CPMS Dean R. Tim Yoho, D.P.M., and Vassilios Vardaxis, Ph.D. (seated), have placed greater emphasis on podiatric research; fueling it are students like Lisa Grant, Joshua Marshall, David Rettedal and Alandra Greenlee and research Julian Rivera.

“The question stuck in my head,” recalls Vassilios Vardaxis, Ph.D., professor of physical therapy and one of Lang’s research colleagues.

The question might have remained there; Lang, D.P.M.’11, left DMU soon after for his rotations. Then that November Vardaxis got a call from Nathan Graves, then a second-year podiatric student who was seeking a research project.

“Nathan took the bull by the horns and made the project his own,” Vardaxis says.

The project has since evolved into a multi-faceted exploration engaging several students and faculty. It has earned internal and external grants, spurred additional projects and will likely result in several published articles. The project isn’t unusual, however: It epitomizes the growing research enterprise of the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery (CPMS) – creative, collaborative and beneficial for students.

“I’ve learned a lot about the research process – how to get a project approved, conducting the pre-investigation, the data collection phase, data processing and evaluation,” says Graves, who will graduate from DMU in May. “After medical school, no one’s going to teach you how to do research, so I wanted to learn it now.”

Strategic commitment to discovery

CPMS has worked strategically to give research fertile ground. In 2006, Dean R. Tim Yoho, D.P.M., FACFAS, invited Vardaxis to become the college’s director of research in addition to his faculty role in the physical therapy program in the College of Health Sciences. CPMS also established a research plan with three broad goals:

• enhance podiatric curriculum to advance student knowledge in design, methodologies, policies and evaluation of research;
• build on the research successes of CPMS to create a sustainable research program through the application of technologies, collaboration and scientific presentation; and
• promote and support opportunities for CPMS students to develop the skills to become researchers in the field of podiatric medicine.

The ongoing results of the plan include incorporation of principles of evidence-based medicine throughout the curriculum and creation of a now-popular elective research course. An active Podiatric Practice Management and Journal Club promotes the examination of research evidence presented in the medical literature. The college holds a monthly forum for research presentations and discussions on research ideas.

“We emphasize an expectation of research in the college,” Yoho says. “Eighty to 85 percent of our faculty workload is tied to teaching activities, including patient care, but we also have an understanding that clinicians at academic health science institutions should have some commitment to research.”

That expectation has been met: Since 2008, CPMS faculty and students have had 12 peer-reviewed publications in podiatric professional journals, including the Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association, the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery and Wounds. The January/February 2012 issue of the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery alone had nine authors of papers who are CPMS graduates. Other research articles have been accepted for publication, with several more projects related to medical education, clinical outcomes and basic biomechanics of foot structure and function in progress.

In addition, many faculty and students have presented podium and poster abstracts at national scientific meetings. Since 2008, CPMS faculty and students have received 11 national awards for these scientific presentations.

More than expected, research is strongly supported. “If DMU could wear a shirt, it would have given it to our research team off its back,” says Graves. He notes the input of faculty, the equipment and space loaned by DMU’s radiology department, the internal grant his team received and the willingness of students to be their subject pool.

The college’s positive research trends will likely only increase.

“People may not think research is accessible for first-year students, but they do have opportunities to set research goals,” says second-year podiatric student Lisa Grant, who, with Katie Besselman, D.P.M.’15, and DMU faculty, recently received an internal grant for their research on patients with Charcot’s foot, a complication of diabetes that weakens bones.

“I am proud of the research effort and quality of research products originating from the college,” Yoho says. “We have demonstrated it is possible for clinical faculty to satisfy this element of assigned faculty responsibility and to mentor students in the process.”

Jeana Shelley wanted to be a surgery teaching assistant, but the smell of cautery made her gag. One morning before class, she met with her instructor, Marjean Tryon Reed, B.S.N., to review cautery procedures.

“To basically desensitize me, she continually wafted the smoke into my space until I was able to stand the smell,” says Shelley, D.O.’13. “The smell of cautery now no longer bothers me, and every time a surgeon uses cautery, I am reminded of Marjean and how dedicated she was to surgery lab.”

That was typical of “MJ” – a teacher who carefully trained and cared for students, a dear friend with an artistic eye and gusto for life, an insightful instructor who bought calf livers at a local grocery store to get students used to the smell of internal organs. She was a vibrant colleague who rarely revealed the pain and exhaustion of her pancreatic cancer, showing her x-rays to DMU’s surgery teaching assistants to help them learn.

