Abstract of a Doctoral Analysis
This study is a review of the Doctor of Health Science program offered at Nova Southeastern University (NSU). The DHSc is a (60-61) program which incorporates a review of the courses undertaken and the virtual nature of the program. Overall, this study will analyze four components of the program to ultimately comprise four elements of the study.
Introduction
This study is a comprehensive critique on Nova Southeastern University health science doctoral program. Overall, this study will analyze four components of the program to ultimately comprise four elements of the study. The first element will analyze how the author came to use the program for study; the second element will entail the basic critique of the program; the third element will encompass a critique of the three basic courses in the program (including a critique of an elective course), and finally, this analysis will provide a number of suggestions on how the doctoral program can be improved, after comprehensively analyzing its dynamics.
Pursuit of the Degree of Doctor of Health Science
After the author acquired her bachelors and master’s degrees, there was a strong need to connect with her inner voice of achieving the highest level of success in the discipline of health science. Previous degrees have been useful in achieving high levels of personal and organizational growth, considering they have improved the author’s proficiencies in the respective fields of study covered. Also, comprehensively, the author’s qualifications in bachelors and masters degrees have necessitated personal progression through the ladder of academic success. In turn, this is what has enabled the author to be allowed to pursue a doctoral degree.
Additionally, from previous degrees obtained, the author has been able to expand her sphere of influence in the organization, considering that in the past, minimal responsibilities and a small circle of influence was characteristic of the author’s nature of work in the organization. With an increase in qualification and academic achievement, more respect was observed from fellow colleagues and hence the increase in the author’s positional influence. It is however important to note that since the author’s career was clinically focused, the masters qualification obtained during the course of the author’s career, the doctor of health science career development filled in the gaps of the work experience acquired. This happened so successfully, such that the author gained more confidence in carrying out advance duties. Moreover, the author found it much easier to relate with other colleagues (and especially high-ranking executives in the organization). This was a major milestone covered in the author’s career development. This development was also the primary motivator for pursuing a doctorate of health science.
Health science has been at the pivot point in the authors’ academic progress, considering an interest was already hatched at the time of graduation at the master’s degree level. Reaching the pinnacles of academic achievement in the health science discipline is a goal close to the author’s heart, considering immense self-drive and initiative have been characteristic of the author’s pursuit of personal and career success.
This goal was further compounded by the fact that many experts from the author’s locality have not scaled up to such heights (doctoral heights) of academic achievement. In some way, this provides an opportunity to stand above the rest and actually be a pace setter in the field of health science. Relatively, the author’s quest to mould upcoming professionals in the field of health science is also improved because after the completion of the doctoral degree, the author will be empowered with the skills and expertise needed to mentor new professionals. The magnitude of such an initiative will also be compounded by the success in undertaking the doctoral degree, considering there is only so much the author can do, if the highest levels of academic achievement are not attained.
Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU’s) doctorate of health science program is therefore the best pick for the author, since it facilitates the overall growth of career success in the mentioned field of study. This program will therefore have a positive impact in the overall ladder of career progression, considering it is detailed enough to impart the required knowledge in health science to make the author a certified health science practitioner. However, in as much as the program will enable the author to achieve high levels of career success, there is also an acknowledgement that the goals of undertaking the academic program may change with time, but such a development will be accommodated when the time comes. Currently, focus is directed towards achieving personal success in the relevant field of study.
In the organizational context, there has been a strong wave for employees at the author’s workplace to excel in their respective fields of study. This is primarily caused by the relentless increase in competition among most 21st century professionals. Competition is therefore an important element or motivator for the author to pursue a doctoral degree, considering many more professionals in the organization are working hard to achieve such a career success. Currently, only a few colleagues have undertaken the same initiative the author has, but from a general analysis, the push for more professionals to improve their skills is going to surge by the years and those who would not heed to this need, run a high risk of being rendered redundant by new and upcoming professionals.
With such factors withstanding, the pursuit of a doctoral degree was therefore motivated by personal and organizational goals, although personal push is the unmentioned factor in the entire equation. The author is a supervisor of 50 healthcare staff and the pursuit of the doctoral health program will be aimed at improving this skill to enhance the author’s efficiency and uphold competence at a personal level. Moreover, the supervisor’s job description is also characterized by immense competition from younger and upcoming players which also poses a challenge to the author’s position at work. The pursuit for a doctoral health science qualification is therefore derived from personal motivation and the push to stand above the rest. This is also supported by the author’s quest to be a force to reckon with at the organizational level.
The author’s quest to be a force to reckon with at the organizational level did not however start at the doctoral stage of academic progression, but it is rather a journey that started at the undergraduate level. The author got a bachelors degree in Home economics in 1976 from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and a couple of years later, she attended the physician assistant program at the University of California where she graduated in 1990.
The physician assistance program was initially a certificate program but in the mid 1990s, it changed to a Masters curriculum from the University of California. This was a positive move for the author (in terms of thinking to pursue a higher degree) considering many professionals were initially being criticized for having “lower than degree level” qualifications. At that point, a few colleagues started pursuing higher-level qualifications like masters and doctorate level qualifications.
