DEVELOPING HEALTH SCIENCESDISTANCE EDUCATION:

INNOVATION AND EVOLUTION

USDLA Annual ConferenceSt. Louis, MOMay 4, 2010

Distance Education;Nursing

Occupational TherapyPharmacy

Physical Therapy

CONTRIBUTORS• Naser Z. Alsharif, PharmD, PhD – Associate Director,

Pharmacy Distance Pathway (2001-2006); Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Health Professions (SPAHP)

• Caroline Goulet, PT, PhD – Director, Transitional DPT Program; Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, (SPAHP)

• Al Bracciano, OTR/L, EdD – Director, Distance Pathway OTD Program; Associate Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, (SPAHP)

• Dianne Travers Gustafson, RN, PhD - Associate Professor, Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, School of Nursing

OBJECTIVESBy the end of this session, participant will be able to:

• Compare & contrast the experience in distance education of four health profession programs with emphasis on:

– innovative, efficient and sustainable practices and strategies

• Discuss challenges and lessons learned

• Share own experiences

TIMELINE FOR CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY DISTANCE PROGRAMS

Discipline Year DescriptionPharmacy 1995 Non-traditional

PharmDPhysical Therapy (PT) 1999 Post Professional

Doctor of PT (DPT)Pharmacy 2001 Entry Level Doctor of

Pharmacy (PharmD)Nursing 2009 Post Professional DNPOccupational Therapy(OT)

2009 Entry level Doctor of OT (OTD)

INTRODUCTION• Distance education programs on the rise across

the country and globally

• The new frontier in the health sciences education

• There are common and different issues among health sciences programs when venturing into distance education

PHARMACY & PHYSICAL THERAPY

• INFRASTRUCTURE

• CURRICULUM

• ASSESSMENT

• SUSTAINABILITY

INFRASTRUCTUREITEM DESCRIPTIONAPPROVAL PROCESS

Vote by the faculty.

STAFF Director, associate director, administrative assistant, educational mentors, new faculty, existing faculty, academic advisors, New Director of Experiential Experience (DEE).

ADVERTISING Distribution lists, national conferences, word of mouth, community of learners.

OFFICES Office of faculty development and assessment, Office of Academic and Student Affairs, Office of eLearning and Technology

POLICIES & GUIDELINES

Testing & proctors, Intellectual property, transfer from campus to distance pathway and vice versa.

CURRICULUMITEM DESCRIPTIONPEDAGOGY Educational outcomes based on American

Council on Pharmacy Education, Center for Advancement of Pharmacy education, APTA

PARITY BETWEEN CAMPUS & DISTANCE PATHWAY

Courses should have the same objectives, meet the same educational outcomes and have the same course evaluation

PLATFORM Blackboard®, FrontPage®, BlueLine®

SYNCHRONOUS VS. ASYNCHRONOUS

Synchronous (Start and end of semester, course content, evaluations); Asynchronous

LAB COMPONENT 2 week on campus, 3 days, use of technology, simulations.

EXPERIENTIAL EXPERIENCE

Student responsible for finding sites in coordination with the DEE.

ASSESSMENTITEM DESCRIPTIONPROGRAMMATIC Focus groups, Board examination, Pre-NABLEX

Examination, Capstone courses, graduate surveys, preceptor evaluations and alumni surveys

COURSE Proctored on-line examinations, lab and experiential examinations, course feedback, papers, reflections, discussions

ACCREDITATION Visits from respective accreditation bodies

PATHWAY CQI, Benchmarks (e.g. Institutional support, course development, student support, faculty support, teaching and learning, course structure).

