Health Policy Management has impressive CAHME assessment

December 9, 2015

Reviewers from the Commission on the Accreditation of Health Management Education (CAHME) visited the Gillings School of Global Public Health’s Department of Health Policy and Management Nov. 18-20 and found the department’s Master of Healthcare Administration degree fully compliant with 33 of CAHME’s 35 accreditation criteria and partially compliant with the remaining two criteria. That high a review was achieved by only two other of the 85 CAHME-accredited MHA programs in the country last year.

Bill Gentry (left) and Dr. John Paul review materials prior to the accreditation visit.

The department underwent an 18-month self-study effort in preparation for the site visit. The reviewers’ intensive, three-day audit included meetings with faculty members, students, alumni, preceptors and others.

“The laborious process of the self-study provided insights that already have led to improvements in some key MHA program and departmental processes,” said John Paul, PhD, clinical professor and associate chair for academics in the department.

The MHA degree program is led by associate professor Bruce Fried, PhD, director of the residential program, and Bill Gentry, MPA, director of the executive program. With more than 175 enrolled students, it is the Gillings School’s largest degree program.

“Needless to say, we are very pleased with the assessment,” Gentry said. “That the department chose to accredit both the executive (online) and residential MHA tracks as one program shows the commitment of our students, faculty and alumni to support academic rigor across our delivery platforms.”