In the case of the author, there was a masters program being undertaken in the local state level university which was within close proximity to the author’s home. There were however many colleges also within close proximity to the author’s home, such that, there was a specialization in the nature of the doctoral programs being offered at the colleges. The state level college where the author was enrolled essentially focused on community wellness, health policy and health deliveries with a minimal focus on research. Because the author’s clinical program was focused on clinical procedures, the masters program complimented the course because it came in to fill the gaps in the program. The Masters Degree program was completed in 2001. This accomplishment therefore paved way for the pursuit of the doctoral program
Analysis of the Doctor of Health Science Program
Distance Education
Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is located in Ft. Lauderdale Florida-Davie and has over 28,000 students (Nova Southeastern University Health Professions Division, 2011). According to NSU, the university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Distance Education is a new teaching paradigm where students are taught across various geographical boundaries. The teaching method basically relies on information technology to reach individual students, thereby departing from the traditional classroom setting where students sit together at one given time. Basically, distance education has been referred to, by most educationists and researchers as a learning method where instructors and students are separated by barriers of distance and time (Honeyman, 1993, p. 67).
Considering distance education relies substantially on technological means to facilitate learning, it is important to note that the two major types of technological aids used are either synchronous or asynchronous tools. Synchronous tools have been referred by many researchers as tools used when online participants are pooled together at the same time (even though they may be located in very remote distances) (Tabor, 2007, p. 48). Such tools can be like chats, video conferencing facilities, web conferencing facilities, discussion boards (and the like). Some of these tools will be further analyzed in this study. The efficiency of these types of tools basically depends on the strict adherence to a given timetable which brings together participants at the same time.
On the other hand, asynchronous tools are primarily used when participants (or students in this case) can access course materials at their convenience. This means that these tools are more flexible than the synchronous tools. Moreover, students are not supposed to be together at the same time, in order for communication to occur. Basic types of asynchronous tools are like emails (one of the oldest tools in online learning), message boards, voicemail, fax and the like. In some instances, both synchronous and asynchronous tools are used simultaneously to perfect distance learning. For example, in specific online degree courses offered by Open University, different schedules are assigned to both categories of tools (Tabor, 2007, p. 48).
Online learning has been identified to pose a number of benefits and challenges by many researchers and educationists across the globe. In the American context, an education researcher, Diana Oblinger (cited in Oblinger, 2000) notes that online learning tools have greatly increased education outreach because it transcends geographical borders. In this manner, online learning has been used to expand the access of information and meet the increasing demand for education and training that is witnessed all around the globe. One of its biggest advantages is that it can easily juggle different busy schedules which are characteristic of most students in the 21st century having a difficult time trying to juggle their family, career, personal, recreational and education needs. This has been cited as one of the major reasons why the new education paradigm is highly preferred (Vaughan, 2010, p. 165).
Online learning has also been identified as a good learning method with the capability of alleviating capacity constraints normally evident in most traditional learning setups (White, 1982, p. 255). For instance, it is able to significantly reduce the strain on physical infrastructure like lecture halls, furniture and the like. Many major institutions across the globe are also tapping into the financial potential of online learning, considering new research shows that online education can produce more revenue when compared to the traditional learning setups (as the population increasingly accepts it as an effective mode of learning).
This study is a review of the Doctor of Health Science program offered at Nova Southeastern University (NSU). The DHSc program is comprised of 60-61 credits; this project incorporates a review of the courses undertaken and the virtual nature of the program. Overall, this study will analyze four components of the program to ultimately comprise four elements of the study.
Overview of Doctor of Health Science Program
The DHSc program is very rewarding and enriching to students, in the sense that it helps them to gain deeper insight into health science as a discipline. This is true because, overall, the program allows for a gainful interaction among students and other healthcare professionals in the discipline. Through the extensive nature of the program, the courses studied are very enlightening to most students, involving interaction with other students from various cultures across the globe. The Doctor of Health Science (DHSc) program is open to students with a master’s degree (Nova Southeastern University, 2011) from various continents; therefore, participants are able to learn new facts about people from other countries, as well as their points of view regarding certain general and common issues. In part, this helps students to understand the cultural dynamics of various people across the globe–a facet which is also included in the course framework outlining the entire DHSc course.
The online DHSc program is quite beneficial to students because it fosters the freedom of flexibility through a flexible curriculum that accommodates various student dynamics in learning. Furthermore, since most students undertaking the program are not new to the field of technology, the program not only enriches their knowledge in the field of health sciences but also helps them to become more technologically proficient. Today’s world is heavily reliant on innovation and new technology, and this is an important life skill needed in the 21st century.
For most students, the program builds upon the initial knowledge obtained in health science at the master’s level. Often, the information obtained actually makes more sense now than it did at the master’s level, because, through the program, the students are able to delve more deeply into previously learned information. For the author, the journey through the DHSc was an invaluable experience. The DHSc program helps the students to inter-connect with the master’s of health science program. This helps students in the DHSc program to further advance their knowledge in the world of global health.
