{"id":120283,"date":"2025-03-12T01:56:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T06:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=120283"},"modified":"2025-03-11T15:22:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T20:22:26","slug":"unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/","title":{"rendered":"UNMC enrolls second cohort for Doctor of Medical Science"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The UNMC College of Allied Health Professions recently enrolled its second cohort of Doctor of Medical Science degree students with the start of the spring semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DMSc is a voluntary, advanced doctorate degree for physician assistants who seek to enhance knowledge, advance clinical practice and explore new career opportunities. The University of Nebraska added the new program in 2023, and UNMC welcomed its inaugural class of DMSc students in fall 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The addition of this second cohort shows the program\u2019s initial rollout has gone well and that interest in the degree remains high, said Shaun Horak, DMSc, the program\u2019s director and associate director of the UNMC PA program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNMC is preparing to enroll yet another class<\/a> in the fall to help meet further demand, Dr. Horak said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe PA profession is projected to experience significant growth over the next decade, and with an increasing number of job postings requiring doctorate-level credentials, the demand for DMSc degrees is on the rise,\u201d Dr. Horak said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research has shown<\/a> that a DMSc degree can lead to career promotions, greater pay and better preparation for leadership opportunities for PAs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current student Darcy Jones, a PA at CHI Health, praised the program\u2019s flexibility and community. UNMC\u2019s DMSc program has a fully online curriculum combining didactic courses with clinical experiences. It can be completed full-time or part-time. The latter option is ideal for most practicing PAs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI work 40-plus hours a week, and the online format has allowed me to fit in my coursework around my work responsibilities,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI can do a little here and there and still feel like I have time for myself. It\u2019s been great, and I really feel like I\u2019m getting to know the other students in our cohort, even though we are all working online independently at our own pace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The advanced degree prepares PAs to operate at their highest scope of practice while striving to improve the health care system and positively impact patient care delivery at the patient, community and system levels through the application of research, advocacy and executive leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Horak noted that current UNMC DMSc student Kyle Brown was recently honored with the Nebraska Academy of Physician Assistants Bonnie Shearer Professional Scholarship and DMSc student Kurt Andree was named provider of the quarter for two hospital units at Nebraska Medicine. These honors illustrate the program\u2019s goal of developing exceptional leaders and clinicians, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit the program website<\/a> for more information or to explore enrolling in the upcoming class.<\/p>\nVWssrdRSNp s ceqsgXgQKMqIi<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The DMSc degree, available through the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions,
\nis an advanced doctorate degree for PAs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":120318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"49645,70727,67138,52087,20162,23276","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-education","department-college-of-allied-health-professions","department-physician-assistant","department-unmc-front-page","department-unmc-today-todays-headlines","author_override-kalani-simpson-unmc-strategic-communications"],"yoast_head":"\nUNMC enrolls second cohort for Doctor of Medical Science<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The DMSc degree, available through the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions, is an advanced doctorate degree for PAs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UNMC enrolls second cohort for Doctor of Medical Science\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The DMSc degree, available through the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions, is an advanced doctorate degree for PAs.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-12T06:56:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DMSC031125.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Robb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Robb\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeffrey Robb\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c\"},\"headline\":\"UNMC enrolls second cohort for Doctor of Medical Science\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-12T06:56:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/\"},\"wordCount\":429,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DMSC031125.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/\",\"name\":\"UNMC enrolls second cohort for Doctor of Medical Science\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DMSC031125.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-12T06:56:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"The DMSc degree, available through the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions, is an advanced doctorate degree for PAs.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DMSC031125.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DMSC031125.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UNMC enrolls second cohort for Doctor of Medical Science\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":153,\"caption\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/unmc\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey Robb\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/d09bf41544a3365a46c9077ebb5e35c3\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UNMC enrolls second cohort for Doctor of Medical Science","description":"The DMSc degree, available through the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions, is an advanced doctorate degree for PAs.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UNMC enrolls second cohort for Doctor of Medical Science","og_description":"The DMSc degree, available through the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions, is an advanced doctorate degree for PAs.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","article_published_time":"2025-03-12T06:56:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DMSC031125.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeffrey Robb","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@unmc","twitter_site":"@unmc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeffrey Robb","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeffrey Robb","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c"},"headline":"UNMC enrolls second cohort for Doctor of Medical Science","datePublished":"2025-03-12T06:56:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/"},"wordCount":429,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DMSC031125.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/","name":"UNMC enrolls second cohort for Doctor of Medical Science","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DMSC031125.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-12T06:56:00+00:00","description":"The DMSc degree, available through the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions, is an advanced doctorate degree for PAs.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DMSC031125.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DMSC031125.jpg","width":1200,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/12\/unmc-enrolls-second-cohort-for-doctor-of-medical-science\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UNMC enrolls second cohort for Doctor of Medical Science"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization","name":"University of Nebraska Medical Center","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","width":500,"height":153,"caption":"University of Nebraska Medical Center"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","https:\/\/x.com\/unmc","https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c","name":"Jeffrey Robb","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/d09bf41544a3365a46c9077ebb5e35c3\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120283"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120319,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120283\/revisions\/120319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}