“She worked with us at mastering skills and was very good at explaining things. You could tell she loved her job and cherished what she was doing,” says Jimmy Barger, D.O.’13. “She radiated joy and vibrancy. She brightened up the room.”

“She was the friend you could call at the last minute and she would be ready to go,” says friend and colleague Pam Winslow. “In her honor, that is one of the things I am going to try to follow.”

MJ, 54, lost her battle with cancer on Dec. 28. A registered nurse for 30 years and coordinator of surgical education at DMU since 2001, she also was advisor for the Student Osteopathic Surgery Association (SOSA) and coordinated the design and testing of a laparoscopic surgery training program for medical students and residents at Des Moines’ Mercy Medical Center.

MJ was as personable as she was a perfectionist. For example, she made sure all the surgery TAs had scrubs embroidered with their names.

“She gave hugs and was always so bubbly,” says Alison Noftsger, senior administrative assistant in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. “At the end of her e-mail messages, the last line was always ‘Have a great day’ with five exclamation points.”

Marjean Reed, right, shared a bond with many, including Brenda Scovel, surgery lab coordinator, and surgery TA Jeana Shelley, D.O.'13.

Shelley recalls MJ demonstrating to students how to place an IV by inserting a large eight- or 10-gauge needle in a medical mannequin’s arm. “She’d then say we were going to use the same-size needle when we practice on one another to make sure we wouldn’t miss the vessel,” Shelley says. “She always made this statement with a straight face, so the students would turn around to look at the TAs with a quizzical look, as if to ask if we were really going to use that size needle.

“We would attempt to keep a straight face until Marjean would burst out laughing and then show a much smaller 22-gauge needle that would actually be used,” she continues. “The students always let out a big laugh with a sigh of relief… This really broke the ice on the first day of surgery lab and also made the students a little less nervous.”

New scholarship fund honors a heroine

Pam Winslow, R.N., executive director of DMU’s Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institute, says Marjean Reed’s perfectionism as a surgical instructor is why the University has “graduates all over the country who are teaching other students.”

“She made them feel they knew what they were doing,” says Winslow, a close friend and colleague of MJ. “She trained a lot of nurses, too. She gave students confidence.”

Her great impact on students is being honored and celebrated at DMU by the new Marjean Reed Scholarship Fund. As of March 7, contributions to the fund – which will benefit osteopathic medical students – totaled $22,590.

“People feel very strongly she had a gift, and they want to give back for her,” Winslow says.

For information on the fund or to make a gift, contact DMU’s institutional advancement staff at 515- 271-1387.

“These donors are our students’ ultimate teachers,” says Donald Matz, Ph.D., anatomy chair. “Students want to see and explore the human body; the only one who can show them is the donor. That’s the power of the donor.”

The University honors these individuals and their families with an annual memorial service, to be held this year on May 18 in the MEC, on the first floor of the DMU Clinic, beginning at 1 p.m. When Julie Powell-Mohr, Wendell’s wife, attended the service in 2010, she had “no idea” what to expect.

“When Wendell and I decided to donate his body, it was a practical and pragmatic decision,” she says. He died of prostate cancer in 2008. “But the service instantly transformed the whole experience. It went from a head thing to a heart thing.”

As loved ones gather for the service, photos they’ve submitted of their donors are shown on a large video screen. The DMU Choir and String Orchestra perform. Most moving to some, however, are the comments by student leaders.

“You shared the gift of your son, your daughter, your grandmother, your grandfather, your brother, your sister, your father, your mother, so we, as the Des Moines University family of future health care professionals, could learn from the many intricacies of the human body to better serve our patients in the coming years,” Abby Munson, D.P.T.’12, said at the 2010 service. “These heroic individuals were silent teachers that guided our every discovery.”

Dante Samuel, D.O.’13, who also spoke at that service, described the donors as “very generous and selfless” individuals who give students “a meaningful, real-life learning experience that could never be obtained from a textbook.”

“After spending weeks with the donors, many of my classmates found it hard to say goodbye when anatomy is over,” Samuel added. “That is why this service is so important to us. It’s humbling to know that the donors have found a way to give life, in their time of passing, to so many different people.”

