Population Health Management (MSc)

About the programme

Population Health Management offers you the tools to navigate through, and give direction to, the complex and changing health care landscape by using an interdisciplinary approach. Become an academic advisor to improve health and societal outcomes for citizens and patients!

Leiden University offers the possibility to combine Population Health Management with the Master Public Health at the University of Birmingham. Learn more about it at the end of this page.

Programme overview

The two-year Master’s programme Population Health Management considers health care from an interdisciplinary population oriented point of view:

Data: medical data sources are growing and ways to analyse and interpret big data are improving. Populations and subpopulations are better identified based on a more holistic risk profile and interventions are targeted respectively.
Governance: the current fragmented organisational infrastructure makes it hard to approach health care from multiple disciplines and work together to offer the best care possible. Consequences of alternative forms of governance between professionals and organisations are studied.
Behaviour: even though diseases look similar in different populations, behavior of people and providers is not alike, and thus the way people deal with their disease differs. Intervention strategies should adapt to these differences.
Syndemics: in disadvantaged populations, the accumulation of risk factors combined with complex social problems lead to excessive burdens of disease. Alternative approaches are needed that do not separate diseases from the contexts in which they develop.

In the Master’s programme Population Health Management, we assess your development as a student not through a single test moment, but through a continuous portfolio containing reflections, assignments, practical experiences, and feedback. You regularly discuss your progress with a tutor, and at the end of each phase a committee reviews the overall picture to determine whether you have achieved the required study credits. This gives you room to learn from mistakes, use feedback to grow, and take increasing ownership of your learning process. This helps you develop step by step into a PHM professional.

The programme starts twice a year: in September and in February. Curious to see what your first and second year will look like? Check out the full programme structure for the first and second year below.

Check out the full programme structure for the first and second year here.

International experience

The international nature of the scientific field of PHM and its worldwide relevance demands an international environment. We encourage you to broaden your international scope during your second year by taking courses or an internship abroad. Our staff has global connections that could assist you in finding a project or accommodation abroad. In previous years, our students went to: Boston, Cape Verde, Cape Town, Brussels, Barcelona, Sydney, Edinburgh, New Zealand, Frankfurt and Rochester, among others.

Optional: combined master with Birmingham

As of September 2025, Leiden University offers the possibility to combine the Master Population Health Management (PHM) at the Health Campus in the Hague with the Master of Public Health at the University of Birmingham. The Master of Public Health is all about public healthcare, while the master Population Health Management looks at healthcare in general.

Student Support Services

All our teaching staff are involved in your professional development. Especially your tutor encourages you during individual and group sessions to reflect on issues which are important for your professional development towards a PHM expert. If you have other study-related issues which need special attention, our study advisor can be consulted for everything related to your studies, such as study progress, study delays, personal circumstances, study-related choices, professional prospects and additional challenges.

Starting in February?

If you're considering starting the master’s in February, please be aware that the programme may be adapted if fewer than 12 students enroll. In that case, you'll begin with an intensive crash course designed to provide essential foundational knowledge. After that, you'll join the current cohort for most of the programme. Additionally, the third semester will be partially structured by the programme, rather than being fully elective.

Learn more about the adjusted programme