Program Administration and Support
The DHSc program has grown tremendously since the program started. The advising department is very supportive and responds to all emails and phone calls. The program director responds in a timely manner to student emails. She has an open mind to all questions and comments. Whenever the director is leaving for vacation or any other business, she notifies the students and leaves a contact number.
Admissions
Admission requirements are explained thoroughly on the Web site and on the phone. All requirements have to be submitted in a timely manner to be considered for entry into the program. The GRE is no longer needed to enter the program. Financial aid is self-explanatory, so it is easy to follow the guidelines to apply; once the applicant provides everything that is needed, a counselor is available to assist the student. The department always reports in advance when the WebCT program will be down, and all discussion is provided through WebCT without difficulty.
Internship and Practicum
The internship is a personal development activity. Each student has to spend 80 hours learning something different from his or her job, working with a mentor. The mentor verifies in a letter that he or she can mentor the student for 80 hours in a facility as the student learns the new activity. Before entering the practicum or internship, students are advised to take a 1-credit class which details what specifically is needed to complete both courses. Knowing this information in advance will be beneficial before entering the internship and practicum.
The practicum is a developmental educational tool used to teach employees, doctors, or patients. The target audience should be included in the presentation. There should be also a review of the literature, with references. The practicum should have 3 formative committees and 3 summative committees. Upon completion of both courses, each 12 weeks in duration, the DHSc students are expected to put whatever they learned into practice, such as by helping their peers or patients to appreciate methods of improving health promotion.
In the DHSc program, some of the courses are not offered every semester, so students must be vigilant in order to maintain their progress through the curriculum. The summer institutes entail three 4-credit courses offered once in the summer for one week each. The student can only take one or two classes at a time, due to time constraints. Statistics and Research Methods are given only in the morning, and Healthcare Leadership and Conflict Resolution are given in the afternoon. After completing the 1-week summer institute face-to-face lectures, the balance of the assignments are finished online in WebCT. The summer institute is a venue in which most students can incorporate a family vacation.
Curriculum
The program instills in students an understanding of the dimensions of issues facing professionals in the field of health science, and, most importantly, encourages global-health-related interactions between the students. Students should be in a position to conduct research, analyze and interpret data, and, consequently, apply the theoretical information to solve practical issues.
A few new courses have been added to the curriculum. In addition, a new PhD curriculum has been added. This will help to further advance knowledge in research areas appropriate to the graduate’s professional discipline
Doctoral Analysis
The NSU doctoral health science degree program has its own pros and cons. These are identified in a number of functional areas including support and administrative staff, faculty services, admission requirements, support systems and the likes. From this basis, the strengths and weaknesses of the program are as follows:
Strengths
The admission criteria for the program is quite enriching to all the students because it provides a hybrid of students from various nationals. This means that students can easily learn from different cultures and experiences. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity for students to augment their learning experiences through various shades of learning concepts grasped by different students. This platform provides an opportunity for students to develop a rich body of knowledge from various learning areas.
Also, students are likely to find collaboration fostered through multicultural experiences highly rewarding and invaluable because most of the bonds developed in the course of their learning experiences are bound to be life-long and will probably last through their careers. For instance, many people in the program are high-ranking executives in their areas of expertise and therefore, their experiences are invaluable in the program. This poses as a basic advantage to most of the students in the program because these high-ranking executives act as mentors to other students.
Critically, the executives are likely to show guidance to upcoming executives and since most of them only share an academic or professional link with other students; the executives are likely to provide the students with impartial advice in making prudent decisions in the course of their careers. Moreover, the value students get from these career predecessors is invaluable, and probably it cannot be quantified in monetary terms because when appropriately applied, such advice can scale a student’s success to very high heights.
The program is also multidisciplinary in nature, whereby each discipline included in the program adds value to the overall status of the program, in the sense that, students learn a variety of functional areas of their program of study in the same course. Also, the multidisciplinary nature of the program gives an opportunity for new students to develop new approaches to solve existing problems and come up with remedies to solve complex problems as well. The doctoral program is also bound to present a very positive outlook to new and potential students because it will be based on holism rather than reductionism (which is a conventional approach practiced over the years).
Weaknesses
Overall, the weakness of the program is its failure to bridge the gap between students from across the globe, through technological means. In as much as the latest technologies are included in the program (and aimed at improving the learning experience), the disjoint in student and instructor participation basically makes the entire learning experience fall short of the intended objective. For instance, mails (which are a common communication mode in the learning experience) allow for the exchange of information between learners without both learners presently communicating at the same time. Also, there are a number of issues evidenced when developing the e learning content where, though it is easy to create content, there is a clear lack of flexibility, richness and downright functionality by the instructors, thereby creating more learning disconnect between the learners and the students.
Also, on the extreme, if complex content development approaches are used by the instructors, it can be possibly difficult to set up such learning approaches in the first place, and in the same manner, the process can also be potentially very slow, therefore leading to a lot of time wastage. This means that there is a midpoint which is difficult to strike for most instructors where good educational materials can be developed for all students, and at the same time, simultaneously provides the most engaging educational experiences for all learners.
