Curriculum
Certified PAs will benefit from this post-professional program designed for students to remain in the clinic full-time while earning their degree, so that they can apply their classroom learning to their clinical practice in a meaningful and impactful way. Pitt’s DMSc curriculum is designed to help learners be informed by, and to inform, their current practice as they learn. This design allows for a balanced curriculum that helps working professionals stay on track.
Plan of Study
Individualized plans of study will be considered for students that require individualized or personalized plans to meet their academic goals. All students must complete the DMSc degree requirements within eight (8) years of starting their program.
The advantage of this design is to allow learners to remain in their clinical practice full-time, while earning their degree part-time, so they can apply their classroom learning to their clinical practice in a meaningful and impactful way.
One Year Plan
Term 1:
- Core Concepts of Scholarly Practice
- Examining Supporting Evidence
- Internship Experience 1
Term 2:
- Personalized Elective (Academic, Administrative, or Digital Health)
- Scholarly Practice Capstone Phase 1
- Internship Experience 2
Term 3:
- Scholarly Practice Capstone Phase 2
- Internship Experience 3
What to Expect
- Courses are available through Canvas
- This is the online module content is self-paced throughout each week with weekly deadlines.
- Modules are released on a weekly basis to mimic the progression of coursework you would find in any university.
- Nearly all textbook and course materials are available online or through the Pitt library system
- The capstone project can be done individually or with a larger group. Learn more about the internship and capstone here.
Personalized Electives of the DMSc Program
Students in the Pitt DMSc will have the option to select from three available courses in a particular area of interest. Each area is designed to teach students specific skills to achieve goals in their capstone projects or provide a better understanding of the content in this area.
Administrative Elective
Graduates who pursue the Administrative Elective are able to:
- Analyze the use and allocation of resources to ensure the practice of cost-effective health care while maintaining quality of care.
- Understand how practice decisions impact the finances of their organization, while keeping the patient’s need foremost.
- Advocate for administrative systems that capture the productivity and value of PA practice.
Academic Elective
Graduates who pursue the Academic Elective are able to:
- Use educational theory and evidence-based literature to design teaching and evaluation practices that challenge and facilitate learners to practice high quality, compassionate patient care.
- Focus on a personal commitment to learners’ professional success, well-being and growth.
- Implement effective interpersonal and communication skills in educational settings.
Digital Health Fundamentals
Graduates who pursue Digital Health Fundamentals will be able to:
- Define digital health and explain its potential benefits and challenges.
- Describe the types of digital health technologies and their applications in health care
- Discuss the factors that influence digital health adoption and implementation including but not limited to patient engagement, digital literacy, digital health regulations, law, policy, privacy and security.
- Analyze future trends in digital health and their potential impact on the health care landscape.
Assessments
Assessments will be competency-based and build off one another to support completion of the Scholarly Practice Capstone Project. Such assessments will include:
- Reflective writing assignments
- Scholarly writing assignments
- Written evidence of literature review
- Stakeholder assessments
- Oral presentations
- Written defense of the Scholarly Practice Capstone Project