Teaching with a doctor of health education from A.T. Still?

Discussion in 'Online & DL Teaching' started by thomas_jefferson, Dec 13, 2010.

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  1. Is "health education" at all in demand in the online arena? It seems as though it isn't quite health sciences and it isn't quite education but instead at some weird nexus in between. Interestingly, both the dean and assistant dean of the program are alumni.

    What do you guys think about its teaching potential?

    Things I like about the program are its applied focus and it appears it would be of some use for employment, particularly in the nonprofit and government sectors.

    Another question: How is the reputation of A.T. Still?
     
  2. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    It is a relatively new program. The dean and assistant dean were in the first graduating class and moved into their current positions after graduation.

    A.T. Still is primarily a osteopathic medicine school which has branched into other areas such as audiology and dentistry. Its DL offerings are small.
     
  3. How was your experience there?
     
  4. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    The MPH was a quality program. The instructors and admin were easy to work with and the academics were on par with what I did at the University of Oklahoma.

    SteveFoerster can give you more specifics on the DHEd.
     
  5. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    A.T. Still is in my top 3 choices for med school btw- I love that school. That being said, let me ask, where does someone with a doctor in health education teach? Is this a leading to an educator position in a hospital or health dept, or is this something more like a high school sex ed teacher, or teaching health courses in a college? I'd be interested to hear more about your plans.

    I have a theory, which is the result of my own ridiculous crazy algorithm of picking a school. If I end up in the health care profession doing anything other than doctoring (nursing, NP, etc), I'm going to a medical school to do it. For instance, if I end up in midwifery (highly likely) then Johns Hopkins is my first choice. Why? Not because JH is the best midwifery program (they're not) but DOCTORS know JH and it's doctors who I have to work with and it's doctors who hire me for work in their practice. So, based on my own made up theory, doctors like JH, because it's what they know. Doctors are busy obsessing about their own career, they have no idea about anything else (usually) but they spent no less than 4 years obsessing about which medical school to go to- so those colleges are in their language.

    I think the converse is also true. See, even though MD and DO have the same license, there is a bit of a rift between the two. DOs have about a .2 lower GPA overall, and about a 2 point difference on average MCAT scores, so MDs equate this to MD=best, DO=second place. Therefore, I would expect that attending a DO school might be somewhat looked down upon by an MD (assuming an MD would be the one to hire you?) So, if it were me, I'd look first at any MD school offering a DL option in Health Education - simply because MDs know MD schools, and that might buy you some warm fuzzies.

    I'm sure a few people will tell me I'm wrong, and that there is no bias. You can determine that for yourself in 15 minutes and an internet connection.

    I heart A.T. Still, and hope to be a student there!
     
  6. Jennifer, I'd be happy with any of the jobs they list as possible future careers:

    Doctor of Health Education Degree Online | Distance Learning A.T. Still University
     
  7. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    By the way, Nova has a DHS program that is done online and only cost $300 per credit. There is not a disertation but there is a final project. If it wouldn't cost me my marriage, I would be signing up for it right now!
     
  8. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    I'm not sure how much teaching potential there is with this degree. They were experiencing growing pains when I was enrolled, and not everything was as smooth as it might have been. It's neither healthcare nor straight education, so those who hire faculty might now know what to do with it.

    -=Steve=-
     
  9. peaks

    peaks New Member

    In the throws of searching for a healthcare PHD program, I came across this site.

    I know this is an old post, but I could not help but respond to the horribly inaccurate myth that "nurses work for doctors".

    I'm assuming you have not entered the field of healthcare as of yet by this statement.
    Television does such a public disservice with shows like House and Grays Anatomy, where true healthcare system structure and functioning is so grossly misrepresented, for the sake of television drama and ratings.

    Nurses are hired by and work for departments of nursing in larger institutions, or directly by healthcare administration bodies in smaller organizations. The Chief you need worry about scrutinizing your credentials is a Chief Nursing Officer of Director of Nursing, not a Chief Medical Officer. Nursing and Medicine are two different fields. They complement each other, but by no means are nurses trained to be "subordinates" or "assistants" for doctors. Advance practice nurses practice nursing not medicine. Most doctors have no clue where nurses went to school, and don't really care to. They just care that you are competent in performing within your scope of your nursing practice and the impact it has on complementing (or creating a detriment!) to their medical practice.

    In the military, nurses start out as the same exact rank as doctors. This is done on purpose, since both disciplines are just as critical as the other in the care a patients.
    Remember MASH and Major "Hot Lips" Houlihan? She outranked many of the Doctors who were only Captains.

    I hope this gives you a little better perspective in pursuing an advance practice nursing career. You will become a highly specialized and valued member of the nursing community and your skills will contribute to the interdisciplinary team care of patients, that will also include doctors. But by no means, will you be "working for doctors", unless you end up in a completely independent private practice situation, where the owner(s) of this practice are only doctors themselves. Even in this situation, you will still be PRACTICING NURSING independently, not assisting medicine.

    ~an RN, BS, BSN, MBA, adjunct faculty in healthcare informatics, heathcare administration at multiple universities and an Air Force Reserve nurse veteran of 10 years




     
  10. peaks

    peaks New Member

    Please also note that John Hopkins "Women's Health Clincal Nurse Specialist-Nurse-Midwifery" program is offered through the JH School of Nursing, not the JH School of Medicine. As in all major universities, the school's of nursing and schools of medicine are completely separate entities, because they are completely separate fields of practice.

    Johns Hopkins School of Nursing | Master's Programs
     
  11. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    A doctor fresh out of med school starts out as an O-3. A nurse starts out as an O-1.
     
  12. peaks

    peaks New Member

    Let me re-phase that: "some nurses"

    AP nurses and critically needed specialty nurses graduate and/or walk in off the street and get handed O3. I just saw a trauma nurse walk into O4 coming in with no prior experience.

    Nurses entering MSC (Medical Services Corps) as health administrators start at O3.
    I've seen the Army even commission LPN's at O1. (I don't necessarily agree with this one)

    It can vary greatly across branches, area of specialty, areas of critical need, and combat efforts.

    The point being, nurses are not "subordinates" to doctors, and military ranking of the two areas of practice is clearly indicative of this.
     
  13. peaks

    peaks New Member

    You need a lot more than a little butter bar to pull a nurse anesthetist away from his $150K+ year civilian career.
     
  14. courtellis

    courtellis New Member

    Made Perfect Sense To ME
     
  15. courtellis

    courtellis New Member

    Rank???

    I ran across this old post and only thought maybe it's just me, but most of the nurses I seem to have run across in the past were in charge of the entire clinic......wait yep that's right not the doctors, but the nurses and you are not going to pull a Nurse Anesthetist away from that 150K + year jobs, not saying that docs don't know their stuff, but there are some pretty awesome nurses out there that have some serious I'm running the show rank!! Just sayin'
     
  16. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    When I was at VIU, there was a guy there with an ATSU DHEd. He also had an MBA, and what he actually taught was business, but he was a check mark in the school's "terminal degree" column, and they obviously liked that.
     
  17. novadar

    novadar Member

    I think that is actually awesome. I have seen more than a handful of MIS and IT faculty who have EdD's in Higher Ed or Ed Admin.
     

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