Study Guide

Objectives

The degree programme provides you with versatile expertise for developing and managing digital services within the health care and social services. You can anticipate and analyze needs for such services and related megatrends. Your increasing skills in research and development enable developing and renewing customer-oriented digital services, for example with the help of digital service design. After the studies you can pay attention to planning services for different customer groups and know the acquisition and tendering processes of digital services. You understand the significance of information security and information or data legislation in the development of services. Completing the degree programme gives you skills and knowhow in knowledge-based management, change management and in the management of customer-oriented digital service processes together with the readiness to promote the quality of the services.

Degree programme description

The degree programme of 90 ECTS credits is divided into three parts: core competence (40 ECTS credits), complementary studies (20 ECTS edits) and master’s thesis (30 ECTS credits).

Core competence studies (40 ECTS credits) provide you with knowledge, skills and competences that the working world requires. The aim is that all the students completing the degree possess this knowhow.

The core competence studies (40 ECTS credits) include:

Digitalization of operational environments

Digital service design
Basics and methods of research-oriented development
Development of information systems in health care and social services
Customer-orientation in digital service design
Information security and data privacy in health care and social services
Leadership and management in digital service processes
Knowledge-based management.

Complementary competence studies enable you to specialize and deepen your skills according to your own interests and needs. You can include 20 ECTS credits of free choice Master School studies into your degree. The studies are categorized under the following themes:

research and development skills
leadership
entrepreneurship
communication skills
Russian studies
other current themes.

Master’s thesis (30 ECTS credits) is a professionally oriented development task which is usually connected to a work-related project or to developing students’ own work communities. The thesis may also relate to Xamk’s or other organizations’ RDI projects.

Implementation of studies

The studies are carried out on a part-time basis and mainly online. This allows you to study while working. There are two days of online contact teaching per month, and the studies are scheduled to cover two academic years. Between the contact sessions, you study independently or online. The learning tasks and the master’s thesis relate to working life assignments. You start your thesis during your first study year and continue working with the thesis during the third study year. Your personal study plan is drawn up in the beginning of your studies. It is possible to complete the degree programme within 2-3 years.

Career opportunities

After completing the master’s studies, you can work in expert and management tasks in health care and social service organizations. You are able to work as an immediate supervisor, staff nurse, team leader or as an expert in different projects and development tasks.

A master’s degree completed at a university of applied sciences produces the same competence for public offices and tasks as a similar academic degree taken at a university (except for the qualifications for the positions of social workers and heads of early education centres).

RDI and cooperation with world of work

These master’s studies provide you with the possibility to participate in research and development work by combining your learning tasks with working life assignments. Also, the master’s thesis can involve cooperation with Xamk’s RDI projects.

Learning environments

Master School is a learning community for master’s degree students at Xamk. It provides you with the opportunity to build the career path of your choice and expand your professional network.