SUSTAINABILITYITEM DESCRIPTION

RESOURCES Same support offices for campus and distance

RETENTION Student attrition ratio <2%, faculty and staff retention very high

ADMISSION CRITERIA

Attracts highly qualified students

INTEREST Meets a great demand (e.g. students who are location bound, students who enjoy/excel in distance education)

TRACK RECORD A successful track record/student outcomes

SUPPORT SYSTEM Financial support of both the school and university

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPYENTRY-LEVEL OTD

• Infrastructure-development

• 2007 AHEC Report

• External stakeholders-AHEC, UAA, AK OT Assoc., Legislators

• “Perfect Storm” of health professions shortages

• Consultation btw CU/UAA

• Needs assessment by UAA

INFRASTRUCTUREDEVELOPMENT

• Support of internal/external stakeholders

• Decision to partner with CU

• “Satellite Program”• Internal/external

approval by regulatory bodies

INFRASTRUCTUREORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

• Entry-level clinical doctorate

• “Modified hybrid program”

• Echo® capture of on-campus lectures

• UAA ‘on-campus’ labs

• On-campus cohorts, maximum of 10 UAA, distance cohorts

• CU hire of 8 AK Adjunct Faculty to teach labs on-campus

INFRASTRUCTUREUAA IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS

• UAA $30,000 start-up costs

• Equipment, materials, assessments

• Space (lab/lecture) • UAA Distance Testing

Center• Anchorage clinical sites• OT Liaison to interface

with CU .5 FTE• Associate Dean (OT) .25

time to OT

INFRASTRUCTURECU CONTRIBUTION

• Program Director• .5 FTE administrative

assistant• 1 FTE technology

support• Fieldwork

Coordinator• 8 adjunct faculty lab

instructors

• FT faculty- IOR of course

• IOR responsible for working with AK lab instructors

• Administrative assistant responsible for on-campus testing

• Additional/new faculty

Dr. Chris BradberryDean, Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions

Dr. Keli MuInterim Chair, Department of Occupational Therapy

Dr. Alfred BraccianoProgram Coordinator, Entry-level Occupational Therapy Distance Program –

Creighton University at University of Alaska Anchorage

Kate Young,Program Coordinator Assistant, Entry-level Occupational Therapy Distance Program –

Creighton University at University of Alaska

Anchorage

Diana Steer, Liaison, Entry-level

Occupational Therapy Distance

Program – Creighton

University at University of Alaska

Anchorage

Adjunct Faculty

Dr. Cheryl EaslyDean, University of Alaska Anchorage College of Health and Social

Welfare

Dr. Susan KaplanAcademic Associate Dean, College of Health and Social Welfare

Bette Poutre,Instructional Designer,

Entry-level Occupational Therapy Distance Program – Creighton University at

University of Alaska Anchorage

Dr. Lou Jensen,Academic Clinical

Education Coordinator, Entry-level

Occupational Therapy Distance Program –

Creighton University at University of Alaska

Anchorage

OTD Students

Dr. Amy MatthewsVice Chair, Department of Occupational

Therapy

Organizational ChartCreighton University Entry-level Distance Pathway

CURRICULUMPedagogy• FT Program• ACOTE Standards• Transition to:

• distance-based format• electronic testing• distance labs and adjunct

instructors• One-time financial incentive

CURRICULUM• Forced revision of curriculum• Pedagogy-focus & emphasis• Parity between campus and

distance students• Uniform management

learning system-ANGEL • Lecture content delivery:

asynchronous • Lab components-on UAA

campus

CURRICULUM • Orientation/Welcome

Week on UAA Campus• Use of technology• Lab & Lecture• Experiential learning parity• Testing on-line• “Letting go”• Working collegially

CURRICULUM:Clinical Education Guidelines• Clinical experiences

in Alaska• Outside of state if

comparable facility does not exist in-state

• Fieldwork database includes over 240 contracts nationally

• Over 30 sites in state

ASSESSMENT • Assessment (ACOTE)

• Programmatic-formative/summative

• Course-IOR & IDEA plus lab

• UAA Program Director & Fieldwork Coordinator

• Labs: IDEA (adjunct faculty)

– campus & AK labs

• Mid-semester BlueQ Survey: students, faculty

• Proctored, secured student testing

• Accreditation visit (ACOTE) Fall 2010

SUSTAINABILITY• Program Level & University level

– 3 yr pilot program

• Resources-additional faculty, support staff, adjunct

• Student Attrition-1 student each class

• Faculty attrition-stable

• Staff attrition-stable

• ACOTE Accreditation-Fall 2010

SUSTAINABILITY• Candidate pool & admissions strong

• 10 scholarships available each year through FY2016 from the Alaska DHSS/OCS/Infant Learning Program

