The goal of the School of Health Professions at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is simple — to be recognized as the leading school of health professions in the nation and a school that is shaping the future of health care. An ambitious goal to be sure, but one that is certainly within reach.
“We have three overarching objectives to meet that goal,” said Harold Jones, Ph.D., dean of the school. “We are teaching the next generation of health care professionals, we are discovering new knowledge through our research efforts, and we are translating that knowledge into real-world practice, to improve health care across the board.”
The School of Health Professions already stands among the upper echelon of health profession schools. It is one of the largest in the nation, with more than 1,800 students studying in 25 different programs. It is routinely in the top five of all health profession schools nationally in research funding. Every one of its programs that can be nationally ranked is in the top 30, and more than 95 percent of School of Health Professions graduates pass their credentialing exams.
“To shape the future of health care and be the 21st century leader in health professions education and research, we must fundamentally challenge the traditional way educational institutions have functioned,” Jones said. “We intend to pursue a unique strategy that will transform our school so it can uniquely lead efforts to shape health care in a way that dramatically impacts the quality of lives of individuals, communities and the world.”
Jones identifies four specific keys to that strategy:
- Listen to the needs of external constituencies, such as business, industry and government, to identify real-world problems.
- Focus resources on those problems that the school’s expertise is uniquely suited to address.
- Tailor innovative teaching and research solutions to address those real-world problems.
- Partner with strategic community, business and global leaders to expand the impact of our efforts.
“We have an unparalleled wealth of expertise and experience that allows us to tackle what I like to call signature problems,” Jones said. “We are constantly asking our external constituencies: ‘What problems do you face, and what do you need from us?’ And we then build programs that fit those needs.”
The school has identified five focus areas: obesity and obesity-related diseases, health care management and leadership, rehabilitation and disability, signature programs for workforce needs, and undergraduate education.
Obesity and obesity-related diseases
In the United States, more than two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese, and the medical costs of obesity in the nation exceed $147 billion annually. Jones cites UAB’s excellence in this field with the Department of Nutrition Sciences, recognized nationally and internationally for research excellence.
The UAB Nutrition and Obesity Research Center is an NIH-funded enterprise with more than 100 investigators from across campus. The NIH-funded UAB Diabetes Research Center promotes basic, clinical and translational research related to diabetes with over 180 investigators on campus. The School of Health Professions is one of only a handful of academic units in the world that features both of these types of research centers.
The EatRight Weight Management Program has operated within the UAB Health System for two decades in delivering expert care to patients with obesity and associated diseases. And the graduate program leading to a Ph.D. degree in nutrition sciences is ranked 10th in the nation by the National Research Council.
Primary goals in this area are to:
- Enhance the multidisciplinary program in lifestyle intervention science;
- Reduce the burden of suffering from obesity-related cancers, diabetes and heart disease through expanded scientific discovery;
- Expand and develop innovation patient care programs in obesity medicine; and
- Leverage the world-class education program in nutrition and obesity to enhance its sustainability, quality and inclusiveness.
Health care management and leadership
The health care reform legislation of 2010 created a great need for leadership, strategic thinking, financial assessments and team-based solutions in health care. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the need for health care managers will increase by 22 percent between 2010 and 2020.
The school’s Department of Health Services Administration, home to the university’s highest nationally ranked program, has been training health care leaders for more than 50 years, and boasts some 2,000 alumni active in health care management around the world. The department is ranked second in the nation by U.S. News and World Report in the 2016 edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”
It offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, as well as executive degrees in health management/administration and health informatics. Its global leadership has been marked most recently by the development and implementation of a master’s degree in health services administration for senior leaders at King Fahad Specialist Hospital in Damman, Saudi Arabia.
Primary goals in this area are to:
- Be recognized globally as a leader in health care management education, research and service;
- Expand the reach and impact of the Center for Healthcare Management and Leadership and the Center for Health Informatics for Patient Safety and Quality;
- Deliver innovative health care management education that enhances the value of degree programs and anticipates market demand; and
- Improve the effectiveness of the health care delivery system through expanded research activity.
