Doctor of Health Administration
Program Goals
Upon completion of all program requirements of the Doctorate in Health Administration degree, learners will be able to:
- Demonstrate their competence in creating new models to explain, predict, and improve performance of organizations in their doctoral discipline.
- Conduct research as a foundation for creative action.
- Exercise leadership to influence policy decisions.
- Manage and lead complex organizations through strategic decision-making.
Program Structure
Graduates of the Doctor of Health Administration program will have enhanced their administrative and leadership skills through the completion of a curriculum that provides students with the latest theories and contemporary practice applications. They are not only able to define their role within the heath care system, but understand how to make necessary changes to create a work environment that is team oriented and motivating to others. Graduates are able to analyze the influence of external and internal environments for alignment of the organizations in response to the ever-changing demands of the health care market place. Sensitivity to individuals and groups and the influence of multicultural diversity are seen as essential to effective leadership.
The curriculum is tailored to the needs of the health care leader by providing content in finance, policy, research, technology, quality improvement, economics, leadership, and organizational analysis. Students will be able to apply course work to their area of concentration such as public health, long-term care, acute care, and insurance.
The DHA program has a 62-credit requirement that involves both residency and online modalities of instruction. The majority of the program will be delivered in an online, virtual classroom setting. In these courses, learners will work in a cohort of approximately 12 peers and be required to spend approximately 25 hours per week on required coursework.
Courses offered during residency sessions cover a variety of areas essential to the successful completion of this advanced degree program, including insights into dissertation preparation. Additionally, in the third year residency, learners will apply their knowledge to a comprehensive, collaborative case study. This case study is the University's vehicle for assessing programmatic learning. Because of the nature and value of the information presented in the residency environment, learners must attend all residency sessions.
The most important milestone of the DHA degree is the successful completion and oral defense of a significant, substantial, and independently completed doctoral dissertation that adds new information to the body of health administration knowledge. The dissertation provides the learner an opportunity to demonstrate mastery of germinal and current literature and express their competence in applying learning to actual organizational issues. To ensure the quality of this effort, the program's curriculum is designed to develop the learner's ability to create original solutions to complex issues and to carefully identify and apply the most appropriate research methodology for addressing these issues.
Because of the highly independent nature of the program, learners must be self-disciplined and exceedingly motivated to earn this degree.