The frequency of interaction and the formal interactions in the learning experience needed by most of the students are done in the online environment; creating a surmountable problem for most instructors because they have to at all times update their softwares to be up-to-date with the learning environment. This may sometimes prove very tedious and intense for most instructors because they have to be vigilant through their learning approaches to ensure their learning information is relevant at all times. At the same time, the instructors are expected to build on the body of knowledge of other researchers, thereby creating or limiting creativity in the learning experience.
Opportunities
There are immense opportunities in undertaking administrative functions through the discussion boards because students will be updated regarding administrative functions currently being carried out in the university. This is an opportunity identified by Max (2009, p. 57) pertaining to the utilization of discussion boards. This exercise will be undertaken to bridge the gap between student activities and administrative functions. Since the course employs computer-aided techniques, there is an opportunity for administrators to employ an electronic performance support system where worker productivity through on-the-job access will be made more efficient due to worker efficiency.
However, due to the fact that the doctoral program is basically centered on e learning, there are more opportunities for the university to increase its student base by making the program more accessible to students who do not have the opportunity to undertake the course due to geographical barriers or otherwise. Also, due to online learning reliance, there is a huge opportunity for the course to be integrated with the community to provide the students a more holistic learning experience, especially since the doctoral course is basically community-centered. This move will provide a great opportunity for the community to enhance its educational and health objectives, therefore positively impacting their living standards.
Since most of the learning tutorials included in the curriculum are basically designed in English, there is an opportunity for the administration to redesign the curriculum to match up with the cultural diversity that exists among students undertaking the course. This means that the curriculum should also be designed in other native languages which contribute a great percentage of the student population because sometimes, the curriculum fails to be effective for some international students who may not have a strong grasp of English.
This strategy should be undertaken keeping in mind that the online learning experience should be as simple as possible (especially regarding the use of technology). More importantly, it should be understood by the administrators that most of the student population undertaking the doctoral program is on busy schedules and therefore skills in time management and self-discipline are critical if the learning experience needs to be effective.
Threats
The biggest threat to the DHSc program is the immense dependency on information technology which is also prone to specific threats like impersonation, power failures and the like. Moreover, the heavy reliance on information technology is also a barrier to the program’s expansion. The factors that enable IT uptake, like human skill requirements and power access, may be a limiting factor in some areas as is affirmed by Hunter (2005, p. 152). The expansion of the program is especially inhibited by the fact that the program does not have different tutorials designed in various students’ native language and by the fact that there is no sound infrastructure, in some geographical areas, to support the growth of e learning (in this case, the expansion of the doctoral program to more students).
Focusing on language barrier, the above impediment poses a significant challenge, especially to internet penetration among certain communities which are not essentially English speaking (for instance, the Asian communities). Failure to design the curriculum into several common native languages will therefore limit the program’s outreach to English speaking students and foreign students who have been able to learn the English language only.
Coming back to the poor internet infrastructure evident in some geographical areas, the expansion and effectiveness of the doctoral program may fail to meet its set standards because there may be insurmountable technical constraints that may significantly inhibit the effectiveness of the doctoral program implementation process. This problem is especially evidenced in emerging economies where instances of unreliable internet connection are quite common. This type of technical inhibition poses a problem to the efficiency of the program.
There is also a significant threat emanating from the manner adult learners have been conventionally taught to understand the role of the instructor. Essentially, adult learners have been educated in a didactic manner where they normally perceive the instructor as a teacher as opposed to a facilitator. This is a rather conventional way of perceiving learning approaches and it is not essentially appropriate for the doctoral online learning course because the instructor plays the role of a facilitator as opposed to a teacher. This kind of challenge is likely to cause a problem to the overall implementation of the doctoral course because there will be a conflict of roles between the instructors and the students, which may ultimately lead to a lot of inefficiencies in the implementation of the program.
Comprehensively, this study identifies that the NSU administration needs to think more out of the box (regarding how they implement the program) to make it more effective by incorporating effective web technologies. For instance, web based telephony or instant chat online could be incorporated. At the same time, this study notes that NSU online program is most effective when communicating with faculty and administrative staff.
Critique of Coursework
Global Health Policy
The course description outlines global health policies which are important in the realization of global health goals. The issues identified in the study are those that are pertinent to respective global health organizations, certain population groups, the government and specific financial institutions (such as the International Monetary fund (IMF) and the World Bank). In a nutshell, the course seeks to establish the process and developments touching on specific sectors of global health policies. In this regard, the course seeks to analyze specific global health issues such as HIV and AIDS, conflicts and their health impact, contagious diseases, environmental health, global nutrition and other similar eventualities (in the analysis of global health).
