Doctor of Health Science

The Jefferson College of Health Professions' Doctor of Health Science (DHSc) Program is the doctorate program for professionals seeking advancement in healthcare practice, education and policy. Our fully online program will accommodate students who are working healthcare professionals. All students will experience in-depth, individualized, multi-disciplinary training in a comprehensive range of healthcare leadership, teaching and learning, and research skills that support their development as leaders in a burgeoning health professions career landscape.

Interdisciplinary health professions education and practice is the foundation of the program. Accordingly, our curriculum comprises courses drawn from five colleges at Jefferson, ensuring that the program is relevant to professionals that span the full gamut of healthcare. This breadth of coverage provides students an ideal opportunity for interprofessional study and practice, as well as robust support for a broad range of healthcare research topics.

Innovative Electives

The Institute of Emerging Health Professions (IEHP), which is part of JCHP, supports education and research in rapidly growing disciplines at the frontier of healthcare. Offering elective concentrations in Integrative Nutrition, Digital and Telehealth, and Mind-Body Medicine, IEHP provides JCHP DHSc students with ready access to education and training in fields with great growth potential.

Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice Opportunities

The Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice & Education (JCIPE) offers DHSc students with novel courses on the pedagogy of interprofessional teaching and learning that prepare them to train the future healthcare workforce to excel in an increasingly interprofessional landscape.

Interdisciplinary Healthcare Research Training

Students will engage in a four-course sequence that provides a mentored, stepwise approach to conducting a research project that addresses an unmet clinical or educational need. The project will be conducted with the guidance of college and university content experts and among fellow scholars from a diversity of healthcare disciplines. The project culminates in the writing of an academic paper for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and the construction and oral delivery of a poster suitable for presentation at an academic conference.