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Health Administration (MHA), Public Health (MPH) and Post-professional Physical Therapy PPDPT Programs

A candidate for the MHA, MPH or PPDPT program must have abilities and skills in the following areas. Technological compensation can be made for handicaps in some of these areas, but a candidate must be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner.

Des Moines University is responsible for providing education without regard to disability while assuring that academic and technical standards are met.  Academic standards are met by successfully completing the curriculum for the specific Professional Graduate Program. Technical standards represent the essential non-academic requirements that a student must demonstrate to participate successfully in the Professional Graduate Programs.

An applicant, student, and candidate for the Master of Health Administration (MHA),  Master of Public Health (MPH), or Post-Professional Doctor of Physical Therapy degree must have demonstrated aptitude, abilities and skills in the following categories: sensory, motor, intellectual, behavioral, communication, and social.  The technical standards for each category identified below are consistent with the expectations of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Sensory

• Ability to communicate verbal in the English language to elicit information from and provide information to faculty, fellow students, and health care professionals.
• Ability to communicate in written English with faculty, fellow students, and health care professionals.
• Ability to comprehend written communications (i.e., read, understand and follow directions in the English language) to fulfill the usual tasks and duties of a health care manager in training.
• Ability to hear with or without assistive devices to elicit information from faculty, fellow students, and health care professionals.
• Ability to listen and send clear and convincing messages.

Motor

• Ability to coordinate gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium and the functional use of the senses of touch and vision reasonably required to operate a computer keyboard and to read a computer screen or have the appropriate accommodation.
• Ability to maneuver in the health care organization (hospital, physician practice, outpatient clinic).

Intellectual – Conceptual, Integrative, and Quantitative Abilities

• Ability to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, and synthesize to solve problems.
• Ability to use basic computer tools (i.e., Microsoft office applications or equivalent ) for homework assignments.
• Ability to integrate didactic and experiential learning to solve problems with critical judgment and analysis.

Behavioral

• Ability to tolerate and function effectively under stress.
• Ability to concentrate in the presence of distracting conditions.
• Ability to concentrate for prolonged periods.
• Ability to relate in a professional manner to faculty, patients, families and other health care professionals.
• Ability to accept criticism and to respond by appropriate modification of behavior.
• Ability to read and regulate emotions as well as to recognize their impact on work performance and relationships, especially in the face of angry or emotionally charged people.
• Ability to adapt and be flexible when confronted with changing environments, uncertainty, and ambiguity.
• Ability to show compassion, empathy, integrity, concern and interest for others, interpersonal skills, and motivation.
• Ability to display values of honesty and integrity consistently.
• Ability to manage time effectively to balance multiple priorities.

Social

• Ability to develop and sustain mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with a web of faculty, colleagues, fellow students, and other health care professionals.
• Ability to network with other health care professionals and to have the ability to engage in conversation with appropriate nonverbal (i.e., eye contact, cues, posture) and verbal communication.
• Ability to de-escalate disagreements and orchestrate resolutions.

Recommendation for Graduation

A student is scheduled for graduation after successful completion of all degree requirements and upon recommendation of the faculty for graduation.  The faculty’s recommendations occur at the end of the student’s coursework.

Technology minimum requirements

A significant amount of course work in these programs is completed with a personal computer. Please read this form to understand the minimum technical requirements to be successful in your graduate studies. All students are responsible for providing a computer which meets the specifications below, prior to enrollment.

Help Desk: While you provide your own computer hardware and software, the DMU Help Desk can assist you with issues relating to your use of DMU Web sites and services such as email, the portal for student communication, and the course management systems. They can also assist you with using the DMU network on campus and accessing printers available for student use. The Help Desk cannot help with hardware failures on your equipment or installing your software on your computer.

Backups: As a student, it is your responsibility to both back up your own data and work and to identify an alternative computer to use should your primary computer or internet connection fail.

Minimum requirements: Hardware and software compatibility changes frequently, students should be aware these are minimum requirements at the time of publication (September 2009). Some software may have higher technical requirements than specified here.

For both systems

• Flash Player 10
• Windows Media Player
• Quicktime Player
• Sun Java Runtime environment 1.4 or greater must be installed and enabled.
• Javascript must be enabled
• Personal printer

Technology requirement form

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