DMSc Specialty Curriculum

The Executive Leadership Specialty pathway provides the essential, non-clinical skills necessary to transition from highly competent professionals into influential healthcare leaders. This formal training covers critical areas such as healthcare management, financial literacy, quality improvement, team development, and policy advocacy. By completing this degree, PAs significantly enhance their career advancement potential, becoming competitive candidates for roles like Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operations Officer (COO), and Executive Director, leading to increased salary and influence. These skills empower PAs to drive organizational change, improve patient care outcomes, ensure efficient resource allocation, and effectively advocate for their profession at the executive level, ultimately making them indispensable contributors to the future of healthcare.

Doctoral Project Curriculum

• DMS 5801 Research Resources & Methods
• DMS 5802 Doctoral Project Capstone I
• DMS 5803 Doctoral Project Capstone II

Foundational Curriculum Courses

• DMS 5805 Organizational Contexts & Systems
• DMS 5804 Healthcare Law & Risk Management
• DMS 5806 Medical Ethics
• DMS 5808 Advocacy in Healthcare
• DMS 5810 Public Policy in Healthcare

Specialty Curriculum

• DMS 5850 Healthcare Finance & Value-Based Strategy
• DMS 5852 Strategic Leadership in Healthcare Systems Administration
• DMS 5804 Healthcare Law & Risk Management
• DMS 5811 Strategic Communication & Executive Presence
• DMS 5820 Entrepreneurship & Innovation

The Behavioral Health and Wellness Specialty pathway is crucial for healthcare professionals who recognize that mental health and well-being are fundamental to both patient outcomes and organizational sustainability. This program addresses the urgent need to equip providers with the core competencies to integrate behavioral health screening and interventions into primary care settings (e.g., collaborative care models), manage clinician burnout and promote resilience across the workforce, and foster a culture of psychological safety. The immense value of this curriculum lies in empowering professionals to not only improve patient holistic health by treating the whole person but also to drive executive strategies that reduce staff turnover, enhance operational effectiveness, and establish the organization as a leader in supporting the mental well-being of both its patients and its highly-stressed workforce.

Doctoral Project Curriculum

• DMS 5801 Research Resources & Methods
• DMS 5802 Doctoral Project Capstone I
• DMS 5803 Doctoral Project Capstone II

Foundational Curriculum Courses

• DMS 5805 Organizational Contexts & Systems
• DMS 5804 Healthcare Law & Risk Management
• DMS 5806 Medical Ethics
• DMS 5808 Advocacy in Healthcare
• DMS 5810 Public Policy in Healthcare

Specialty Curriculum

• DMS 5843 Behavioral Health I
• DMS 5844 Behavioral Health II
• DMS 5845 Behavioral Health III
• DMS 5846 Artificial Intelligence & Behavioral Medicine
• DMS 5848 Wellness & Nutrition

The Medical Education Specialty pathway is designed for PAs who are currently working within or aspiring to join an academic medical center or teaching institution, recognizing that excellence in clinical practice must be paired with mastery of effective teaching and curriculum design. This curriculum addresses the critical need for formal pedagogical training in the academic setting, providing clinicians with advanced skills in adult learning theories, innovative instructional methodologies, curriculum development, effective clinical and simulation-based teaching, and rigorous assessment techniques. Completing this program offers immense value by validating a professional’s competence as an educator, significantly enhancing their competitiveness for academic faculty appointments, accelerating promotion and tenure (e.g., to Assistant or Associate Professor), and empowering them to become leaders in designing, implementing, and evaluating high-quality educational programs for future generations of healthcare professionals.

Doctoral Project Curriculum

• DMS 5801 Research Resources & Methods
• DMS 5802 Doctoral Project Capstone I
• DMS 5803 Doctoral Project Capstone II

Foundational Curriculum Courses

• DMS 5805 Organizational Contexts & Systems
• DMS 5804 Healthcare Law & Risk Management
• DMS 5806 Medical Ethics
• DMS 5808 Advocacy in Healthcare
• DMS 5810 Public Policy in Healthcare

Specialty Curriculum

• DMS 5914 Strategic Leadership in Higher Education
• DMS 5916 Program Accreditation & Standards in Higher Education
• DMS 5918 Curriculum Design & Innovation in Higher Education
• DMS 5920 AI Tools & Higher Education
• DMS 5922 Financial Management & Grant Administration

The Global Health & Humanitarian Medicine (GHHM) Specialty pathway provides the essential skills and academic background necessary to prepare professionals to lead and coordinate global health missions for humanitarian benefit. Upon completion, PAs will be prepared to serve with cultural humility, prepare for deployment to disparate health systems and operate within diverse administrative cultures. This training includes leadership and coordination with global health organizations, preparing graduates to work with or even form their own non-governmental organizations. By completing this degree, PAs significantly enhance their career advancement potential, prepared to take on international medical challenges and coordinate cross-functional teams and operational goals to a common purpose.

