Studies
Why Study Health Business Management with Us?
You will become a member of a genuinely international learning community.
The invigorating and versatile studies will facilitate the development of competences that boost your successful career in the field of health business.
The digital learning environment allows for maximum amount of flexibility to find the balance between studies, working, and family life.
Multidisciplinary programme
Health Business Management is a multidisciplinary degree programme aimed at engineering, business and social and health care professionals.
The degree is 90 ECTS for Business and Social and health care professionals and 60 ECTS for engineering professionals. The difference is based on the Act of Universities of Applied Sciences 1129/2014.
Normative duration of studies is 1 academic year for a degree of 60 ECTS and 1.5 academic years for a degree of 90 ECTS.
What Will You Study?
During the first three semester the emphasis of your studies is in advanced professional studies.
You will gain a deep understanding of best practices for the health business concerning
- health technology assessment
- strategic planning
- project management
- people leadership
- customer relationship management
- business modeling
- business processes
The phases of the Master's Thesis, supported by studies in research skills, will be distributed across all semesters; the Thesis will give you a chance to influence on the wellbeing of populations as well as on the success of the potential business partner.
See business professionals' HBM Curriculum in Study Guide
See engineering professionals' HBM Curriculum in Study Guide
See social and health care professionals' HBM Curriculum in Study Guide
How do you study during the programme?
You may perform all your studies online using synchronous and asynchronous online learning. Metropolia organizes the Master´s degree studies and study guidance in such a way that the student can complete the studies in a period which is equivalent to their extend. Studies may also be completed over a period that is longer than the normative duration of studies.
Student must prepare an individual study plan. Student has the right to complete the studies in accordance with the curriculum for the degree in question and with the approved individual study plan. Note that participating online programmes does not entitle you receiving residence permit. See more about the topic in Finnish Immigration Service websites.
Where Our Graduates work?
Our graduates work in frontline management and senior positions in health business organizations.
Note that passing this programme does not give the right to practice health care professions in Finland. In case a person wishes to get the certification, it must be applied separately from National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira).
Scholarships and tuition fees
The tuition fees concern students who are not citizens of EU/EEA countries. Students pay annual tuition fees based on their study right. The payment obligation concerns all the academic terms during which a student is registered as attending.
Annual tuition fee
- 12 000 € for those, whose right of study starts before 1 August 2024
- 12 500 € for those, whose right of study starts after 31 July 2024.
This fee applies only to non-EU/EEA degree students.
In matters relating to studies, such as curriculum, course offering and studying, please contact Head of Degree Programme
Contact tutor teacher
Contact Study Advisor
Applying
- Application period1.5.2024 at 08:00 - 31.10.2024 at 15:00Start of studiesautumn 2024
- Business
- Health Care and Social Services
- Technology
The Application on the Basis of Metropolia’s Open UAS Studies is aimed at those who have completed open UAS studies at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Studies are considered to be Metropolia's if they are entered in the Metropolia's study register, and open studies if they have not been completed with the right to study for the degree-leading education.
Application period: 1 May 2024 8:00 am - 31 October 2024, all times refer to local time in Finland https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/finland/helsinki.
Application instructions: published at Studyinfo.fi
- Application period8.1.2025 at 08:00 - 22.1.2025 at 15:00Start of studiesautumn 2025
- Business
- Health Care and Social Services
- Technology
Instructions for applying
In the spring 2025 Joint Application to higher education, you can apply to degree programmes that start in the autumn of 2025. The application period starts on the 8 January 2025 at 8 am and ends on the 22 January 2025 at 3 pm (local time in Finland).
All the information needed to apply can be found on the national Studyinfo.fi portal. At Studyinfo.fi you can find descriptions of degree programmes, application criteria, application instructions, application forms and much more.
In order to be considered for student selection, you must pass the degree programme's own entrance examination as described in Studyinfo.fi. Entrance exam invitations are sent approximately one week before the entrance exam by email to the email address provided by the applicant on the application form.
Useful links
More information
For more information on the application process please contact
Metropolia's Student and Admission Services:
+358 40 712 5100
admissions [at] metropolia.fi (admissions[at]metropolia[dot]fi)
Starting studies
How to start your studies in Metropolia
Welcome to study for a degree at Metropolia!
