DPA degree approved by DETC?

Can a DETC accredited institution have a doctor of public administration program? Are any in the works?

 

The DPA is a professional doctorate. The DETC's scope of authority allows its schools to accredit professional doctorates. Therefore, DETC schools may accredit DPAs. However, I know of no DETC DPAs in the works.

 

DETC schools can offer just about any doctoral degree, as long as it is not the PhD. There is no reason why they could not accredit a DPA.

 

Can they do a MD then?




and yes that's a joke..........

 

You can get an RA B&M DPA which is NASPAA accredited for $225 credit at Valdosta.

 

How are you liking the program?

 

DETC currently limits the professional doctoral degrees it will accredit to 8 (including the DPA) although individual schools may petition to offer one that is not on the list.

 

If Aspen had a DPA for 100/cr that would be pretty tempting.

 

Yes, in theory it's possible that they could. However, it is unlikely that a DETC MD degree would receive professional accreditation from the AMA, and so it would probably be useless for professional practice in most or all states.

This hypothetical situation isn't actually much different from the actual situation with DETC JD degrees. There are DETC JD degrees, they do not have professional accreditation from ABA, and they are pretty much useless for professional practice -- except in one state, California.

In theory, DETC schools could issue "Executive MD" degrees for those interested in medicine but not in professional licensure, in exactly the same way that DETC schools issue non-bar-qualifying "Executive JD" degrees. There might even be a market for this. However, there is a lot of sensitivity about medical credentials, so the concept of an MD degree that is not associated with the practice of medicine might not fly with the general public, or with the medical community.

 

More a "Research MD" versus "Executive MD". Many foreign and US medical graduates that did not obtain licensure for one reason or another fill research positions in various areas of medicine, pharmacy, medical engineering, etc. One example is Dr. Jarvik the inventor of the artificial heart. He graduated as a MD, never sought a license but continues in research.

Robert Jarvik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I highly doubt the concept of a DETC accredited MD program would ever materialize because of the tremendous cost in developing a medical school. However, a medical research degree perhaps doctoral level may be within the realms of feasibility but unlikely.

 

It may not even be "within the realm of feasibility," because DETC's ability to accredit doctoral degrees is (currently) limited to "professional doctorates". DETC lacks the authorization to accredit "research doctorates."

That's why there are DETC JD degrees and DETC DBA degrees -- but no DETC PhD degrees. DETC "Research MD" degrees would presumably be out for the same reason. However, an "Executive MD" degree might fit within DETC's current scope, at least in theory.

Of course, it's all purely hypothetical anyway. I don't really expect to see DETC MD degrees of any sort.

 

You guys are supplying great replies.

 

In 2008, DETC stated that it was accepting applications for the following nine professional doctorates:

1. Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
2. Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
3. Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)
4. Doctor of Occupational Therapy (DOT)
5. Doctor of Arts (specified fields) (DA)
6. Doctor of Science (specified fields) (DSc)
7. Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.)
8. Doctor of Public Administration (DPA)
9. Doctor of Strategic Security (DSS)

So the DPA is indeed a possible option. Don't know if any DETC schools are actually considering such a program.

DETC also states that "An institution may petition the Accrediting Commission to request consideration of doctoral degrees not listed above." Some DETC schools offer Juris Doctor (JD) degrees, which do not seem to be on the list, so maybe they successfully petitioned.

DETC has also indicated that there are professional doctorates (possibly including the MD) that they will not accredit:

 

I think a DETC MD degree would bring so much bad press that they would never consider it, even in an executive format. I can see the SNL skit now...

 

I agree it is purely hypothetical and the theory of an "executive MD" degree from DETC is certainly far fetched. However, you posted that the DETC is considering the Doctor of Science in certain fields. This seems promising and would certainly have application in the medical research industry.

 

Science programs have not historically been a strength of DETC-accredited institutions. A search for science degree programs at the DETC website only turns up three schools:

Harrison Middleton University -- offers bachelor's and master's degrees in "natural science", based on a "Great Books" curriculum. The "Great Books" approach may be useful for learning something about scientific thought and ideas, but it does not prepare students for careers in laboratory research.

Huntington College of Health Sciences -- offers bachelor's and master's degrees in nutrition. Again, not really oriented towards laboratory research.

Deakin University -- this is a B&M public university in Australia, with DETC accreditation for its online programs. They do have real science programs, but these are primarily offered on a B&M basis.

The general lack of DETC science programs at the bachelor's and master's levels does not bode particularly well for future DETC DSc programs.

 

Actually, the DETC does have authority to accredit "research doctorates," since "professional doctorates" and "research doctorates" are not mutually exclusive, like "first professional" and "research doctorates" are. The DETC just cannot accredit one particular research doctorate: the PhD.

An MD that wishes to get an additional research degree will usually get a PhD, not an additional MD.

 

I would think that it would be hard to do laboratory work in DL. The lab work is a major component of sciences like Biology, Chemistry and Physics.