This pathway requires an organized humanitarian field deployment with classmates and faculty to an international or domestic site to apply the principles learned during the academic coursework. Program faculty have led similar deployments in locations including Ukraine, Tanzania, Panama, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.

Doctoral Project Curriculum

• DMS 5801 Research Resources & Methods
• DMS 5802 Doctoral Project Capstone I
• DMS 5803 Doctoral Project Capstone II

Foundational Curriculum Courses

• DMS 5805 Organizational Contexts & Systems
• DMS 5804 Healthcare Law & Risk Management
• DMS 5806 Medical Ethics
• DMS 5808 Advocacy in Healthcare
• DMS 5810 Public Policy in Healthcare

Specialty Curriculum

• DMS 5822 Infectious Disease & Tropical Medicine
• DMS 5828 Global Health Issues & Determinants of Health
• DMS 5824 Remote & Operational Medicine
• DMS 5830 Global Health Organizations & Management

Humanitarian Deployment

• DMS 5831 Strategic Planning for Global Health & Humanitarian Response
• DMS 5836 Humanitarian Deployment & Strategic Application

The Emergency Management & Disaster Response (EMDR) Specialty pathway provides the essential skills and academic background necessary to prepare professionals to lead and coordinate within governmental and non-governmental agencies to provide service in disaster planning, mitigation, response, and recovery. Upon completion, professionals will be prepared to deploy on domestic and international disaster response missions, as well as to work within larger agencies to provide disaster-related planning. This training includes leadership and coordination with constituent organizations inside and outside government, preparing graduates to excel in environments from small businesses to hospital systems to large multinational agencies. By completing this degree, professionals significantly enhance their career advancement potential, becoming competitive candidates for roles like Emergency Management Director, Disaster Response Coordinator, or Operations Officer within a response organization, leading to increased salary, leadership, and influence.

This pathway requires an organized field deployment with classmates and faculty to a site within the continental US to apply the principles learned during the academic coursework. Program faculty have led disaster response deployments in locations across the United States and the world.

Doctoral Project Curriculum

• DMS 5801 Research Resources & Methods
• DMS 5802 Doctoral Project Capstone I
• DMS 5803 Doctoral Project Capstone II

Foundational Curriculum Courses

• DMS 5805 Organizational Contexts & Systems
• DMS 5804 Healthcare Law & Risk Management
• DMS 5806 Medical Ethics
• DMS 5808 Advocacy in Healthcare
• DMS 5810 Public Policy in Healthcare

Specialty Curriculum

• DMS 5826 Wilderness & Expedition Medicine
• DMS 5838 Executive Leadership in Crisis and Emergency Management
• DMS 5840 Disaster Medicine & Health Systems Response
• DMS 5842 Public Health Emergencies & Outbreak Response

Deployment Exercise Block:

• DMS 5835 Strategic Planning for Disaster & Humanitarian Response
• DMS 5837 Disaster Response Deployment & Strategic Application

The Specialty pathway in Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare is essential for all healthcare professionals—including those in clinical, administrative, executive, teaching, and operations roles—who recognize the transformative impact of AI and seek to maintain relevance and effectiveness in the modern health ecosystem. This program addresses the critical need for a comprehensive, non-technical understanding of AI principles, machine learning applications, ethical considerations, and governance frameworks, enabling providers to move beyond basic awareness to strategic implementation. The value of this specialty pathway lies in empowering professionals to lead process innovation (e.g., optimizing resource allocation and predicting disease outbreaks), ensure data integrity and equitable use in patient care, drive educational advancements through intelligent tutoring systems, and inform executive decisions about technology adoption, ultimately positioning them as vital contributors who can bridge the gap between advanced technology and impactful, responsible healthcare delivery.

• DMS 5801 Research Resources & Methods
• DMS 5802 Doctoral Project Capstone I
• DMS 5803 Doctoral Project Capstone II

• DMS 5805 Organizational Contexts & Systems PLUS 3 of the 4 courses below:
• DMS 5804 Healthcare Law & Risk Management
• DMS 5806 Medical Ethics
• DMS 5808 Advocacy in Healthcare
• DMS 5810 Public Policy in Healthcare

• DMS 5820 Entrepreneurship & Innovation
• DMS 5870 AI Foundations in Healthcare Innovation
• DMS 5872 AI Systems, Algorithms, & Infrastructure
• DMS 5874 Ethics, Risk, & Strategy in the AI Era
• DMS 5876 Leading the AI-Driven Healthcare Organization