Seeing and listening to the students at the service gave Powell- Mohr great comfort and peace. “Most of the DMU students were there – seated behind us in their white jackets, surrounding us like angels,” she wrote in a letter to The Des Moines Register. “I felt as though I were sitting in the lap of God.”

Paul Thielking’s daughter-in-law, Pat Thielking, who attended the service last year with her family, says there “couldn’t have been a better farewell from this earth.” Both she and Powell-Mohr praise Clayton Carlson, DMU’s anatomical coordinator, who works with prospective donors and their loved ones. “He is so understanding and very empathetic,” Thielking says.

Adds Powell-Mohr: “I can’t imagine a more difficult conversation to have with a family, but Clay came to our house to talk with Wendell and me and answer our questions. With him, it’s not about a business or a job. He has a healing presence.”

Consider making the ultimate gift: Learn more about DMU’s body donor program by visiting www.dmu.edu/body-donor/ or calling 515-271-1481. The body donor memorial service on May 18 is free and open to the public.

The first African American woman to serve as dean of a U.S. medical school (the College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University), Ross-Lee is vice president for health sciences and medical affairs at the New York Institute of Technology and executive director of the National Osteopathic Center for Health Policy. She told a DMU audience that African Americans and other minorities have the poorest health status in all categories. “Minority health disparities are not a minority problem. It is a health system problem with overtones of cultural or racial bias,” she said. “It is an American problem.”

The solution, she explained, is fostering more diverse perspectives on tackling the issue. “It is my personal theory that the inclusion of minorities will expand the science of medicine to achieve health care parity for all Americans,” she said.

Ross-Lee’s life and career reflect that effort. The oldest of six children (including singer Diana Ross) who grew up in a poor Detroit inner-city neighborhood, she became a surrogate mother to her siblings at age 10 when their mother was hospital- ized with tuberculosis for two years. She held a number of jobs to work her way through school, eventually graduating from the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. The first osteopathic physician to participate in the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship, she has lectured, published and consulted widely on issues of primary care, medical education, minority and women’s health, and rural health care.

Ross-Lee emphasized the responsibility DMU students hold in improving the quality and access of health care for all people.

“There are no short-term solutions, no quick fixes, no silver bullets, no magic wand to wipe away minority health disparities,” she said. “Parity for vulnerable populations, including minorities, will be achieved when the value of eliminating disparities is appreciated and economically supported. That’s where the solutions lie.”

At the site of the new St. Jude's Hospital are DMU public health students Laura Pimlott, Brandon Kranovich and Patrick Kasper, MHA student Kyle Kellum, MPH Program Director/Chair Mary Mincer Hansen, St. Jude's Assistant Nursing Director Cherrianna Phillip and Carla Stebbins.

Last December, Kyle Kellum found himself talking with a group of nurses about how they could improve their hospital’s triage system. Meanwhile, Braden Ainsworth was dancing in front of a group of sixth-graders.

Both students, along with two classmates and two faculty members in DMU’s public health and health care administration programs, had traveled to St. Lucia, an island nation in the east Caribbean Sea where romantic beach resorts contrast with third-world realities. Their primary goal: be a force for positive, long-term change in health care for underserved people.

“It’s important that we provide more than hit-and-run global health,” says Mary Mincer Hansen, Ph.D., R.N., chair and program director of DMU’s master of public health program. “It’s also critical that we do what the local people and communities need and that it’s culturally appropriate.”

Toward those goals, the DMU group focused on three areas during their two-week stay: working with the island’s St. Jude’s Hospital staff on quality improvement across the organization and in its triage processes; providing continuing medical education to its mental health team; and, at the request of the nation’s health ministry, educating sixth-graders on healthy eating and exercise – hence, Ainsworth’s dance.

MHA Program Director/Chair Carla Stebbins, center in the back row, worked with the leadership team of St. Jude's Hospital, St. Lucia.

“I first met with a member of the health ministry who oversees nutrition. I prepared a presentation and hand-outs, which she liked,” says Ainsworth, a student in DMU’s public health program and a lab administrator at a hospital in St. George, UT. “I incorporated a game into my presentation, which I gave to three classrooms. I also did a little dancing to show how fun and easy it is to exercise.”

This was DMU’s third global health service trip to St. Lucia and the first to include a health care administration component. Kellum, a student in DMU’s master of health care administration program and director of diagnostic and therapy services at a hospital in Grangeville, ID, designed his capstone project for his degree on the request by St. Jude’s Hospital administrators for a quality assurance program.