The first goal of the study was to comprehend the roles of specific international health bodies, governments and financial institutions in formulating global health policies. Secondly, the study is aimed at comprehending the dynamic nature of variables to be considered in global health policy formulation. Thirdly, the study seeks to have a clear understanding of the impact of international trade on the distribution of health workers and availability of health services. Fourthly, this study seeks to comprehend existing international health policies surrounding HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases alongside having a clear understanding of global health issues affecting the use of tobacco and the policies formulated on the advertising of tobacco consumption. Fifthly, the study seeks to understand global policies touching on the United Nations, and specific concerns regarding food security. Sixthly, the study seeks to comprehensively understand global health policies and issues revolving around
international conflict and the impact of global health policies on the health of the people. This will be done alongside having a clear picture of global policies and issues surrounding environmental impact on population health (with a special reference to energy use, waste disposal, natural resources and climate change). Comprehending unique health issues plaguing Africa and how the rest of the world is reacting towards them and coming up with a comprehensive policy analysis touching on issues pertaining to international health organizations, international financial institutions, governments, the role nongovernmental organizations play, health issues plaguing developing countries and the leadership responsibility needed in such countries are also significant roles contributing to a great part of the course’s objectives. Lastly, the course seeks to develop more awareness, across the globe, regarding important health concerns.
In addition to using relevant course books, the course relies on web content pertaining to the relevant topic, as an auxiliary source of course material. Web content is appropriate for the course study because as Doyle (2001, p. 225) notes, web content is usually appropriate for learning because it is up to date. Moreover, Kogent Solutions Inc (2009, p.1052) affirms that a wide array of web content can be obtained easily by most students in online learning. The credibility of specific web contents is however questionable, although certain contents are credible enough to be relied on in the study. Books are however reliable and have been used extensively in the course study.
Specific articles were recommended for further reading by the instructor on a week-by-week basis. Often, additional articles would be recommended by the researcher over the normal articles to be read. This is not appropriate, considering the workload to be understood grew by the day, and often times, it was unmanageable. This is true because other external responsibilities like family, completing assignments and writing other papers had to be juggled with such responsibilities. The number of articles to be recommended should therefore be carefully reviewed to uphold the efficiency of the course framework. In the course, each student was required to have at least two postings each week from specified sources.
Also, at the end of it all, each student had to provide a report on the response of the topic of analysis as the second weekly posting. Considering the hectic work schedules of most students, a small number of pages, say, ten pages should have been recommended by the researcher from one or two research articles only. This is important because it is quite tedious to go through a lengthy article and grasp important points to share with the rest of the class. Shallahamer (2007, p. 161) affirms that balanced workloads are always the best for student learning. To some degree, the workload imbalance detracted the main aim of undertaking the course because a lot of emphasis was laid on completing the assignments and submitting them in time, as opposed to comprehending the assignments and analyzing how they help in the overall understanding of the course objectives.
Unfortunately or fortunately, this is a doctoral program to be completed in three or four years. Most doctoral programs are full time, and it would degrade the degree to reduce the work. This was not the first class for the author and frankly, some of the students emailed that they were lost in the study because most students could not catch up with the instructor’s speed of study. Chat sessions could have easily simplified the learning process for most students, but unfortunately, it was not included in the study.
Nonetheless, the author was able to use the email system to ask private questions with the instructor to facilitate the learning process. Chats are very important for the author’s understanding of specific course objectives and more importantly, the sourcing of information from the web. As mentioned earlier, web content was a primary source of information for the course and therefore, through the discussion sessions, the author was able to correctly obtain directions on relevant articles on the web. Online email was only one of the major online methods used in the course, but other tools such as discussion boards, presentations, video and audio enhancements were also used.
Video enhancements were very useful to the course comprehension process because students could easily have a clear picture of the relevant information being depicted. In other words, it was much easier understanding specific pieces of information from the study if they were accompanied by visual representations. For instance, understanding environmental health concerns and the specific health issues affecting Africa, the visual presentations helped students have a clear picture of the health situation in Africa from their visual representations.
The discussion board was also useful because it acted as a common medium of interaction where the students and instructors could easily interact and share information among themselves. More important it is a the fact that discussions were actually carried out in real time, meaning that the efficiency of the discussion process was high and participants could improve the quality of the learning process through information exchange. This advantage is affirmed by Gagalowicz (2005). Also, through the discussion board, the answers provided by the students could easily be posted for review by the entire class. This process was helpful, in the sense that, at the end of the course, all the information posted in the discussion board (by all the students) could easily be used to come up with a single compilation of the entire class’ course work.
Apart from the specified tools of study described above, the author used personal methods of study to gain a more comprehensive analysis of the research topic. Personal methods of study were therefore used to augment specific areas of the course which could not be easily understood by the author. The major personal learning tool was the analysis of existing literature on the specified course objectives identified. This included books and journals. The other times, the author went out of the way to seek information from old and future research to gain a more meaningful insight on the topic of analysis.
Despite the fact that the course failed to meet some specific student criteria, the course was successful in meeting its desired objectives. This is due to the fact that the nature of the course was very specific to meeting the course objectives (which was to understand global issues of health care systems). Overall, the class was a great class to build the groundwork for other classes to come. This is true because the topic of analysis was a common facet of all other courses and therefore it acted as a good framework through which other courses could be properly comprehended. Suggestions for this course are to reduce the overall number of assignments given to each student so that students can concentrate more on understanding the dynamics of the course, as opposed to finishing and submitting the course on time. In other words, the course workload should be reduced.
