MHA PROFESSIONAL FORMAT PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The Department of Health Services Policy and Management at the Arnold School of Public Health offers a CAHME-accredited MHA Professional Format program. This program offers an opportunity for physicians, senior and mid-level healthcare executives, clinician managers/directors, and other health care professionals to obtain a master's degree in health care administration, without interrupting full-time careers. (You may also want to consider the on-campus MHA program, albeit on a part-time enrollment basis, if you are located in Columbia, SC, and if your work schedule permits you to attend classes on campus. To apply for the on-campus program, please visit the MHA program link from the Department's homepage, and apply at the Arnold School of Public Health's general application portal, SOPHAS by the deadline mentioned at that portal.)
Coursework is accomplished through state-of-the-art video-streaming technology. This format provides excellent opportunities to watch a live class delivered on campus, and interact with faculty and peers through the internet, without coming to campus for classes. This format has been offered since fall 2004. To be eligible to apply for the MHA Professional Format, you should have worked full time in health care or an allied field for a significant duration, and also fulfill the academic requirements for the MHA program (Please visit the link to MHA Professional Format Application Process for details.)
Students will complete 58 hours of course work, comprised of 52 instructional hours and 6 credit hours of a management residency. Course work is typically completed on a part time enrollment basis, at the rate of 6 credit hours per semester, requiring three and a half years to complete the program. Students may also elect to complete the program on a schedule that best meets their personal needs. The following learning modes are used:
Advanced web-based streaming technology allows working professionals to view classes on their own schedule. At the same time, the course content, requirements, and learning expectations are no different from on-campus MHA courses. Live classes taught in the classroom during the semester are streamed via the internet and made available within 24 hours of each on-campus lecture. Lectures are available for viewing for two weeks following each class, and can be viewed any time of the day or night on a PC using an access password. Students should allow adequate time for coursework. Program participants will need to be disciplined to keep up with week-to-week lectures, readings and assignment deadlines, as required by the instructors. They will also need to be motivated to work through some challenging assignments that might require more patience than when facilitated by instantaneous live interaction with the instructor. It should be noted that unlike many text-based online programs, our program enables virtual participation in live classes that are taught to on-campus students. Except for not being physically present in the classroom, students get the full benefit of a live class, viewing the instructor-student interactions, questions and answers, and satisfying all course requirements required of on-campus students. Our MHA Professional Format program thus ensures the attributes of robust educational content and teaching methods as approved by our accrediting body, the Commission on Accreditation of Health Administration Education (CAHME).