“I had never done anything like that before, so it really took me out of my comfort zone,” he says. That led him to discover a critical aspect of global health service: Be flexible.

“I developed the plan and sent it to the hospital before we went. I didn’t receive much feedback,” he says. “Then when we got there, we met with the hospital leadership staff to listen to their needs. We scaled the project down to their triage system. That made it very productive.”

Kellum and Carla Stebbins, Ph.D., M.H.A.’93, chair and program director of DMU’s master of health care administration program, also gave the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator “personality inventory” to St. Jude’s management team to foster discussions about effective working relationships and leadership practices.

“The participants were totally engaged. We walked through how they could best make decisions using their knowledge of different personalities,” Stebbins says. “There seemed to be some lights that went on.”

That validated her hope that health care administration students and faculty could help enhance care delivery even in a different culture and in a relatively short time.

“To be brutally honest, I was unsure what impact we could have. Everything was very vague; we had only a rough sketch of what we could do,” she notes. “We needed to understand where their processes were and what they needed. Most of the hospital’s senior management staff has had little, if any, training in health care administration, so we focused on areas we could influence. We were thrilled to learn the powerful influence we could have.”

The DMU team also was impressed by the dedication and drive of the people they met, Stebbins adds.

“They love their country, their people and their heritage,” she says. “The professionals that we came in contact with demonstrated a work ethic and level of dedication that were very similar to that in the U.S. They do so much with the little they have.”

Ainsworth says the experience benefitted his career as well as the St. Lucians the DMU group helped.

“If there’s ever going to be a big change in health care, it’s going to come from health care administration and public health,” he adds. “That’s one of the things that attracted me to my career.”

Arthur Wittmack

Back in the late 1960s, a committee of the Junior League of Des Moines began pushing the idea for an interactive science center. Muffy Harmon, sister of now DMU Board of Trustees member Arthur Wittmack, was on that committee, which succeeded in establishing the pioneering Des Moines Center of Science and Industry in fall 1970; their father, Charles Wittmack, was the center’s first treasurer, and Art’s son, two-time Mount Everest climber and attorney Charlie Wittmack, attended preschool there.

That was just the beginning of Art Wittmack’s long relationship with the Science Center of Iowa: He served on the center’s board from 1998 to 2007, including as board chair from 2005 to 2007. Last summer, he was named interim president and chief executive officer; in October, he was asked to take the position permanently.

“I love applied science and have a passion for education, and I’ve lived in Des Moines all my life,” says Wittmack, who earned his civil engineering degree at Iowa State University and went on to become president, chief executive officer and then chairman of the 100-year-old Des Moines construction company Neumann Brothers Inc. “Now it’s time to bring together my collaborations in Des Moines and across the state to promote science education.”

A longtime leader in central Iowa’s business, human service, civic and cultural arenas, Wittmack is intent upon connecting the science center with businesses, civic organizations and schools. He’s excited about involving DMU faculty as presenters at the center’s events and DMU students as docents at its exhibitions, such as last year’s highly popular “Body Worlds Vital.”

“We expected 45,000 to 50,000 visitors to that exhibition but had more than 80,000,” he says. “For them to see DMU students in their white coats, guiding and informing them, is pretty amazing.”

DMU student Danna Kelly prepped physically and mentally for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials

The 189 female elite runners who competed in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for the marathon on Saturday, Jan. 14, in Houston included DMU physical therapy student Danna Kelly – much to her surprise. That reality struck her the Friday before the race, at the event’s technical meeting for the more than 300 competitors and their coaches.

“The names and faces I witnessed walk through the door for the meeting were the nation’s best of the best 26.2 [mile] athletes,” she wrote in her blog, SoleSisterRunning.blogspot.com. “Me, the small-town Iowa girl, who reads and envies the talent and abilities of these individuals in each month of Runner’s World…could barely take it all in at once.”

Kelly’s achievement in qualifying for the Trials is underscored by the fact it was just her third marathon. She qualified last June at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, MN, with a time of two hours, 43 minutes and 54 seconds, her “personal best.” While the self-described “tomboy” played sports in high school, she didn’t run seriously until she joined Truman State University’s track and cross country teams as an undergraduate. After enrolling at DMU, she used running as an “outlet” and began training with a group of women. They included Jenny Weber, a triathlon coach and executive director of the Wellness Council of Iowa.

