DCH Find Your Pathway: Areas of Specialization

Learn More and Explore Your Options:

• Health Systems Leadership & Entrepreneurship
• Rural Health Management
• Quality Improvement in Healthcare

---

Health Systems Leadership & Entrepreneurship

Innovate, Lead, Transform Healthcare Systems

Overview

This specialization prepares you to lead transformational change within complex healthcare organizations and to create entrepreneurial solutions to persistent health challenges. You'll develop the strategic thinking, leadership agility, and innovation skills needed to drive systemic improvements in healthcare delivery and community health outcomes.

Your Courses

Innovative Healthcare Leadership

DCH 7213 (3 credit hours)

Purpose: This course develops your capacity for systems-level thinking and strategic leadership within complex healthcare organizations. You'll learn to analyze organizational dynamics, identify leverage points for change, and design interventions that create lasting impact across entire health systems. The focus is on developing leaders who can see the interconnections within healthcare ecosystems and lead initiatives that address root causes rather than symptoms.

Agile Leadership: Navigating Leadership

DCH 7223 (3 credit hours)

Purpose: Healthcare leaders must navigate constant change, uncertainty, and complexity. This course equips you with adaptive leadership frameworks that enable you to lead effectively in rapidly changing environments. You'll develop skills in stakeholder engagement, change management, and building resilient organizations that can respond to emerging challenges while maintaining focus on core mission and values.

Entrepreneurship and Consulting in Healthcare

DCH 7233 (3 credit hours)

Purpose: Transform your innovative ideas into viable health initiatives. This course teaches you to identify unmet health needs, develop sustainable business models, secure funding, and launch new programs or ventures. Whether you're creating a new service line within an existing organization or launching an independent health initiative, you'll gain the entrepreneurial toolkit needed to move from concept to implementation while ensuring financial sustainability.

Why Choose This Path?

• Strategic Impact: Position yourself for C-suite executive roles where you can influence entire health systems and organizational strategy
• Innovation Leadership: Learn to champion innovation initiatives and lead organizational transformation in established healthcare institutions
• Entrepreneurial Opportunity: Develop the skills to launch your own healthcare consulting practice or health-focused social enterprise
• System-Level Change: Gain expertise in creating sustainable improvements that scale across organizations and communities
• Diverse Settings: Prepare for leadership roles in hospitals, health systems, insurance companies, government agencies, and healthcare technology firms

Career Opportunities

Graduates with this specialization are prepared for high-level leadership and innovation roles such as:

• Chief Innovation Officer: Lead innovation strategy and new initiative development for health systems
• Healthcare Consultant: Advise organizations on strategic planning, change management, and operational improvement
• VP of Population Health: Design and implement population health strategies for healthcare organizations
• Health System Executive: Serve in C-suite roles directing organizational strategy and operations
• Healthcare Entrepreneur: Launch new healthcare services, digital health platforms, or health-focused social ventures
• Academic Administrator: Lead healthcare education programs and research initiatives in universities

This Path is Right for You If...

• You're drawn to this specialization if you are passionate about transforming how healthcare is delivered and organized.
• You thrive in complex organizational environments and are energized by the challenge of navigating competing priorities and stakeholder interests.
• You see yourself as a strategic thinker who can identify opportunities for innovation within existing systems or create entirely new approaches to healthcare delivery.
• You're comfortable with ambiguity and change, and you're committed to creating sustainable solutions that balance quality, access, and financial viability.

Whether your background is in clinical practice, healthcare administration, business, or public health, this path positions you to lead at the highest levels of healthcare organizations.

Integration with Core Curriculum

Your specialization courses build directly on core courses including Innovation in Modern Healthcare, Design Reasoning, Leading Interdisciplinary Teams, Operational Excellence, and Financial Planning. Together, these courses create a comprehensive framework for driving innovation and leading transformation in healthcare systems.

---

Rural Health Management

Champion Health Equity in Rural Communities

This specialization prepares you to address the unique challenges facing rural communities, where health disparities, limited resources, and geographic barriers create complex obstacles to health and wellness. You'll develop expertise in designing community-centered interventions, leveraging limited resources for maximum impact, and building sustainable health infrastructure in underserved areas.