Rehabilitation and disability
Current projections suggest that the need for rehabilitation services will continue to grow as the population ages and conditions associated with obesity continue to escalate. Fifty-six million Americans have a disability, and Alabama has a higher rate than the national average and the highest rate among states in the Southeast. Nationally, more than $550 billion is spent annually on health care for those with chronic health conditions and disability.
The UAB/Lakeshore Research Collaborative provides unprecedented opportunity addressing rehabilitation for persons with disabilities, and UAB is ranked first in rehabilitation science publications.
SHP is home to the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability, the only CDC-funded resource center on health promotion for people with disability. NCHPAD seeks to help people with disability and other chronic health conditions achieve health benefits through increased participation in all types of physical and social activities, including fitness and aquatic activities, recreational and sports programs, and adaptive equipment usage.
The school also houses the only federally funded Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Interactive Exercise Technologies and Exercise Physiology for People with Disabilities in the nation, while the Department of Occupational Therapy has the nation’s only low-vision certificate program for occupational therapists.
Primary goals in this area are to:
- Establish a new Center on Disability and Rehabilitation;
- Expand and diversify the UAB/Lakeshore Research Collaborative;
- Recruit additional funded researchers;
- Increase extramural funding for disability and rehabilitation research that includes both children and adults with disabilities;
- Increase financial support for rehabilitation science Ph.D. students;
- Develop a tele-health infrastructure for health promotion with children and adults who have disabilities; and
- Respond to demand and diversity needs for occupational therapy, physical therapy and rehabilitation science professionals.
Signature programs for workforce needs
The aging population, growing physician shortage, new governmental regulations, and expansion into molecular and genetic testing have contributed to a projection of a dramatic increase in jobs in health care over the next decade.
The health care sector is expected to be the fastest-growing occupational group from 2010-2020, growing by 30 percent and creating 3.4 million more new jobs during that time span. The situation is especially critical in Alabama, as the state is categorized as a health professions shortage area with 61 out of 67 counties short in primary care physicians.
The school has nationally ranked programs in physical therapy, health administration, occupational therapy and physician assistant studies, and its programs in nuclear medicine technology, genetic counseling and biotechnology are the only such programs in the state.
Primary goals in this area are to:
- Grow enrollment in the physician assistant program by developing a primary care option;
- Develop an online regulatory affairs track for biotechnology industry professionals;
- Develop graduate-level programming in health physics and medical physics;
- Develop a graduate-level professional school preparatory program to strengthen the competitiveness of disadvantaged and rural students seeking entry into professional health care programs; and
- Develop an innovative clinical laboratory sciences curriculum to address severe workplace shortages.
Undergraduate education
There is high student demand for health care professional programs that will require expanding pre-professional educational offerings — in particular, programs that easily articulate into graduate-level degree programs or entry-level health professions careers are highly desired.
The school has strong expertise in health care management and biomedical sciences disciplines, along with a history of excellence in online learning, honors programs and undergraduate research opportunities. In 2014, the School of Health Professions developed a bachelor’s degree program in biomedical sciences, currently the fastest-growing undergraduate program at UAB, with a signature, focused curriculum surrounding human biology, chemistry and disease.
Primary goals in the area are to:
- Build strong enrollment in biomedical sciences;
- Expand the health care management undergraduate program;
- Expand school-based honors and undergraduate research programs;
- Create additional 3+2 fast-track programs; and
- Create attractive minors in health care management, nutrition and other disciplines.
Jones says that many of the goals outlined in the school’s five-year strategic plan, encompassing 2013-2018, are already well ahead of schedule.
“The School of Health Professions has taken a thoughtful, aggressive approach to our ongoing strategic planning process that is sure to see continued growth and national prominence,” said UAB President Ray L. Watts. “Dean Jones has shown tremendous commitment to UAB’s students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters, and his leadership remains valuable to each pillar of our multifaceted mission.”