Doctor of Health Sciences (DHS)

Location: Online
Start Term: Fall, Spring, Summer
Format: Part time

You have the power to shape your career and make your mark on the future of healthcare and health professions education as a scholar-practitioner who addresses complex problems of practice.

This part-time program is offered entirely online and can be completed in nine semesters of part-time study.

As a student, you will experience a curriculum designed to prepare clinicians, educators, and leaders to meet the future challenges of health professions and education through evidence-based practice. Students take part in a multi-faceted and interprofessional curriculum that develops depth and context around practice-based problems and supports the student’s translation of evidence to current practice.

Thrive in a structured environment that empowers students to drive transformational changes with the support and guidance of experienced faculty members. The program prepares healthcare clinicians, educators, and leaders as scholar-practitioners through an interdisciplinary and interprofessional curriculum that incorporates evidence-based research and scholarship.

Students can further enhance their DHS degree by choosing to sub-specialize in one of the three core concentrations: Health Systems Administration, Educational Leadership, or Global Health. Students are also given the opportunity to develop a capstone project directly connected to their work.

Graduates of the program will be able to:

• Advance professional practice through the critical evaluation and synthesis of evidence
• Evaluate and disseminate evidence-based recommendations solving practice-based problems
• Assess complex issues in health professions and health professions education leading to evidence-based solutions that include population health perspectives
• Demonstrate mastery of the design, development, and application of ethical research protocols to practice-based problems
• Practice interdisciplinary and interprofessional leadership in pursuit of sustainable change in educational and health services institutions

Curriculum

This innovative 54-credit program was created to meet the needs of current health professionals with coursework that is progressive and contemporary, including modules addressing healthcare trends and challenges, population health, and quality improvement. The core curriculum prepares interdisciplinary health professionals to interpret and apply evidence in practice and to establish themselves as leaders in clinical settings, educational institutions, hospitals and healthcare organizations. Students also further specialize their educational experience and leadership abilities by selecting one of the three concentrations: Health Systems Administration, Educational Leadership, or Global Health.

Evidence-Based Capstone

The program culminates with an Evidence-Based Healthcare Project that is developed in a structured environment. The capstone project offers students the opportunity to acquire skills and knowledge to advocate for best practices and promote the translation and utilization of existing evidence in their practice.