Your Courses

Advanced Lifestyle Strategies

DCH 7313 (3 credit hours)

Purpose: Rural communities face distinct challenges related to chronic disease prevention and health promotion. This course equips you with evidence-based strategies for designing and implementing lifestyle interventions that work within rural contexts. You'll learn to address social determinants of health, leverage community assets, and create culturally appropriate programs that promote physical activity, healthy eating, and overall wellness. The focus is on practical, scalable interventions that can be implemented with limited resources.

Consultation in Rural Community Healthcare

DCH 7323 (3 credit hours)

Purpose: Develop the consultation and advisory skills needed to strengthen rural healthcare delivery systems. This course teaches you to conduct comprehensive community health assessments, identify system gaps and opportunities, build collaborative partnerships, and provide strategic guidance to rural healthcare organizations. You'll learn to work effectively with diverse stakeholders including critical access hospitals, rural health clinics, community health centers, and local health departments to improve access, quality, and sustainability of rural health services.

Family Health Programming

DCH 7333 (3 credit hours)

Purpose: Strong families are the foundation of healthy communities, particularly in rural areas where extended family networks play crucial roles in health and wellbeing. This course focuses on designing comprehensive family-centered health programs that address the needs of rural families across the lifespan. You'll learn to develop programs that strengthen family resilience, promote intergenerational health, address maternal and child health needs, and create supportive environments for healthy family development.

Why Choose This Path?

• Mission-Driven Work: Make a direct difference in communities with the greatest health needs and most significant disparities
• Community Connection: Work closely with communities, understanding their unique strengths and building on existing assets
• Diverse Career Options: Opportunities in state and federal rural health programs, community health centers, tribal health, and nonprofit organizations
• Leadership Demand: Growing need for doctoral-level leaders who understand rural health complexities and can secure funding and resources
• Practical Impact: See tangible results from your work in improving access to care, reducing health disparities, and strengthening communities

Career Opportunities

Graduates with this specialization are prepared for leadership roles focused on rural health such as:

• Rural Health Director: Lead rural health programs for state health departments or universities
• Community Health Center Executive: Direct operations and strategy for Federally Qualified Health Centers in rural areas
• Rural Hospital Administrator: Lead critical access hospitals and rural health systems
• Regional Health Coordinator: Coordinate health services and programs across multi-county rural regions
• Tribal Health Leader: Direct health programs for tribal nations and Indian Health Service facilities
• Grant-Funded Program Director: Lead federally-funded rural health initiatives and demonstration projects

This Path is Right for You If...

• You're drawn to this specialization if you're passionate about health equity and committed to serving communities that have been historically underserved.
• You understand and appreciate rural culture, values, and strengths, and you're motivated by the opportunity to make a meaningful difference where resources are limited but community resilience is strong.
• You're creative in problem-solving, able to maximize limited resources, and skilled at building collaborative partnerships across diverse stakeholders.
• You may have roots in rural communities or have worked in rural settings, and you understand the unique challenges of geographic isolation, workforce shortages, and limited infrastructure.

This path is ideal whether your background is in healthcare, public health, education, social work, or community development.

Integration with Core Curriculum

Your specialization courses build on core courses including Cultural Competency, Critical Thought and Informed Action, Financial Planning, and Design Reasoning. Special emphasis is placed on understanding social determinants of health, health disparities, and community-centered approaches that resonate throughout the rural health specialization.

---

Quality Improvement in Healthcare

Drive Excellence Through Data-Driven Transformation

This specialization prepares you to lead systematic quality improvement initiatives that enhance patient outcomes, improve operational efficiency, and create cultures of continuous improvement. You'll develop expertise in quality measurement, improvement science, and implementing evidence-based practices at scale. This path is essential for healthcare leaders committed to achieving the Institute of Healthcare Improvements quadruple aim: better outcomes, lower costs, improved patient experience, and enhanced provider wellbeing.

