The College of Education and Human Development and the School of Medicine at the University of Louisville are launching an online Master of Science degree in Health Professions Education (MSHPE) to fulfill the needs of a growing health care industry.
"The goal of the MSHPE program is to magnify the impact of the health professions educator,” said Dr. Staci Saner, program director and assistant professor of medicine. “Not only do health professions educators improve the outcomes of their patients, but they significantly improve the educational outcomes of their practitioner learners and impact the patients that those learners ultimately care for in the future.”
The health care industry is expected to grow by 2.6 million jobs 2020-2030, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The new degree program will focus on health care professionals who currently teach or plan to teach in medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy or other health fields.
“Accreditation bodies increasingly require that residency leaders have the requisite specialty expertise and documented educational and administrative experience,” said Susan Hildebrand of the College of Education and Human Development’s department of organizational leadership and learning. “With this explicit requirement, and with the need to maintain an educational environment conducive to educating the residents in graduate health care education competencies, institutions recognize the value of employing leaders who possess advanced training in education to maintain and improve their residency programs.”