Welcome to the Introduction of Health Economics

Dear Student,

You are welcome you to the course entitled “Introduction to Health Economics” unit of the Health Policy and Planning Module. The course aims to equip you with a theoretical and practical knowledge related to health economics. Health economics, defined as the study of how people and society make choices, will enable prospective students to learn the fundamentals of health economics to understand how to make rational decisions and the reasoning behind such decision in the presence of scarce resources that could otherwise be put to alternative uses. The course covers broader topics in microeconomics, mainly: concepts of supply and demand, ccompetitive markets, market failures, health insurance, health systems financing, elasticity of demand, economic decision-making (costs and revenues); introduction to macroeconomic and macroeconomic of health care. 

 You are expected to participate to the entire course, including the scheduled group or individual course assignments and discussions using the designed forum. You are encouraged to contact the course instructors for further information, if need be. We look forward to seeing you at the start of the course! You are welcome once again!

Facilitators contacts

Main instructor: Dr. James Humuza  

Email: jhumuza@nursph.org

Tel: +250788307858

Co-instructor: Mrs Stella Matutina Umuhoza 

Email: sumuhoza@nursph.org

Contact hours at instructors’ office (by appointment): Thursday from 4:00 to 5:30 pm

Teaching methods

Lectures and discussion using blended learning methods will be performed. Regular lectures and discussion topics will be given by instructors to familiarize the students with related issues. Students will be provided with PowerPoint presentations and online resources materials routinely to prepare for subsequent lecture. Students’ participation in the discussion forum (online) will be encouraged to develop and practice terms and concepts learnt by students throughout the course. Quizzes shall be given to encourage students to conduct research in order to enrich their knowledge.

Learning outcomes 

At the end of this course, each student should be able to:

• Explain the theoretical economic concepts and applications to the real world, and how such concepts can be used to diagnose and address health related issues 
• Appreciate the distinction between different market structures and their efficiency
• Understand how the economy operates using both short-run and long-run analysis
• Know how to apply micro- and macro-economic models to examine and discuss policy debates on health issues arise and influenced,

Assessment modalities 

• Participation in the online discussion and other forum: 15% 
• Assignment 20% 
• Group assignment: 35% 
• Final paper: 30%