Doctor of Health Administration (DHA)
Jillian Harvey, Ph.D., DHA Division Director
The Doctor of Health Administration (DHA) program is designed to allow ambitious health care professionals to turn their clinical or administrative experiences into opportunities to teach, shape public policy, and/or lead complex organizations. Courses are delivered using a blended format of online coursework and in-person meetings. Students take a core curriculum focusing on leadership and management, applied research methods, health policy, and more.
This unique program gives students the opportunity to meet and learn from national health policy experts during a week-long intensive policy trip to Washington DC and culminates with an individual, supervised doctoral research project. The purpose of the doctoral project is to give students an opportunity to work under the direction of a faculty member to conceive, implement, and analyze an applied research problem that generates new knowledge or adds a new perspective to existing knowledge.
Successful applicants possess relevant post-baccalaureate professional or master's degrees and significant practical experience in the field. All graduates obtain the same Doctor of Health Administration degree.
Contact Us: harveyji@musc.edu.Curriculum
The DHA requires a minimum of 57 semester hours organized as follows:
- 39 credit hours of didactic coursework
- 18 credit hours of Doctoral Project credit hours (minimum requirement)
Year 1, Fall
| DHA 800, DHA 802 |
Organizational Behavior, or Healthcare Leadership |
3 |
| DHA 805 | Qualitative Methods | 3 |
| Semester Total | 6 | |
Year 1, Spring
| DHA 801 | Financial Management (2 sections) | 3 |
| DHA 807 | Managing Healthcare Info | 3 |
| Semester Total | 6 | |
Year 1, Summer
| DHA 808 | Health Politics & Advocacy | 3 |
| DHA 867 | Quantitative Methods for Research | 3 |
| Semester Total | 6 | |
Year 2, Fall
| DHA 865 | National Health Policy | 3 |
| DHA 812 | Evidence Based Decision Making | 3 |
| Semester Total | 6 | |
Year 2, Spring
| DHA 809 | Change Management & Negotiation | 3 |
| DHA 850 | Population Health Management | 3 |
| Semester Total | 6 | |
Year 2, Summer
| DHA 814 | Study Execution | 4 |
| DHA 817, or DHA 872, or DHA 878 |
Strategy & Operations, or Leadership III, or Advanced Information Systems |
3 |
| Semester Total | 7 | |
Year 3, Fall
| DHA 990 | Doctoral Project | 9 |
| Semester Total | 9 | |
Year 3, Spring
| DHA 990 | Doctoral Project | 9 |
| Semester Total | 9 | |
| Curriculum Total | 55 | |