Epidemiology and Global Health
Epidemiology and Global Health course revolves around the epidemiological view of global health issues. From this course, students were supposed to be well oriented with epidemiological research approaches, in addition to skills and concepts associated with epidemiological research. Emphasis was on epidemiological surveillance on health related issues and an evaluation of screening and diagnostic tests associated with epidemiological concerns. Additionally, from the course, students were supposed to learn how to investigate epidemics, as well as policy modifications and confounding effects in accordance with how they are applied in the research design and analytical procedures associated with health studies and researches. In conclusion, from the course, students would learn how global policies on disease prevention and health surveillance and disease control are undertaken.
The first goal of the course was to enable students understand the dynamics of implementing global health policies while the second was aimed at making the students understand the primary and secondary prevention strategies used in averting global health disasters. Lastly, the course was aimed at helping students understand the dynamics of global epidemiology.
The course framework was quite useful in meeting the objective outlines in the course structure because it acted as an exercise through which students could explore specific areas of importance in comprehending the outlined objectives. For example, students were required to chose a specific global health concern in sub-Saharan Africa (for example) and explore ways through which health calamities could be prevented through the implementation of viable health policies. The exercise was actually beneficial in the sense that, students were to develop strategies through which they could use to prevent global policies in an area of their choice. To accomplish this task, students were required to develop a document that was at least three paragraphs in length encompassing the same.
Online methods were used to facilitate the learning process and it improved the quality of study, considering students had an easy time going over their work, on the discussion board. The discussion board was very useful in facilitating discussions among the instructor and students because each participant had the freedom of freely expressing his/her thoughts and at his/her own pace. Students who joined the discussion board later had the opportunity of catching up with the rest of the class by scrolling forward or backwards (on the discussion thread) and getting the general flow of information from the start to the end.
The instructor was also able to keep the students on track through the discussion board because the initial flow of information in the discussion board could easily show the direction which the students were to follow through the rest of the course. This was an important tool for the instructor, considering she could direct discussion board interactions towards understanding course objectives. However, there were instances where the discussion board topics went off topic and thereby detracting the overall goal of understanding the course objectives. In such circumstances, it was easy for the students and instructor to respond to an unrelated topic, therefore leading to wastage of time and a sense of increased inefficiencies of the online tool. In such circumstances, it was easily seen that most discussion board topics were more argumentative than collaborative.
It is therefore important to note that most discussion board topics should be linked with the overall course objectives and new topics should be debated in new discussion boards. This should be done after moderating the overall discussion board topic so that the groups in discussion feel well accommodated and less agitated while learning. The advantages of discussion boards in further comprehending the course contents was further complimented by the advantages chats brought to the learning process.
Cohen (2007, p. 559) reiterates that chats are quite useful in helping online learners develop better cognitive skills. The chat sessions brought with it an avalanche of advantages, considering it helped build on many experiences and ideas regarding the course contents. This is true considering chat sessions brought students together and each was able to share their insights of the topic of discussion with the rest of the class. Considering the advantages and progress chat session brought to the learning process, it was important that each student avail himself/herself for such sessions, otherwise a penalty assignment could be awarded for missing a single session.
However, chat sessions were a little challenging in the overall realization of the course objectives because it was difficult getting all the students at the same time (in one active session) since the difference in real time across various time zones across posed a problem in getting the students together at one time. Remenyi (2010, p. 204) identifies this problem as a major barrier in making e learning effective. Nonetheless, in instances where all students could be online at one given chat session, the author derived more value to the process and therefore chats were much appreciated.
Weekly assignments were supposed to be submitted through the discussion board in the format of a Microsoft office prepared journal. The completed journal constituted 15% of the overall grades to be awarded at the end of the course but the participation in board discussions constituted an overwhelming 25%. In the course of the learning weeks, the students were to respond to specific journal prompts that were posted at the beginning of the study. This helped in making sure the student’s works were on track and the journals prepared were according to the stipulated descriptions. However, some journal prompts required the students to summarize specific concepts and ideas from their journal submissions so that they could understand the gist of the entire aims of the assignment.
Professional Competencies in the Clinical Care of Diverse and Special Populations
“Professional competencies in the clinical care of diverse and special population” was the author’s seventh course in the program. It talked about cultural competencies among skilled workers. The course was particular on the cultural understanding of the students because this acted as the bedrock through which students could understand the cultural beliefs and practices of others. In a nutshell, the course was practically centered on the students’ appreciation of other peoples’ culture and beliefs. This is important because it represents the cultural issues faced by most health experts in dealing with various cultural beliefs posed by a diverse population. The course was however not meant to evaluate other peoples’ beliefs and judge them, but rather to comprehend and ultimately understand their trail of thought, regarding the matter.
In the same context, students could reevaluate their families’ cultural beliefs and ask questions regarding the root of their beliefs and practices. This was important in enabling students learn both sides of the argument (regarding the root of their cultural ancestry and any other conflicting point of view). Students were encouraged to be very open in learning the course and not to constrain their thoughts in any given manner, considering there were a number of ways through which each issue could be tackled.