“I always thought I had my whole life to run a marathon,” Kelly says. “Then I realized I was already doing all these marathon work-outs.”

Marathons require intense mental as well as physical preparation. Kelly’s blog describes how she views the four “loops” of the event, beginning as “fun and pure enjoyment” followed by reminders to “relax,” then “feel light” and finally “think smooth” during the final eight-mile loop’s “gut-check time.” At mile 23, she gave herself a pep talk.

“The four months of sub-4 a.m. alarms, the extra workouts at the YMCA, the treadmill speed work that I truly disliked, the soreness and fatigue coupled with school, whatever the sacrifice was – it was all for this day and this moment,” she recalled in her blog. “I would fail not only myself, but my family, training partners, friends, classmates and anyone I have ever inspired along the way if I did not give the last 3.2 miles all that I could give on this day.”

Kelly wasn’t among the three women who qualified that day to represent the U.S. in the marathon at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, but she didn’t expect to. She did achieve her goals, however: She finished in the top half of the field, 82nd out of 189, which beat her race rank – based on her original qualifying time – of 94th. Her top goal was to enjoy the entire experience in all its adrenalized glory, from participating in the Trials opening ceremonies to rubbing elbows with some of the biggest names in running. Crowds cheered her on by name and complimented her glittery red headband and pink Saucony shoes. Also cheering her on were her parents, Bob and Kathy Kelly; fiancé, Justin Herrick; and several friends who joined her in Houston.

Perhaps the most awesome moment occurred while she stood at the start line.

“Hearing the national anthem play before each sporting event has brought goose bumps…ever since I can remember hearing it as an eight-year-old playing Little League,” she wrote in her blog. “Standing on that street in Houston, watching the multiple American flags blow in the wind, scanning the blocks’ worth of red, white and blue Olympic signs and banners, while standing completely still with my competitors and the thousands that surrounded the start line…was like no other national anthem I had ever been a part of before.

“Listening to the beautiful words,” she added, “brought emotions of pride, gratitude, disbelief and pure honor, not only to have the ability, but the opportunity to have this unbelievable experience for our country.”

Rod Philp, center, explores concepts with officers of the new genetics group at DMU, from left: Scott Miller, D.O.'14; Collin Blattner, D.O.'15; Arman Cicic, D.O.; and Brandon Tucker, D.P.M.'15.

Alisdair “Rod” Philp, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and nutrition, was inspired to help students create the group because of their anxiety over genetics questions on medical licensing examinations. He is an elected affiliated scientist of the ACMG, which enabled the student group’s affiliation. Philp says the rapid advancement in genetic knowledge and research, along with DMU students’ interest in both, affirmed the idea for such a group.

“The human genome project took years, around 20 world-class institutions and 2.7 billion dollars,” he says about the effort, completed in 2003, to identify all the thousands of genes in human DNA. “It revolutionized my job. Nowadays, you can sequence the coding part of the genome with one machine and one person in an off-the-shelf test for around $4,500 in 90 days.

“The field of genetics has changed so much in recent years. We are on the cusp of a paradigm shift in how genetics impacts clinicians, from family practice to the specialist surgeon,” Philp adds. “That’s why we need to cater for students who are interested in this area. We have the opportunity to give our students, from any of our programs, a strong advantage in a competitive field.”

It’s a field clinicians and researchers can use to enhance health care. For example, members of a family plagued by diseases such as diabetes may be able to have bettercrafted medications as scientists discover the subtle genetic changes that influence individual patients’ responses to drugs.

In addition, diseases that were always considered too complicated for genetic analysis, such as coronary artery disease, are rapidly being deciphered. Recent advances in the U.S. and Europe have seen successful gene replacement therapies, based on the accurate identification of the causative gene. And as more companies bypass the physician and diagnosis – “an alarming prospect,” Philp says – with services that genotype individuals’ DNA, health care providers will be asked to analyze and translate their patients’ results.

“Medical genetics is a rapidly expanding field and will likely be integrated into nearly every branch of medicine,” says Arman Cicic, D.O.’14, president of the genetics student interest group (SIG). “By providing comprehensive and upto- date genetics education, the SIG hopes to keep our students at the forefront of contemporary medicine and maintain DMU’s mission to produce highly competent health professionals.”

The mission of DMU’s SIG, says vice president Scott Miller, D.O.’14, is to “provide students and staff, along with local physicians and residents, with comprehensive medical genetics education to better serve and advocate for the health of our community.” In addition to providing a forum for students to research topics in medical genetics and present their findings, the group will seek to foster networking among health care providers and researchers at other universities, hospitals and more.

