Doctor of Health Sciences

Location: Online
Start Term: Fall, Spring

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

This part-time program builds on your master’s degree and your professional experience so you can advance your career with a concentration in academics or administration.

As a student, you will experience a curriculum that focuses on interprofessional practice, research, and scholarship. As a researcher, you will integrate and apply evidence in the pursuit of solutions to the complex challenges facing healthcare and education. As a graduating scholar-practitioner, you will change the face of healthcare delivery and health-professions education through your incorporation and dissemination of knowledge in practice.

Concentrations

The DHS program is designed to empower healthcare leaders. Students enhance their DHS degree by choosing a leadership-focused concentration in either healthcare administration or health-professions education.

Leadership in Healthcare Management Concentration: Designed for healthcare professionals who wish to advance into a leadership role through concentrated study of healthcare delivery systems, organizational thinking, operations management, and legal aspects of healthcare administration. Graduates of this concentration within the DHS program are able to assess complex organizational issues in healthcare and present evidence-based solutions.

Leadership in Health-Professions Education Concentration: Designed for clinical educators who wish to gain knowledge in the areas of health-professions higher education, program development and accreditation, and departmental leadership or scholarship in academic health settings. Graduates of this concentration within the DHS program practice interdisciplinary and interprofessional leadership in pursuit of sustainable change in educational and health services institutions. They also demonstrate innovative leadership in the practice of health-professions education.

Supporting Students

Students in the DHS program make vital, in-person connections with faculty, staff, and classmates by participating in two mandatory on-campus experiences: orientation and an on-campus residency.

During the on-campus residency, students demonstrate their mastery of the core courses and their concentrations by completing their qualifying exam. As part of this experience, students officially make the transition from doctoral students to doctoral candidates as they defend the draft of their proposal to faculty and students. The on-campus residency empowers students to gain the support, expert insight, and personal connections they will need to succeed as they continue to develop their dissertations.

Study Online

Aside from these two on-campus experiences, the DHS program is held entirely online, empowering students to balance career advancement with their busy lives. Designed for the working professional, including faculty members, managers, researchers, and industry professionals, the DHS program enables students to continue working full time while focusing on their doctoral studies.

On average, students should expect a commitment of nine hours per week per course.

A Focus on Interprofessional Education

The DHS program is focused on preparing students for the realities of clinical care by emulating the interprofessional nature of today’s healthcare workforce. Faculty and students in the DHS program come from a variety of backgrounds and fields, bringing their own unique perspectives, as well as a truly collaborative and cross-disciplinary context, to the program.