The first three main course objectives were to recognize cultural and ethnic related health issues around the globe; to work with cultural beliefs (instead of against them) and lastly, to understand the importance of translation resources in dealing with a number of patients and recognizing specific areas where such services could be sourced. The second three objectives of the course include developing an understanding of the roles families play in the process of health care, occurrence of death and throughout the process of funeral arrangements; to comprehend the dynamics of patient interviewing processes, in light of the cultural diversity that may exist among them and to understand how community resources can be used to improve the delivery of healthcare services.
The third set of objectives were aimed at making the students to be steadfast in identifying locations where cultural information could be easily obtained for utilization in the healthcare process; to have a stand regarding the use of interpreter services in health care delivery and to develop tolerance regarding patient cultural and religious dynamics (which are not easily understood). The last set of objectives for the course were aimed at making the students understand the cultural dynamics regarding various aspects of health issues, such as, disability and mental health; have a better understanding of the historical dynamics associated with various ethnic groups (with regards to their beliefs on mental and physical health) and to make the students understand compliance in terms of cultural and historical issues.
The course had three assignments; one issued from the first week to the third; the second issued from the third week to the eleventh and the last issued from the eleventh to the twelfth week. The first assignment was based on an analysis of existing multimedia sources in comprehending people’s cultures and heritage. The multimedia sources were helpful because they provided an array of dynamic sources through which peoples’ culture could be easily understood (Henry, 1998, p. 120). Moreover, it was easier having a good understanding of specific cultural practices in visual representations among indigenous populations. The multimedia format therefore made it easy for the students to complete the assignments in time. Mayer (2005, p. 99) also implies that it is quite easy to relate the study’s findings with health care practices in the long run.
The test provided at the end of the study period evaluated whether students got a grasp of the course’s concepts. However, the quality of the multimedia information posed a challenge to the comprehension of study information because it was difficult utilizing files with poor audio and visual qualities. This inhibited the general understanding of various cultures presented through the media sources, although ultimately, it inhibited the attainment of specific core objectives, especially those revolving around the understanding of people’s culture (Bangia, 2006, p. 519).
This assignment was rather detailed, when compared to the first, considering specific tools of analysis such as emails, chats, discussion boards, telephones and other synchronous tools were used. Before these tools were incorporated, it is important to note that sufficient time provided for doing the assignment, improved the overall grasp of course goals, since students had sufficient time to deliberate their findings among themselves and improve their general understanding of the topics in question. Middleton (2009, p. 26) affirms that time management in online learning is bound to result in such advantages.
Emails were the least effective tool despite the fact that their instantaneous nature in transferring information was highly appreciated by the students. Students were divided into specific workgroups which had the overall goal of conducting mini-courses to be ultimately combined and used to understand the course in totality. This was quite an effective strategy, considering issues could be broken down into detail by each study group and therefore when the findings were posted on the discussion boards, each student group could obtain detailed information of the required piece of study. This strategy was especially effective considering students could have obtained a shallow analysis of the topic in question if each group was not given a specific bit of information to research on.
Once again, the discussion board provided a good forum where students could comprehensively deliberate on their findings. This was a very effective tool when compared to other information sharing mediums because students could gain an insight into the different perspectives of the course, just by observing other students’ concerns (Warlick, 2007, p 91). At this point, the effectiveness of dividing the class into four groups of analysis also come to fore because it was easy for students to provide a comprehensive critique of each group’s findings since some students never took part in the overall formulation of the projects. This strategy easily pointed out information which was not easily noticed by a specific group of students when formulating their findings (Hiltz, 2005, p. 204).
Among all the tools of analysis used, e-mails were least effective because they were slow in getting a response from the recipient of a piece of information. This is because notifications were not given to recipients, once a message was sent (Littlejohn, 2001, p. 283). However, when combined with telephones, the medium improved its efficiency because students could call each other when they sent a mail and therefore, a recipient could easily respond to his/her messages on time. This advantage as noted by Wellman (2002, p 308) is a core benefit when telephones and e-mails are used at the same time. However, chat sessions provided a good substitute for the emails, considering they facilitated the faster exchange of information among the students and the instructors (Piskurich, 2003, 179). The promptness of sending and receiving information for example, was highly appreciated by the author, although in some cases, the difference in real-time, across the globe, as identified earlier, was a barrier, considering specific time allocations for chat sessions were inappropriate for some students.
In the last assignment, students were required to randomly select four population groups where they were to compare and contrast their cultural practices so that they gain a more detailed understanding of the differences existing between various cultural groups. In as much as such an initiative was beneficial to the overall appreciation of people’s culture (as expected from the course objectives), it was wrong of the instructor to fail to provide a certain group of cultural groups to be studied because the number of cultural groups across the world are numerous (considering the course seeks to understand global health concerns among various population groups across the globe). It would have been more appropriate if the instructor provided a group of population groups which would seem more relevant to the students as opposed to expecting them to randomly choose specific population groups for cultural analysis (from a number of population groups across the globe). This would improve the level of practicality associated with the course contents.
