Higher Diploma in Health Technology Management
A recurring finding across African health systems is that a large share of causes are overwhelmingly managerial rather than technical: equipment chosen without regard to what the facility can run, no maintenance system, no spares strategy, no calibration programme, and donations accepted that could never be serviced.
Occupational profile
What you'll be paid to do
A recurring finding across African health systems is that a large share of causes are overwhelmingly managerial rather than technical: equipment chosen without regard to what the facility can run, no maintenance system, no spares strategy, no calibration programme, and donations accepted that could never be serviced.
Uganda trains biomedical technicians who can repair devices and almost nobody who can manage the function at facility or district level.
The graduate works as any of the following, in a role the health system urgently needs and is beginning to fund: manager hospitals, hospital groups monthly supervisor workshops, hospital groups monthly Service company Equipment suppliers, UGX 1,800,000 to 3,500,000 technical manager service organisations, own monthly; service contract practice margins
| Occupation | Where the work is | Starting earnings, observed 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Health technology manager | Referral and district hospitals, hospital groups | UGX 1,800,000 to 3,500,000 monthly |
| Biomedical engineering supervisor | Regional maintenance workshops, hospital groups | UGX 1,600,000 to 3,200,000 monthly |
| Equipment planning and procurement specialist | Ministry programmes, donors, NGOs, procurement units | UGX 1,800,000 to 3,800,000 monthly |
| Service company technical manager | Equipment suppliers, service organisations, own practice | UGX 1,800,000 to 3,500,000 monthly; service contract margins |
The 90-Day Promise
From certification to income, stated concretely
Day Pathway Named employer categories with which the College holds or is concluding placement and hiring partnerships: referral and district hospitals; private hospital groups; regional maintenance workshops; Ministry and donor health programmes; equipment suppliers and their service arms; and health focused NGOs.
Partnership target: fifteen active partners by the first cohort's industrial training, each offering at least two placements.
The ninety day pathway from certification to income:
Day 0: graduation with the Capability Transcript, the mentor's reference, a capstone with measured equipment availability improvement in a real facility, and the external panel's assessment.
Day 0: graduation with the Capability Transcript, the mentor's reference, a capstone with measured equipment availability improvement in a real facility, and the external panel's assessment.
Days 1 to 30: employed route: three arranged interviews, with many graduates returning to health employers who released them for the year at higher responsibility. Self employed route: service contracting listed; the mentor reviews month one.
Days 31 to 90: employed route: probation support from the practice tutor. Self employed route: referral listing for partner overflow service and assessment work, standing terms in the partnerships.
Measurement: employment or trading status recorded at day 90 and published in the annual outcomes report, per Part Two, section 2.9.
Programme structure
Every module, with its arithmetic
One credit unit equals ten notional learning hours. 120 credit units, 1200 notional hours: 370 contact, 675 practical and 150 industrial hours, so practical and industrial hours are 69 per cent of the programme.
h and nt nce and n and y Practical and industrial hours together are 825 of 1200 notional hours, 69 per cent, meeting the hands on test.
Semester 1
| Code | Module | CU | Contact h | Practical h | Industry h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HTG301 | Health Technology Planning and AssessmentMost wasted medical equipment in Uganda was wasted at the moment it was chosen: the learner plans and assesses health technology so that what a facility acquires is what it can actually run, maintain and afford. | 14 | 55 | 85 | 0 |
| HTG302 | Maintenance Systems and Fleet ManagementThe Level 6 difference is running the function rather than fixing the device: the learner manages a health facility's whole equipment fleet, its maintenance system, budget and performance. | 14 | 50 | 90 | 0 |
| HTG303 | Medical Equipment Safety, Quality and RegulationMedical equipment that is unsafe or uncalibrated harms patients quietly: the learner takes responsibility for the safety, calibration and regulatory compliance of a facility's technology. | 12 | 50 | 70 | 0 |
| RES301 | Applied Research and Evidence PracticeThe Level 6 difference is evidence: the technologist who can frame a question, gather data honestly and defend a conclusion is the one trusted with decisions. This module builds that discipline in applied, workplace terms. | 10 | 45 | 55 | 0 |
Semester 2
| Code | Module | CU | Contact h | Practical h | Industry h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HTG304 | Health Facility Infrastructure and Support SystemsMedical equipment fails when the building fails around it: the learner manages the power, gas, water, cooling and infection control infrastructure that clinical technology depends on. | 12 | 45 | 75 | 0 |
| SPNH501AI spine | Health Data, Digital Systems and AI in Health TechnologyThe Higher Diploma spine: health technology management now runs on data, and AI is entering diagnostics and operations faster than governance is arriving, which is exactly where this graduate must be competent. | 10 | 35 | 65 | 0 |
| SPN102AI spine | Digital Work and Platform IncomeThe shortest module with the fastest payback: how a technician finds customers, prices work, invoices and gets paid through digital channels. | 4 | 15 | 20 | 0 |
| LEAD301 | Technical Leadership and Project ManagementThe Higher Diploma exists to produce the | 12 | 50 | 70 | 0 |
| ITRH501 | Industrial TrainingTen assessed weeks in a hospital, health programme or equipment service organisation at technologist responsibility, under the Part Two policy. | 16 | 0 | 10 | 150 |
| EXPH501 | Capstone Health Technology ProjectThe Level 6 closing argument: a complete health technology management programme delivered in a real facility with measured improvement in equipment availability or safety, defended before a professional panel. | 16 | 25 | 135 | 0 |
The AI and Digital Practice Spine
AI, taught inside this trade
Applied Here The spine of Part Two, section 2.13, scaled to a one year award: 14 credit units across SPNH501 and SPN102.
