Euro-Asian Erasmus Master in Medical Technology and Healthcare Business (EMMaH)

EMMaH is a professionalising master that allows students to work in an international environment by combining theoretical analysis and concrete case studies in partnership with various health organisations.

Graduate are awarded a joint diploma co-signed by the EU partners, the MSc. from TMU (depending on the student’s choice for the Master thesis) and digital graduation certificates.

History of the master

EMMaH is a two-year joint Master degree covering a rich multidisciplinary curriculum, from biomedical technologies and clinical research to healthcare business. The healthcare diagnostics sector is challenged by novel disruptive technologies and healthcare practices toward a patient-centred vision. This fast-moving sector, boosted by innovation and demographic evolutions, must confront changes in the healthcare and business landscapes.

The European Master in Medical Technology and Healthcare Business EMMaH is a joint programme awarded by four HEIs: Université de Lille in France (ULille), Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg in Germany (HAW), Instituto Politécnico Do Porto in Portugal (IPP) and Taipei Medical University in Taiwan (TMU).

The Faculty of Life Sciences at HAW Hamburg, the ILIS faculty at the ULille have a long history of academic cooperation and already run a joint degree programme at master level in biomedical engineering.

In 2013, the idea of developing a new joint master programme emerged by including a third partner in order to broaden the content of the curriculum and to aim at an even more international studentship.

The idea of adding a new partner emerged and in January 2015, they welcomed IPP in Porto. The partners were guided by the idea that Europe's strength lies in its diversity.

The new partnership was founded to encourage students to study within an international group in different European settings for a better mutual understanding of cultural diversity. The three institutions also brought three different fields of expertise to the partnership: HAW puts emphasis on technical aspects, IPP on clinical aspects and ULille on economic aspects of medical technology and healthcare business.

Thanks to these specificities, the programme overcomes traditional disciplinary boundaries. The design of the new joint programme European Master in Medical Technology and Healthcare Business started in 2015. A trilateral cooperation agreement was signed in 2016 to manage the joint curriculum and its implementation. The first intake of students took place in September 2017.

In 2021, the steering committee decided to include a new partner to the EMMaH programme: Taipei Medical University in Taiwan (TMU); based on the already existing cooperation between TMU and ULille. A new cooperation agreement is currently being signed.

The EMMaH programme is taught in English and starts in September each year with a group of students that stays together during the whole cycle. From the beginning, all partners valued EMMaH for being in line with the international framework of joint programme and the definition from the Lisbon Convention.

Consortium partners

The European Master in Medical Technology and Healthcare Business is a joint and multidisciplinary master program organized by three higher education institutions. EMMaH was designed during 2015 and a cooperation agreement was signed in 2016. The curriculum for this Master’s program has been designed, implemented and administered jointly by the three partners and started in September 2017.
In 2021, a new partner joined the master program: Taipei Medical University, and a new cooperation agreement is currently being signed between the four partners.

• Université de Lille – UFR3S-Ingénierie et Management de la Santé (ILIS)
• Hamburg University of Applied Sciences — Fakultät Life Sciences (HAW Hamburg)
• Instituto Politécnico Do Porto - Escola Superior de Saúde (ESS P. Porto)
• Taipei Medical University – College of Biomedical engineering (TMU)

Curriculum Overview

The general objectives of this master are to (1) incorporate knowledge for the development of competences and skills within management and product marketing with applications in the medical field, and (2) enable students to adapt to change and overcome present and future challenges of the international market. 

It also intends to push students to develop specific skills such as:

• understanding and developing different scenarios from medical, technical, clinical and economic points of views;
• developing methodological, social, cultural and personal skills;
• acquiring knowledge about product management and marketing in the medical field;
• being capable of engagement and flexibility in an international context. 

Finally it promotes contact between students with different educational experiences at European HEIs and an understanding of Asian experience.

Thanks to the structure and content of the curriculum, students can achieve the following intended learning outcomes:

process and interpret clinical data; apply business orientation to the healthcare; interact with multiple stakeholders such as hospitals, biotech companies or health institutions; imagine new technical and business solutions to enhance patients’ well-being.

Thus, EMMaH will contribute to enhance the attractiveness of European Higher Education around the world and attract talent to Europe through academic cooperation and individual mobility. 

Aside from the relevance of these scientific areas to the expansion of the medical industry, the geographic locations of this consortium’s 4 institutions bring unique added value to attract excellent students from around the world.

Students enrolled in EMMaH have access to training, facilities, hospitals, and expertise not available in one academic setting alone and only possible through the consortium cooperation.

Mobility program

The students enrolled in EMMaH master spend a first semester in Hamburg, Germany to study at HAW-Hamburg, a second semester at Porto, Portugal to study at IPP; a third semester at Lille, France to study at ILIS. 

They are offered to spend the fourth semester at Taipei, Taiwan to write their master thesis at Taipei Medical University and do an internship in one of their partners’ organizations.

They can also write their master thesis and do an optional internship anywhere else in the world.

Degree

Master in Medical Technology and Healthcare Business (120 ECTS)