PhD in Health Professions Education
Description
The PhD in Health Professions Education (HPED) prepares transformative educators who inspire, design, lead and evaluate evidence-based instructional and curriculum innovation within a variety of health professions learning contexts, ensuring that clinicians and faculty are prepared to meet the evolving healthcare needs of individuals, families, and communities. In addition, the PhD program prepares students to conduct original research to inform best practices in teaching and learning across the continuum of healthcare.
Doctoral experience is essential for the advancement of academic and professional educators. Full-time PhD coursework (two courses per semester) is typically completed in three years followed by a rigorous research study preparing for work in higher education and in professional education programs in health care. Our graduates work in a wide range of health disciplines, serving as academic, clinical, and policy leaders in the education of healthcare professionals and in the design, assessment, and management of teaching, training, and research.
Learning Outcomes
After completing this program, students will be able to:
- Analyze social, political, economic, and scientific trends in healthcare including policies and structures that require meaningful transformations in health professions education.
- Navigate health professions educational systems and organizations in order to implement successful innovation.
- Apply educational theories and principles of cognitive and learning science to enhance student learning in health professions education.
- Design and deliver creative and impactful lessons, courses, curricula, and programs in health professions education.
- Identify, evaluate, and apply evidence-based teaching strategies.
- Design learning environments and organizational structures to intentionally and equitably support and engage all learners, particularly those from historically marginalized groups.
- Develop and implement processes and tools to assess learning outcomes and evaluate programs in order to inform and improve practice.
- Critically analyze and evaluate research in health professions education, marshaling evidence in support of arguments and using data to support educational practice.
- Design and conduct ethical and scientifically rigorous original research that informs best practices in health professions education
- Apply principles of ethical and inclusive educational leadership and management practices aligned with current research and theories of leadership in organizations
- Demonstrate proficiency in the range of research methods relevant to health professions education and in the collection, analysis, interpretation, and communication of data and evidence
- Critically analyze existing published research and theoretical underpinnings in order to identify areas amenable to further research
- Disseminate results of scholarly work in peer-reviewed journals, books, conferences, and other professional venues
Requirements for entry into program
All applicants will have previously completed a Master’s degree in public health or in a clinical discipline from an accredited U.S. institution. Applicants must have practical experience in their field within the past 3 years, and, if relevant to that discipline, the applicant should be licensed in that field. Applicants will submit:
- transcripts from previous educational programs
- a curriculum vitae
- a writing sample that has not previously been published or professionally edited
- a personal statement in response to a writing prompt
- results of the GRE exam
- three letters of recommendation
- An applicant for whom English is not their native language must submit a satisfactory score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
*An admissions interview is also required for all PhD applicants.
Program Details
The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Health Professions Education is a 48-credit sequence of online courses (including prerequisite CAGS credits) that prepares expert scholars for careers as health profession educators, researchers, and leaders. Building on the CAGS-level focus on educational practice, the core curriculum of the PhD program goes on to provide students with extensive research training and experience in health professions education. The program culminates in the successful completion of a dissertation.
Degree requirements
Credits
48 Credits
6-credits/semester sequence
Fall Year 1
| HPED 520 | Trends in Health Professions Education | 3 |
| HPED 521 | Learning Theory and Practice | 3 |
Spring Year 1
| HPED 530 | Principles of Inquiry and Evidence in Health Professions Education | 3 |
| HPED 531 | Teaching Methodologies, Course Design, and Assessment | 3 |
Summer Year 1
| HPED 540 | Curriculum Development, Program Design, and Evaluation | 3 |
| HPED 661 | Applied Statistics I | 3 |
| OR | |
| SW 651 | Intro to Stat & Data Analysis | 3.00 |
Fall Year 2
| HPED 541 | Education Application and Immersion Experience | 3 |
| HPED 662 | Applied Statistics II | 3 |
| OR | |
| SW 652 | Introduction to Multivariable Statistics | 3.00 |
Spring Year 2
| HPED 663 | Qualitative Research Methods | 3 |
| OR | |
| SW 654 | Qualitative Research Methods | 3.00 |
| HPED 666 | Quantitative Research Methods | 3 |
Summer Year 2
| HPED 664 | Qualitative Research Analysis | 3.00 |
| OR | |
| SW 635 | Qualitative Data Analysis | 3.00 |
Fall Year 3
| HPED 665 | Leadership and Organizational Change in Health Professions Education | 3 |
| HPED 660 | Perspectives in Research and Theory in Health Professions Education | 3 |
Winter Intersession
| Written Comprehensive Exam (P/F) | |
Spring Year 3
Summer Year 3
| May begin dissertation if proposal defended successfully in spring | |
Year 4