Health Professions Education
Degree Types: MS
The Master of Science in Health Professions Education (MS-HPE) is a two-year, part-time executive program through Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The master's program is tailored for educators, clinicians, and healthcare professionals who aspire to make a significant impact on the way healthcare is taught and practiced. The MS-HPE provides a challenging environment for learning and discovery with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion and technology. The in-person residencies, which cover topics such as mastery learning and implementation science, offer students the opportunity to broaden their knowledge areas and develop new skills.
All students complete intensive formal training in curriculum development, assessment, and diversity, equity and inclusivity. MS-HPE students will also complete a capstone project with mentoring by program faculty.
Additional resources:
Learning objective(s)/Students should be able to…
- Develop a comprehensive understanding of educational theories, principles, and practices applicable to health professions education.
- Acquire the necessary tools to be outstanding educators and advance their careers as scholars, teachers, and researchers in classroom and clinical settings.
- Cultivate skills in curriculum design, educational research, and assessment techniques tailored to health professions education learners.
- Gain expertise in utilizing innovative educational technologies and simulation-based learning tools for health professions instruction.
- Explore the role of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in health professions education and scholarship and develop strategies to mitigate unconscious bias and promote a culturally competent clinical and learning environment.
Health Professions Education Courses
HLTH_PRF 401-0 Curriculum Development for Health Professions Educators (1 Unit)
This course will focus on the formal process of curriculum development. Students will explore the various stages of curriculum development: problem identification, needs assessment, learning objectives, educational strategies, implementation, and evaluation. Much of the course will cover the standard medical education curriculum development process developed by Kern and Thomas (Thomas PA, Kern DE et al. Curriculum Development for Medical Education: A Six-Step Approach. 3rd ed. The Johns Hopkins University Press). Alternative approaches, including instructional design models, will also be presented. Students will work with peers to develop a curriculum of their choosing throughout the course, receiving feedback from classmates and their instructors. The course will culminate in a final presentation of their curriculum.
HLTH_PRF 410-1 Educational Research for Health Professions Educators (1 Unit)
This course will focus on the principles of scholarship regarding healthcare learners. Key topics will include the definitions of scholarship in this field, the worldviews that inform scholarship, studies about an intervention vs. the outcomes of the intervention, development of a question, ethical concerns in the practice of educational research, and current directions in the fields.
HLTH_PRF 501-1 Master of Science – Health Professions Education Capstone Course (0.5 Unit)
The Capstone Project serves as a culminating experience and summative product of students’ experiences in the MS-HPE program. It provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate their research development, data gathering and management, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination skills. This research project will benefit from the materials presented in the other coursework. Each student will be assigned a primary mentor for the project. Capstone mentors will be drawn from program directors and faculty, as well as select outside Northwestern faculty, as appropriate. Students and primary mentors will meet weekly when enrolled in the Capstone courses, as well as during the in-person intensives that occur twice per year. The Capstone will culminate in a formal presentation of the project to fellow students and faculty prior to graduation. Ultimately, the final product should be a well-reviewed, polished piece of academic writing that can be turned into a published article.