Program Description
The MS in Health Studies is a flexible, fully online, 30-credit master’s program for students transferring or exiting from a master’s or doctoral level health professions program and for health studies college graduates seeking to pursue a marketable master’s degree in a variety of focus areas related to health studies.
Students enrolled in a master’s or doctoral level health professions program who wish or need to leave the program prior to completing it, will have the opportunity to transfer approved graduate credits toward the MS in Health Studies, significantly reducing the cost and time to degree.
Health science college graduates looking for a flexible healthcare related master’s degree, can tailor the MS in Health Studies to achieve their professional goals or to prepare for entry into related doctoral programs, such as the Jefferson College of Health Profession's Doctor of Health Science (DHSc) program.
Graduates from this program become eligible for employment opportunities and admission to doctoral programs. The curriculum features courses that introduce the tools of graduate-level study, focus area courses that provide detailed knowledge of key areas of healthcare (clinical leadership, clinical practice, etc.) facilitating future job placement and scholarly investigation, elective courses that expand professional capacities and a mentored capstone project that engages students in the scholarly investigation of a novel problem in healthcare.
Learning Goals/Outcomes
- Make use of the primary literature to identify problems at the frontier of healthcare.
- Compose written documents that advance the understanding of other healthcare professionals and scholars.
- Make use of discussion and debate within interprofessional teams to develop solutions to emerging healthcare challenges.
- Develop best practices for leading and managing interprofessional healthcare teams.
- Develop evidence-based approaches to the improvement of healthcare delivery.
- Develop a theoretical and practical framework for healthcare workforce education and training.
- Apply the technical and analytical tools of leading-edge research to the creation of innovative solutions for emerging challenges in healthcare.
Curriculum: 30 credits
The curriculum for the MS in Health Studies (30 credits) includes the following 4 components:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | 6 | |
To develop competencies central to pursuit of research and scholarship in the focus area: research methods (3 cr.), scholarly writing (2 cr.), responsible conduct of research (1 cr.) | ||
| Focus Area Courses | 12 | |
To acquire fundamental knowledge to investigate a topic in an area of healthcare or allied field (e.g., clinical leadership, clinical practice, etc.) | ||
| Electives Courses | 9 | |
To broaden knowledge and skills to increase professional capacities | ||
| Capstone Course | 3 | |
To provide mentored support for original research in the focus area: HST 699 Health Studies Capstone | ||
| Total Credits | 30 | |