For motivated health care students who are considering graduate school, The UNH College of Professional Studies Online recently launched an accelerated graduate degree program in Health Care Management. We sat down with Kathleen Patenaude, the program director, to discuss this unique degree option.
About the Accelerated Program
There are two degree tracks available – an accelerated graduate certificate in Health Care Management and a full accelerated M.S. in Health Care Management. Kathleen discussed the versatility of the program, and what kinds of students should explore pursuing the accelerated track.
“The graduate certificate is 12 credits and the master’s degree is 30 credits. For students who want to advance their career or explore new job opportunities, but who aren’t quite ready to commit to a full master’s degree, the graduate certificate is a great option. The two accelerated options were developed to provide additional pathways for students to advance in their education and career. They are not one-size-fits-all programs. We have students who come from different demographic backgrounds, and I think it’s our responsibility to provide different pathways for individuals to be successful and reach their education and career goals.
For students who want to be challenged and know they’re passionate about the subject and want to continue their education, the accelerated option is perfect for them. And we’re here to support them to make the transition from undergraduate to graduate studies seamless. The program is designed to bring the student through the progression from novice to expert. For students who know early on in their undergraduate studies that they want to go on to graduate school, the accelerated program provides the opportunity to start that journey.”
How Does it Work?
By enrolling in the accelerated graduate program, you’ll be taking dual credit courses. You don’t take extra classes for the program – you take graduate courses in place of undergraduate courses. And those classes count towards both your bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Students can take up to 12 credits at the graduate level for the master’s degree or 6 credits toward the graduate certificate during their undergraduate studies.
“The student doesn’t miss out on critical content. The graduate courses cover the same material, just at a higher level.”
Enrolling in the Program
There are specific eligibility requirements for enrollment in the accelerated program, including:
- Current UNH undergraduate student enrolled in either the B.S. in Health Care Management or B.S. in Allied Health Leadership program.
- GPA of 3.2 or higher.
- Apply and be accepted into to one of the graduate programs of choice: MS Health Care Management or the Graduate Certificate in Health Care Management.
- Completed 90 undergraduate credits (to begin taking courses for dual credit). Most students apply in their junior year; once admitted to the program, students can begin taking select courses for dual credit, provided they’ve completed 90 undergraduate credits.
Kathleen shared some helpful insight about how the GPA requirements work for the program:
“There is a safety net in place for students who enroll in the accelerated program and find that they can’t manage to maintain the required GPA. The student simply reverts back to finishing their bachelor’s degree. So for students who are hesitant about the accelerated program because they’re worried they’d be dismissed from their bachelor’s degree track if they can’t maintain their GPA – that doesn’t happen. They can still finish their undergraduate degree.”
What Makes This Program Unique?
The online accelerated health care management graduate program at UNH CPS offers unique learning opportunities that you may not find in comparable programs at other colleges. Kathleen explained what makes our program so unique:
“In this program, students learn about the business side of health care, while collaborating with peers from other disciplines, like nursing and medicine. We have developed the master’s in nursing and the master’s in health care management programs to be interdisciplinary. The students in these programs take several courses together and have the opportunity to work together and build connection between the two disciplines, which doesn’t happen intuitively. And that’s what makes our program really unique.”
The Benefits of an Accelerated Track vs. a Traditional Track
Choosing an accelerated graduate program in health care management provides several benefits and advantages over a more traditional track of study.
What’s the Timeline for Completing an Accelerated Program?
One of the huge benefits of an accelerated program is the time you save. You’re able to complete your bachelor’s and graduate degree faster than you’d be able to with a traditional track. On average, completion of the program, which includes finishing both a bachelor’s and graduate degree, takes five to six years. However, this really depends on the personal preferences of each individual student.
Kathleen explained the flexibility of the timeline:
“We call it a 4 + 1 track. They could finish in a year if they choose to stay on full time after finishing their bachelor's degree. The student gets to make that decision. They can choose to go part time and chip away at the master’s degree more slowly if they want to. They can choose whatever pace is right for them. Students who scale back to part time after completing their bachelor’s would likely finish the program within a year and a half to two years.
Both the master’s and graduate certificate program allow for the individuality of the student. They can take classes full time if they want to get it done faster, but I also have students who slow the pace down and take one course per term or choose to take a term off. It’s very individualized, and our advisors work with their students to develop a program plan that works best for them.”
The Financial Benefits of Choosing the Accelerated Track
In addition to saving time, choosing the accelerated track also saves you some money!
“From an affordability standpoint, one of the things about the accelerated master’s is that the student can take graduate level courses at the undergraduate rate, which saves them money. So even though they’re taking graduate courses, getting graduate credit, and doing graduate level work, the tuition cost for the dual credit courses is at the undergraduate rate!”
Making an Impression on Prospective Employers
Choosing an accelerated graduate track makes a great impression when applying for job positions. Accelerated graduate programs can be challenging, and show potential employers how committed you are to your field. If you want to build your career after finishing your bachelor’s, displaying that you have already earned 12 graduate credits towards your master’s degree makes a strong impression.
Additionally, Kathleen explained how enrolling in graduate courses as an undergraduate allows you early access to advantageous networking opportunities:
“The accelerated program allows undergraduate students the opportunity to collaborate with graduate students doing graduate work. And they have direct exposure to other health care disciplines are not necessarily afforded to them at the undergraduate level. They have the chance to network with nursing and health care management students at the graduate level and speak with hospital directors and other health care leadership.”
What Kinds of Careers Does this Program Prepare You For?
Kathleen shared with us a few of the career options that this program can help prepare you for, and what some of the program’s current students are pursuing.
“As health care managers, professionals can work in either health care sector or non-health care sector jobs. They’ll be prepared to take on a wide range of upper leadership roles in health care organizations and agencies that are not clinically based. So they have the opportunity to work on the business side of health care, rather than the clinical side. Right now, we have outstanding clinicians that are in these positions who don’t have a business background, and this program really helps them to fill that gap. We have other students who are using this program as a steppingstone for their doctorate degree.”
Advice for Students Interested in the Program
“The first step is to reach out to your advisor to start talking about it. Sometimes students think that they wouldn’t be able to manage the accelerated program or that they wouldn’t qualify, and would be surprised that they probably can do it!
Students can also reach out to me. I’m more than happy to talk to anyone about the program, I have a virtual open-door policy. Whether they want to talk about the program or career opportunities in health care management, please reach out to me!”
Are You Interested in the Online Accelerated Master’s in Health Care Management Program?
View our virtual information session here:
Interested students may also contact Kathleen at: kathleen.patenaude@unh.edu