Comparative International Health Systems
Comparative International Health Systems course appreciates that each country has its own unique health structure and policies. In this regard, the course appreciates that different levels of success in implementing these health policies are achieved from country to country. The purpose of the course was to introduce the students to the principles, structures and functions of global health systems (depending on the country of analysis) through a comparative analysis of the various health systems applied in each country.
The course framework also revolved around how different national health structures have evolved over the years and how different countries deal with various issues in health care. The various topic areas to be discussed in the course were the historical compositions of health care systems, their current compositions, and the criteria used to evaluate current health care systems. Touching on this topic would be how various health care systems can be improved and how they can be reformed. At the end of the course, students were to have a better understanding of the various dynamics of implementing national health policies such as financing, administrative functions, societal choices, functions and the likes.
The course objectives entail to demonstrate an understanding of the importance of studying health care systems across the globe, to understand the various types of health organizations active internationally, to demonstrate an understanding of how historical, political, social and economic dynamics affect how health care systems are implemented globally, to have a clear understanding of the composition and organization of health care systems across the globe and to review the various types of alternative media that can be used to understand international health care systems.
Unlike previous courses, chat sessions were optional in this course. Personal perspectives were emphasized in this study as opposed to professional perspectives. Students were required to discuss with their friends, family, spouses (and the likes) about national health care systems, to improve their overall reflective skills on the topic. From this undertaking, students were required to write a short paper encompassing their feelings regarding a given health issue, the major strengths and weaknesses about it and the limitations perceived to be coming from it. Focus was primarily based on the US healthcare system.
Considering the course’s objectives and spirit of study was skewed towards understanding global health problems in developing countries, the focus on American health system was not appropriate to attaining the overall objectives of the course. This is because America does not represent the health care structure and systems of a developing nation. Students were also required to review a given book or movie talking about a global health structure and later provide an analysis of the health structure studied. This initiative facilitated the overall attainment of the course’s objectives but in a concealed manner, such an approach was not as effective as it was intended to be, because health policies and structures in various nations keep changing by the years. Studying a given book may therefore essentially beat the purpose of the exercise since books are likely to contain historical as opposed to current data. It was therefore important for students to choose books with the most current information.
Students were also required to give weekly postings as part of their mandatory weekly participation objectives in the course framework. The advantages of chat sessions were hereby enjoyed because in as much as chat sessions were optional throughout the entire course, students were subjected to three chat sessions in the course of the exercise, but this was complimented by discussion boards where questions were posted by the instructors. Student led seminars were also useful in enforcing the objectives of the course, considering they were aimed at cementing student understanding of the course objectives. This was done through a review of various countries’ health care systems and later through providing recommendations on how best to improve.
Discussion and Recommendations
The DHSc program poses a number of advantages both to the students and NSU in general. There are a number of ways through which NSU can improve its program. For instance, the university can introduce video conferencing and web conferencing as efficient and basic tools of enhancing the learning experience. This initiative should especially be applied when administering exams, because it almost ensures that students and instructors enjoy the benefits of a conventional classroom setup.
Considering the program relies substantially on chat, emails and discussion boards, it is difficult for students to synchronize all their learning sessions if there is no timetable to synchronize their classroom activities in the first place. The learning tools would be more effective if cell phone alerts were introduced in the program, such that, incase there is a chat session, or a discussion board topic that requires the participation of students; they can be notified via mobile phone.
The program as noted through repetitive use is identified to lack a cooperative element among its users because it sometimes becomes increasingly boring for some students to use required technological tools like chats because they lack practical social interaction (a basic skill in learning). This has reduced the program to a mere exchange of information medium, rather than a platform to build student communication and presentation skills. This fact should prompt the administration to rethink their program implementation strategy because they have to think outside the box and stop resting at implementing the program as it is, just because the applicable technological tools are in good working condition. For instance, the administration can think of how the benefits of web 2.0 communities can improve the program.
Certainly, it will instill a new concept: collaborative learning (Moore, 2005). In this light, basic recommendations need to be incorporated into the structure of the program to make sure the program is more effective than it is. Specific recommendations entail:
Recommendations for bridging terminal distance:
- Discussion board questions should be made less formal so that students can reduce the terminal distance among them and increase the level of motivation as well. This is a strategy Hiemstra, (1994, p. 11) notes as beneficial to the improvement of online learning.
Recommendations for improving administrative functions:
- Administrative challenges are supposed to be reduced through directing administration-student interaction to discussion boards. This will improve administration-student interaction, the same way instructor-student interaction is.
- Students need to further understand the roles of different administrative departments so that they can direct specific concerns regarding various issues to the right people because according to Paolucci (2007), this strategy will improve the general efficiency of the program.
Recommendations for improving faculty functions:
- As affirmed by Shelton (2005, p. 80), faculty should make sure their course contents are more relevant to the area of study, so that instances of subjecting students to general course contents is eliminated.
- The faculty should minimize the number of assignments they give to students to improve their focus of understanding the course contents as opposed to completing the assignments. This is a strategy supported by Hancock (2008, p. 26) who affirms that a balance in workload assignments is an important tool in increasing learning efficiency.
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