AI tools for my trade
AI enabled devices and diagnostic tools evaluated critically against their clinical claims and validation populations
Data in my trade
Asset, maintenance and performance data analysed into investment and service decisions
Working with automation
Connected devices, monitoring systems and maintenance platforms managed and secured by the technologist
Judgement, ethics and safety
The device withdrawn from service; the donation refused; the incident reported honestly to the regulator
Digital work and platform income
The professional profile, service contracting and consultancy to health programmes, from SPN102
Learning outcomes
What the graduate can do
- PLO 1
Assess health technology needs and plan equipment against service level, budget and
Level 6: analyses complex requirements into defensible plans
- PLO 2
Apply health technology assessment including total cost of ownership and appropriateness
Level 6: investigates and evaluates with rigour
- PLO 3
Build and operate maintenance management systems across an equipment fleet
Level 6: manages complex systems with accountability
- PLO 4
Manage spares, service contracts and vendor performance in Ugandan supply conditions
Level 6: manages resources and commercial relationships
- PLO 5
Manage medical device safety, calibration and regulatory compliance with traceable records
Level 6: works within regulation where patient safety is at stake
- PLO 6
Investigate device incidents and operate vigilance and accreditation readiness
Level 6: exercises professional judgement with accountability
- PLO 7
Manage health facility power, medical gas, cooling and water infrastructure supporting clinical technology
Level 6: manages technical systems across disciplines
- PLO 8
Evaluate AI enabled medical devices critically and manage health technology data and device security
Level 6: applies new technology with critical evaluation
- PLO 9
Conduct applied research and defend evidence based conclusions
Level 6: investigates and reports with rigour
- PLO 10
Lead technical teams and manage projects and budgets in a health setting
Level 6: manages resources and people with accountability
Entry routes
Four ways in
- Academic route. A Diploma at UVQF Level 5 in biomedical engineering, electrical or electronic engineering, or a cognate field, or an equivalent qualification.
- Vocational route. FC-D05 Biomedical Equipment Technology is the designed feeder, with its 240 credit units recognised as full entry; FC-D02 graduates enter with bridging in HTG303.
- Recognition of prior learning. Practising biomedical technicians and hospital engineering staff assess against the programme outcomes; advanced standing follows demonstrated competence, with the safety and regulation module never exempted.
- Mature age route. Applicants of twenty five and above with substantial health facility technical practice enter through the access assessment and a practical assessment.
Industrial training
Assessed weeks inside a working organisation
- Duration and placement
- Ten weeks (ITRH501, 16 credit units, 150 hours minimum) in a host health facility or organisation.
- Host organisation types
- Referral and district hospitals, private hospital groups, regional maintenance workshops, Ministry and donor health programmes, equipment suppliers and service companies, and health focused NGOs.
- Learning objectives
- Health technology planning, maintenance system operation, safety and regulatory work at technologist level, with a host project of measured value in equipment availability or safety.
- Supervision
- A named host supervisor, a hospital engineer, health technology manager or senior biomedical officer; the practice tutor visits at least twice; patient safety incidents escalate immediately.
- Logbook
- Daily entries against the objectives, countersigned weekly by the host supervisor, reviewed by the practice tutor at each visit, kept on the platform.
- Assessment
- Joint workplace assessment against the Level 6 practice rubric, plus the logbook and the host project.
Assessment and certification
Continuous practical, plus UVTAB
A human assessor confirms every AI-avatar oral examination result before it stands, and the trainer who taught a learner never marks that learner's summative assessment.
- Internal continuous assessment, 60 per cent: workshop task assessments, module projects, logbooks and oral checkpoints, marked under the separation rule of Part Two.
- UVTAB external assessment, 40 per cent: the Board's written and practical occupational assessments for this qualification, taken at the gazetted sittings.
- Practical competency assessment: every practical outcome is assessed by observed performance against published criteria; evidence is retained.
- Oral examination option: any module checkpoint and the exit project defence may be taken in the AI avatar oral examination room, with human confirmation of every result.
- Grading scale: Distinction 80 to 100; Credit 65 to 79; Pass 50 to 64; Not Yet Competent below 50, with the right to reassessment.
- Pass and progression: every core module at Pass or above, all practical competencies demonstrated, industrial training completed, exit project at Pass or above.
- Resit rules: two reassessment opportunities per module without repeating attendance; a third attempt repeats the module; reassessment covers only the outcomes not yet demonstrated.
Exit project
A real venture, or a real employer brief
The capstone is a complete health technology management programme needs and technology assessment, a maintenance system established or improved, a safety and calibration programme executed, and equipment management report the facility can act on.
Deliverables:
The assessment file: inventory, condition baseline, needs assessment and the equipment plan The systems file: the maintenance system, schedules and compliance The safety file: electrical safety and calibration records with traceability The defence: presentation, technical examination and oral defence Grading criterion Weight What excellent looks like improvement improved honestly against quality assessment defensible; rigour compliance evidenced Defence 15% Every management
- The assessment file: inventory, condition baseline, needs assessment and the equipment plan
- The systems file: the maintenance system, schedules and compliance
- The safety file: electrical safety and calibration records with traceability
- The defence: presentation, technical examination and oral defence Grading criterion Weight What excellent looks like improvement improved honestly against quality assessment defensible; rigour compliance evidenced Defence 15% Every management
Progression
Where this qualification leads next
No Forward College learner ever meets a dead end.
Into Forward University:
FC-H05 graduates enter the University's biomedical engineering, health systems management and public health degrees with credit transfer of up to one third under the Part Two, section 2.12 equivalence tables.
Professionally: the award is designed for direct employer recognition at programmes and service organisations.