The Executive Doctor of Science degree in Administration-Health Services from the School of Health Professions at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will graduate its first class of eight students on Dec. 15, 2012. The three-year program, created with busy executives in mind, combines distance learning with required visits of eight days per semester to the UAB campus, allowing students the opportunity to complete the program while maintaining their executive responsibilities.
“We were overwhelmed with requests for an executive doctoral program from health-care executives,” said S. Robert Hernandez, Dr.P.H., professor and director of the doctoral programs in Administration-Health Services in the Department of Health Services Administration. “We provide students with an opportunity to develop valuable analytical and strategic management skills. They have an opportunity to perfect those skills by conducting action learning assignments and applied research.”
Hernandez said the program is highly selective. It only admits executives who will be able to contribute to the learning environment, since students are expected to learn from each other as much as from the faculty.
The first graduating class included top leadership from institutions such as the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas; Shands Jacksonville Medical Center in Jacksonville, Fla.; and Tahoe Forest Health System in Truckee, California.