The College of Allied Health Professions (CAHP) has added a new master’s degree program, the Master of Healthcare Delivery Science (HDS).
The fully online degree is designed to provide practicing health care professionals with advanced knowledge pertaining to core administrative and leadership competencies. These areas include providing patient-centered care, working in interdisciplinary teams, employing evidence-based practice, applying quality improvement and utilizing informatics.
The new program has been approved by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents and Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education.
The degree provides a unique plan of study for currently practicing health care professionals to gain knowledge and develop skills beyond their discipline-specific clinical competencies. The program, which includes emphases on finance and clinical education, will provide participants with the foundation to meet expanded roles in management and leadership within the health care system. To support the HDS degree, the CAHP has developed additional coursework in the areas of applied health informatics and quality improvement, each which will be offered as a certificate program.
The new HDS degree builds upon the momentum established by a master’s degree administered by the CAHP that was approved in 2016, Health Professions Teaching & Technology (HPTT), said CAHP Dean Kyle Meyer, PhD.
“Faculty from the CAHP and a number of the other colleges have created two outstanding interprofessional degree programs. The degrees enhance the knowledge of anyone in clinical practice who desires to advance in the areas of education and leadership.”
Since enrolling its first students, the HPTT program has seen 69 students generate a total of 856 credit hours, with 14 master’s graduates and two post-baccalaureate certificates.
The interprofessional plan of study also has resulted in enthusiasm and collaboration across UNMC campuses. The College of Medicine’s Departments of Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Cellular and Integrative Physiology all have integrated HPTT courses into their curriculum. The department of emergency medicine has developed a fellowship program that will enroll at least one resident annually in the HPTT master’s program.
The fully online HPTT program was created to be interdisciplinary in nature with a focus on the fundamental principles of teaching and learning with the integration of technology.
While building upon the success of the HPTT model, the HDS program was reviewed by an external team including members of the NU Executive Graduate Council and experts from the University of Arizona and Dartmouth University, which offer similar programs.
Dr. Meyer noted that Dele Davies, MD, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean for graduate studies, and Kendra Schmid, PhD, assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs and assistant dean for graduate studies, both championed the new program and were integral to its approval.
The Graduate Committee overseeing both programs will be chaired by Tammy Webster, PhD, assistant dean for academic affairs in the CAHP. Tanya Custer, distance education director for the CAHP, will provide “boots-on-the-ground” leadership. “These new degree programs provide added value and fill a void in the education of health care professionals, many of whom have been asked to assume roles related to teaching and leadership without formal education in these areas,” Custer said.
Both master’s programs are housed in Graduate Studies and administered by the CAHP.
Congratulations to all CAHP faculty and leaders who have been working on this new program. Especially Tanya and Kyle. I know the work it takes to develop and approve a new degree program.