The group also plans to survey DMU alumni in family practice and who are physician assistants in central Iowa to learn the most common genetic diseases they encounter in their practices, what they wished they had learned in genetics and what DMU should teach students about genetics today. That information may lead to enriched curriculum for students and continuing education for practitioners.

“This is a student-driven effort to demystify genetics for students, physicians, residents and others,” Philp says. “The field changes so quickly that many practicing physicians can get left behind by uninformative technical terms. Often it appears that the new advances are very complicated, but the beauty of genetics is that it’s like Legos. It fits together one way; you just need to have someone show you how the trick works.”

The student group is also in the process of arranging genetics grand rounds that draw together oncologists, pediatricians, surgeons, family practice physicians, genetic counselors, nurses and other interested professionals from local health care institutions, a quadruple win for those participants, DMU students, faculty and patients.

“For a basic scientist, I believe it is essential for us to maintain close contact with the health care professional,” Philp says. “If we do not, we run the risk that what we teach students will be out-of-date. Furthermore, these rounds, I hope, will present the opportunity for practitioners in Des Moines to take a seat at a truly interprofessional forum.”

Lawrence E. Jacobson, D.O.

Lawrence E. Jacobson, D.O., former dean of the DMU College of Osteopathic Medicine, died on Nov. 10, 2011. He was 80 years old.

Dean Jacobson earned his undergraduate degree at Ursinus College. After serving in the U.S. Army, he earned his D.O. degree from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and chose to specialize in neurology.

While he maintained a successful neurology practice for many years, Dean Jacobson’s true passion was medical education. He devoted most of his 50-year career to the training of medical students working as both a teacher and administrator, most recently as vice dean of Nova University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Dean Jacobson also was one of the founding faculty members at Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. He served as medical director of the brain trauma unit at Southfield Rehabilitation Center in Michigan.

At DMU, where he worked from 1986 to 1995, he held the positions of professor, dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and vice president for academic affairs.

William Dyche, Ph.D., DMU professor emeritus of anatomy, says Dean Jacobson provided key leadership during “two major historic moments in the University’s history” – the transition from the presidency of Leonard Azneer, Ph.D., to the interim presidency of Myron Magen, D.O., in 1992 and the flood that swamped central Iowa in 1993.

“We had no water on campus and couldn’t conduct classes here for several weeks,” Dyche recalls. “He found locations around the city so classes could continue to be held.”

An MHA degree from DMU will equip you to put together solutions to today's health care puzzles.

Starting with the fall term, the MHA curriculum will include both online courses and new on-campus executive residencies, a blend the U.S. Department of Education states produces the highest student outcomes.

The residencies, which will be offered the first Wednesday through Sunday of the fall and spring terms, will immerse students in real-world scenarios that integrate theory into practice. They will include required curriculum as well as professional development seminars, interactive workshops, round-table discussions, self-assessment activities and networking.

“Health care is unique in that its mission is providing highquality care to all people,” says MHA Program Director/Chair Carla Stebbins, Ph.D., M.H.A.’93. “I am excited that DMU’s innovative MHA curriculum will prepare students to be 21st century leaders in this demanding, rewarding profession.”

DMU’s MHA program will continue to feature the flexibility that allows most students to work full-time. All students have up to seven years to complete the program, allowing them to balance professional and personal demands. Students can complete the program part-time in three years or, as full-time students, in 24 months. Either way, an MHA degree from DMU equips them to lead and succeed as team players in providing effective, accessible and affordable health care.

“The MHA program at DMU changed my career path,” says Jay Willsher, M.H.A.’98, now an adjunct professor for the program. He is the executive vice president and chief operating officer with Trinity Regional Health System, an organization with multiple hospitals and clinics in eastern Iowa and western Illinois. “Since obtaining my degree, I have been very fortunate to obtain progressive leadership responsibilities within the Iowa health system. I began as a clinic manager for a sixprovider clinic and have progressed to COO of a four-hospital, 600-inpatient health care system.”

The application deadline for the fall 2012 term is May 1, 2012. For more information about DMU’s MHA degree program, visit www.dmu.edu/mha/; email mhadmit@dmu.edu; or call 515-271-1538 or – outside the 515 area code – 800-240-2767, x1538.