Your Courses

Quality by Design

DCH 7413 (3 credit hours)

Purpose: Quality must be intentionally designed into healthcare systems from the beginning, not inspected after problems occur. This course teaches you to apply systems thinking and design principles to create healthcare processes and organizational structures that reliably produce high-quality outcomes. You'll learn frameworks like Lean, Six Sigma, and High Reliability Organization principles, and develop skills in process mapping, root cause analysis, and designing fail-safe systems. The focus is on creating sustainable improvements through thoughtful design rather than temporary fixes.

Quality Measurement

DCH 7423 (3 credit hours)

Purpose: "What gets measured gets improved." This course develops your expertise in identifying, selecting, and implementing quality metrics that drive meaningful change. You'll learn to work with clinical quality measures, patient safety indicators, patient-reported outcomes, and operational efficiency metrics. Beyond data collection, you'll develop skills in analyzing quality data, presenting findings to diverse stakeholders, and translating metrics into actionable improvement strategies. You'll also explore emerging approaches including value-based care metrics and population health measurement.

Quality Improvement: Impactful Change

DCH 7433 (3 credit hours)

Purpose: Transform quality measurement and design principles into real-world improvement. This course focuses on the practical aspects of leading quality improvement initiatives from conception through implementation and sustainment. You'll learn improvement methodologies including Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, rapid cycle testing, and spread strategies. Emphasis is placed on engaging frontline staff, managing resistance to change, building improvement capability within organizations, and creating cultures where quality improvement becomes embedded in daily practice rather than special projects.

Why Choose This Path?

• High Demand: Healthcare organizations increasingly require leaders with sophisticated quality improvement expertise to meet regulatory requirements and improve value
• Clear ROI: Quality improvement initiatives directly impact organizational performance metrics and financial outcomes
• Evidence-Based Practice: Bridge the gap between research and practice by implementing evidence-based improvements at scale
• Cross-Sector Applicability: Quality improvement skills transfer across all healthcare settings from hospitals to public health to long-term care
• National Recognition: Position yourself for leadership roles in accreditation, quality programs, and value-based care initiatives
• Cultural Transformation: Lead organizational culture change that empowers all staff members to contribute to continuous improvement

Career Opportunities

Graduates with this specialization are prepared for roles focused on quality, safety, and performance improvement such as:

• Chief Quality Officer: Lead quality and patient safety programs for healthcare systems
• Performance Improvement Director: Direct quality improvement initiatives and organizational performance measurement
• Patient Safety Leader: Develop and implement patient safety programs and high reliability initiatives
• Value-Based Care Director: Lead accountable care organizations and value-based payment initiatives
• Clinical Excellence Officer: Oversee clinical practice standardization and evidence-based practice implementation
• Quality Improvement Consultant: Provide consulting services helping organizations build improvement capacity

This Path is Right for You If...

• You're drawn to this specialization if you're energized by data, measurement, and systematic problem-solving.
• You believe that healthcare quality can and should be continuously improved through intentional design and disciplined implementation.
• You're comfortable working with numbers and analytics, but you also understand that successful quality improvement requires engaging people and changing culture.
• You may have experience in clinical practice, healthcare administration, or operations, and you've seen firsthand the gap between how care is delivered and how it could be delivered.
• You're motivated by the opportunity to reduce preventable harm, eliminate waste, and create healthcare systems that reliably deliver excellent outcomes.

This path suits individuals who are detail-oriented yet strategic, patient yet persistent, and committed to evidence-based practice.

Integration with Core Curriculum

Your specialization courses build directly on core courses including Operational Excellence, Leading Interdisciplinary Teams, Critical Thought and Informed Action, and Design Reasoning. These foundational courses provide the leadership, analytical, and systems thinking skills that underpin effective quality improvement practice. Your specialization deepens and applies these competencies specifically to quality and performance improvement contexts.

---

Ready to Choose Your Path?

Still have questions?

Contact: Dr. Tami Moser; Director, Center for Community Health Innovation; Chair, Doctor of Community Health

cchi@swosu.edu

We're here to help you make the best decision for your career and community impact goals.