who take responsibility for their own learning, and are committed to continuous reflection, self-evaluation and self-improvement.
C4. The ability to collaborate and debate effectively to test, modify and strengthen their own views.
Communication
D1. The ability to make effective use of oral, written and visual means to critique, create and communicate understanding.
D2. The ability to further their own learning through effective use of feedback.
D3. The ability to use communication as a tool for collaborating and relating to others.
Personal Effectiveness
E1. The ability to manage tasks and also skills in time-management.
E4. The ability to work effectively with others, capitalising on their different thinking. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
1 x 2:00 hour lecture per week for 10 weeks. Note that there will be no teaching during Flexible Learning Week which takes place between weeks 5 and 6. Tutorials will be student led presentations, selected from one of five pre-specified topics.
Tutorials will be automatically assigned based on your timetable.
Attendance at tutorials, and the giving of a presentation, is compulsory for all students and a register will be taken and recorded.
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| Keywords | HealthEcon |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Ms Aileen Neilson
Tel: (0131 6) 51 9944
Email: Aileen.Neilson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Daniel Harrington
Tel: (0131 6)51 5936
Email: dan.harrington@ed.ac.uk |
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