Providing leadership in healthcare systems is another
way ACU is preparing students for important roles in the
medical community. The school’s master’s degree in
healthcare administration (MHA) readies students to be
effective leaders in their field, contributing to the overall
patient experience.
Dr. Stephen Johnson, vice president and chief
administrative officer of the Dallas Campus, related,
“Taking a journey like this with others has never been
more accessible, focused on relationships through which
we can learn together, and directly applicable to the
work to which these students are already committed.”
Texas Woman’s University
Keeping Everyone Informed
As an average American, you’ll use
the healthcare industry more than
300 times in your lifespan. Because
of this, you are probably familiar
with the seemingly endless paperwork you fill out, and all
the information you discuss with your nurses and your
doctors that is entered on their laptops. You have quite
an electronic history of diagnosis, prognosis, health care
plans and prescriptions for your lifetime.
What you may not know is how this
information is being used. Health
professionals, hospitals and clinics
depend on technology to help them
make the best possible decisions
through the use of health informatics,
leading to a critical need for trained
informaticists. According to Mari
Tietze, PhD, RN-BC, FHIMSS, a professor and the Doswell
Endowed Chair in Nursing Informatics in the College of
Nursing at Texas Woman’s University (TWU), the need is,
in fact, quite high.
“Our market report for the information technology
industry indicated a need for thousands of individuals who
are trained to collect, manage, validate, analyze and report
on healthcare and non-healthcare data,” she said.
TWU is one of only two Texas universities with a bachelor’s
degree in informatics, and one of only three offering
a master’s degree in informatics. By offering online
courses, TWU has been able to provide the education for
a popular informatics certificate, a five-course program
that enables working professionals with a bachelor’s degree
to add to their skillset and enhance their career options.
44
WWW.NTC-DFW.ORG
SUMMER 2018
The certificate program is designed for students from a
variety of disciplines, including nursing, occupational
therapy, physical therapy, nutrition science, health systems
management and others.
“This is a perfect extended career for professionals in the
existing workforce because it takes what they already know
as a base. Since most of these individuals already have ‘day’
jobs, providing the certificate in an online approach makes
it more achievable for these students,” Dr. Tietze said.
“Remember, online does not mean ‘on your own,’” she
added. “For the courses I teach, the students and I are in
constant communication by text, phone, webinar, etc."
A unique aspect of TWU informatics is an
interprofessional teaching approach, with faculty
from the four colleges sharing in teaching together.
Students from different disciplines work side-by-side,
collaborating in the classroom before teaming up in
the workplace. This approach is based on the airline
industry’s training, where all members of the team
have equal importance and can convey their
observations equally.
“Informaticists work in a wide range of high-demand
and high-paying career fields,” stated Don Edwards,
Ph.D., chair of the TWU Department of Mathematics and
Computer Science. “At TWU, we’ve taken a broad-based,
interprofessional approach to this degree program. Our
emphasis on interdisciplinary education puts the university
in an ideal position to bring together the fields of math,
computer science, nursing, health studies and more.”
Welcome
to the family.
Allen is home to many
businesses, and we’re
proud of every single one.
From our diverse,
well-educated population
to our business-friendly
economic development
corporation, we give the
companies that call us
home the tools they need
to succeed. To find out if
this is the family for you,
visit AllenEDC.com.
Next time you fill out that paperwork or give your
history, remember it’s for a good cause – you! Perhaps
an informaticist trained at TWU will be analyzing your
data, ensuring you receive the best possible care over your
lifetime. That’s a great investment of your time.
Now, Don’t You Feel Better?
North Texas universities are providing more opportunities
for students to not only meet the increasing demands of the
healthcare industry, but also obtain advanced degrees and
further their own careers. From education to application,
North Texans have a prognosis of years of excellent
healthcare ahead.
The Place to
Raise Your Business