• Interest from students in lower 48

• Approaching the unfamiliar – cultural change

• Adapting “care” and “touch” across distances

• Advancing practice to meet professional

and societal needs

NURSING EDUCATION AT A DISTANCE

INFRASTRUCTURE

• Sequential approval process• Advisors and faculty as educational mentors• Faculty outsourcing• Advertising and rolling admission• Policies & Guidelines (e.g. intellectual

property, confidentiality, clinical practica)• Initial on-campus orientation

CURRICULUM

• Educational and Practice Outcomes based on

– AACN Guidelines

– CCNE Accreditation

– Multiple Specialty Certification Standards

• Blueline: Angel Learning Management System

• Parity between campus and distance students

• Practice and procedures: on campus check-out

• Licensed health care practitioners

ASSESSMENT• Program Evaluation Committee

– Preceptor and Faculty Evaluation

– Student, Graduate, and Alumni Evaluations

• Technology Committee: technology applications

• Course: both process and outcome assessment

– Proctored online exams

– Experiential examinations

• CQI/Quality benchmarks

– QAOL framework

SUSTAINABILITY• RN to BSN program experience

• Program Level & University level

– Resource and faculty commitment

– Technology

• Infrastructure and service

• Literacy and accessibility

– Cost effective and “Green” operation

SUMMARY

ALL FOUR PROGRAMS

INFRASTRUCTURE SUMMARY• All established by faculty vote

• Very similar infrastructure for all programs

• Advertising done by individual programs without external agencies

• Policies for testing, proctors, intellectual property are common to all programs

CURRICULUM SUMMARY• All programs are outcome based

• Parity in performance and learning is essential

• A required on-campus/on-site experience is very beneficial

• SIMPLIFY/STANDARDIZE your learning management system

• Synchronous experience for entry-level

ASSESSMENT SUMMARY• A dynamic programmatic, course and pathway

assessment is a must

• Pharmacy as a discipline required more proctored examinations, while papers, discussion and reflections are more predominant in the other disciplines

• Quality Assurance Benchmarks are a must

SUSTAINABILITY SUMMARY

• Needs assessment and identify target students

• Explore other markets

• Minimize duplication in infrastructure

• Explore how technology can help with a greener workplace

LESSONS LEARNED• Establish a track record in distance education

• Inform all stakeholders

• Develop an in-house infrastructure with an office, director (process champion) and administrative assistance.

• Establish an appropriate admission criteria for distance students

• Assess performance and Learning parity at the course and pathway level

• Regularly document student outcomes

• Establish a well tested process to introduce new technology

• Encourage and reward SoTL

• Share your experience locally, nationally and internationally

• Reward faculty and staff contribution

• Student, staff and faculty support is a must

LESSONS LEARNED

CHALLENGES• Upfront costs

• Buy-in by faculty

• Faculty and staff retention

• Recruitment of qualified students

• Updating technology

• Technology dependability

CHALLENGES• Simulating hands on experiences

• Faculty buy-in & shift in teaching style (need to change)

• Compartmentalizing lecture & lab

• Ownership and copyrights of materials

• Inculcating institutional & professional values

• Support and training of adjunct faculty

SUMMARY• Distance education has been a rewarding experience

for the SPAHP with increased recognition

• Distance education has been a rewarding professional and academic experience for many of our faculty

• Health care professionals can be engaged and professionalized at a distance

THANK YOU! QUESTIONS!• Naser Z. Alsharif, PharmD, PhD – (nalshari@creighton.edu )

• Caroline Goulet, PT, PhD – (cgoulet@creighton.edu)

• Al Bracciano, OTR/L, EdD – (alfredbracciano@creighton.edu)

• Dianne Travers Gustafson, RN, PhD – (dtravers@creighton.edu)