Congratulations! You have been admitted to Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and we are delighted to have you as a new member of our vibrant community of more than 16 000 students!
You have made an excellent choice - Metropolia offers you unique multidisciplinary opportunities throughout your studies with its strong connections to working life and active role in innovations built around socially significant phenomena.
We are happy to have you with us and help you with any questions you might have. Welcome to Metropolia!
The below information applies to students who have been accepted to study for a full degree at Metropolia. Make sure to complete all the steps in order to secure your study place.
Confirming a place of study requires certain formalities to be completed by the deadline. More detailed instructions below:
Non-EU/EEA students need a student residence permit. You can begin the student residence permit application online at Enterfinland.fi. Remember that you must personally visit a Finnish embassy or consulate as part of this process. Start your residence permit process as soon as possible, carefully following the immigration authorities' instructions and regulations, so that you can receive your permit in good time before your studies begin! You can find detailed information and advice on the residence permit requirements and procedures on the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) website.
Note that participating online programmes does not entitle you receiving residence permit. See more about the topic in Finnish Immigration Service websites.
All Metropolia's students who do not have a Finnish personal identity code, have to apply for it before their arrival or register at the local registry office after their arrival to Finland to apply for one.
Students who have to apply for residence permit (i.e. non-EU/non-EEA citizens) before their arrival to Finland should ask to be registered in the Finnish Population Information System when they apply for their first residence permit. This way they will receive a Finnish personal identity code at the same time as they are issued with the permit. More information on this for residence permit applicants
Other students have to apply for the personal identity code from the local registry office of the city where you are living in.
More information on Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV).
More information on registration to the Finnish Population Information System
After you have received the personal identification code, remember to inform it to the Student and Admission Services.
Metropolia does not have housing services to offer. Thus, it is the student's responsibility to find an accommodation for the period of their studies. There is a lot of competition in affordable housing, so it is important to start searching for a room many months prior to arrival. More information on accommodation
All foreign students (who are not EU citizens or citizens of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland) who come to Finland for the purposes of studying are required to have a health insurance, if the studies endure longer than three months.
More information on insurances
Student financial aid is for Finnish citizens. Foreign citizens are entitled to student financial aid if they live in Finland on a permanent basis for the purpose other than studying and they have registered as permanent residents in the Finnish population register system.
- Find out where your campus is located
- If you have a smart phone you can download the free HSL mobile app to get access to the public transportation Journey Planner and tickets (e.g. for travelling from the Helsinki-Vantaa airport to your apartment or from your apartment to the campus).
- If you have a smart phone you can download the Tuudo mobile app for free to get your digital student ID and student discounts (ID and discounts are available from the first day of the studies onwards)
- Information on student life and well-being, costs and finance, study environment etc.
When you start as a new student you need to activate your user account. Activation is possible when the right to study begins. For joint application, activation is possible from 1 August.
The purpose of the activation is that you personally accept the rules of the account usage policy and start using your account. Activate your user account primarily using Mobile Certificate and Netbank User ID. Please read first the instructions in IT Services wiki.
Tuudo is a mobile app with which you can use various Metropolia web services easily on your smart phone. With Tuudo you can get VR, HSL, Matkahuolto and Kela student discounts immediately. The benefits are free for all Metropolia students.
In Tuudo you can check Metropolia, Admission Services, and student union METKA announcements, your schedule, study attainments, and cafeteria menus.
Get Tuudo on your phone from the app store for free and start using it!
During your studies, your support of well-being and health is Finnish Student Health Services (FSHS). The specialist in student health care offers you general, mental and oral health services and supports the well-being of study communities.
Our services can be used by students completing a bachelor’s or master’s degree at a university or a university of applied sciences who have registered as attending for the semester.
Master the facts! Familiarize yourself with our services and user instructions on the address fshs.fi, and the Health information resource on the address yths.fi/en/health-information-resource. You can also find information about appointments as well as current information about your service unit on the address yths.fi/en/service-units.
Start using Self! Self is the student’s own online service for health care issues at FSHS. In Self, you can manage appointment bookings, communicate via SelfChat and start a remote consultation. Log in to Self as a user immediately from the beginning of the semester and keep your contact details up to date for as long as you are a student. Read more: yths.fi/en/self-info.
The health care fee for students in higher education will be paid to Kela on your initiative (kela.fi/web/en/healthcare-fee-for-students-in-higher-education).
