Center for Applied Health Sciences

The Center will be offering the following: An informal survey of graduate-level curricula in the U.S. has shown that despite the obvious need for risk management training, only a very few academic institutions offer a formal curriculum directly addressing the management of risks for healthcare products and processes. Virginia Tech has identified this as an important niche to fill. The Professional Masters Degree and Professional Graduate Certificate programs will seek candidates who meet Virginia Tech’s graduate admission requirements and have:

• A vision to safeguard human health
• A desire to turn risks into innovative opportunities
• The willingness to commit 10 hours or more per week in addition to class time
• A Bachelor’s Degree in science, statistics, engineering, or a closely related field
• Completed a statistics course, or who can complete this requirement within the first year of study, and
• Five or more years of increasing job responsibility, with at least three years in a managerial, supervisory, or project-leading capacity

The intensive two-year curriculum will be initially offered at two locations in the U.S. (Washington, D.C., and Irvine, CA), and is scheduled on weekends for the convenience of busy executives and managers.

The certificate course requires 18 semester hours, while the Masters Degree requires 30 semester hours. The Masters course will require a research paper in place of the traditional thesis. The paper should address a risk management topic that is relevant to the student’s current or future employment.

In addition to the core curriculum, students will be offered a choice of electives, opportunities for self-directed research, and participation in two research symposia during June of each year. Course Instructors are nationally and internationally recognized experts in their fields, and courses will begin in 2006.