If you have social security coverage in another EU/EEA country or in Switzerland or the United Kingdom, you do not have to pay the healthcare fee. However, you can to use the FSHS’s services.
Already excited about starting your studies in Metropolia and meeting new people? On this page you will find welcome letters for each degree program.
Welcome letters are information packages prepared by your future tutors. They include, for example, important dates as well as information about studying, student benefits, or student life.
Create your own profile and sign up to JobTeaser portal now and stay up to date on job vacancies, training and upcoming recruitment events promoted especially to Metropolia students. There are hundreds of job opportunities available and a lot of information to support your career planning.
JobTeaser is a career portal where you can find lot of career information in one platform.
- Open jobs and traineeships
- Working life events
- Advice & guidance
- Employer profiles
Sign up and start exploring
Sign up to JobTeaser using your @metropolia.fi email address: https://metropolia.jobteaser.com/
You can also download a Jobteaser application.
Starting HBM studies
Welcome to study Health Business Management!
Congratulations – you have been chosen to study Health Business Management at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences! A warm welcome to our international learning community!
The information on this webpage applies to all students of Health Business Management, regardless of the background education (business, engineering, healthcare and social services).
This Master’s Programme in Health Business Management is arranged fully online by the means of synchronous (contact) and asynchronous (independent) online learning.
Information and Orientation for New Students – Academic Year 2024-2025
The academic year will start with one-and-a half days orientation. All times given are in Finnish time (+2 h GMT)
- 2.9. 2024 10am - 4pm
- 3.9. 2024 10am - 12 (mid day)
The program of the orientation day comprises welcoming words by the management, familiarization with fellow students and faculty members, safety issues, introduction to Metropolia’s IT and digital tools, library, core curriculum, recognition of prior learning, and practicalities relating to the studies.
You may attend the orientation by clicking on this link to this Zoom link
The full core curriculum, including courses / semester, is available on Metropolia’s web page for students for orientations in technology, social and health care and business.
Studies during fall semester
- XX00EJ16-3098 Research Methods and Skills 5 ECTS
- S000CF70 - 3001 Service Innovations and Designs 5 ECTS
- S000DR75 - 3007 Strategy, Management and Leadership in Health Business 5 ECTS
- Elective studies 5 ECTS.
Remember to enrol yourself to these courses latest 16.9.2024 (this DL only for the new students). In the student info 2. and 3.9 we advise you how to do the enrollment.
AHOT – Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
Students of Metropolia have an opportunity to benefit from AHOT-procedure (aikaisemmin hankitun osaamisen tunnustaminen/ recognition of prior learning) according to their own work or study experience.
Students studying at Higher Education Institutions can apply for recognition of their prior learning no matter where and how this knowledge has been acquired. The competences have to meet the objectives of the learning outcomes of the degree programme, however.
A student has an opportunity to make earlier learning visible and to get a decision on the recognition of these competences. In practice this means that if a certain study unit is accepted in AHOT-procedure, it isn’t necessary to study it again.
The RPL procedure will be explained in more detail during the Orientation Day. However, to facilitate speedy processing of the application, it is advisable to start getting prepared by collecting any references, certificates or similar documents which could be used as evidence for prior learning.
Literature to be used during the autumn
- Cleland Silva, T. (2018) Transnational management and globalised workers: nurses beyond human resources. New York: Routledge.
- Ferlie, E., Montgomery, K., & Pedersen, A. R. (Eds.). (2016). The Oxford Handbook of health care management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Mintzberg, H. (2018). Managing the Myths of Health care: Bridging the separations between care, cure, control, and community. Oakland: Berrett-Koehler.
- Satake E. 2015. Statistical methods and reasoning for the clinical sciences
- Creswell, John W. Research design : qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches
We are looking forward to meeting you all in September!
On behalf of the HBM learning community, with kind regards,
Eija Metsälä
Head of Master Degree Programme in Health Business Management (administrative issues)
eija.metsala [at] metropolia.fi (eija[dot]metsala[at]metropolia[dot]fi)
+358 50 347 8177
Heini Maisala-McDonnell (practical study related issues)
Heini.Maisala-McDonnell [at] metropolia.fi (Heini[dot]Maisala-McDonnell[at]metropolia[dot]fi)
+358 50 407 5913