Practitioner-Scholar Philosophy The practitioner-scholar philosophy encourages the faculty to enrich each of their courses with exercises, case studies, and field projects that reflect the actual demands placed on today's health care executive. Likewise, the practitioner-scholar philosophy propels the student into immediate and continuous interaction with health care administration practitioners throughout the curriculum. This exposure to the fields of practice seeks to achieve better student understanding of the relevance of the concepts, theories, and skills required of them in their course work. At the same time, students are better able to participate in the classroom through questioning, discussing, and providing examples of applications of the material in certain situations in which they have experienced or are experiencing in their internships and residencies. With respect to instruction, the practitioner-scholar philosophy focuses faculty search efforts toward full-time appointment of individuals with terminal degrees in appropriate disciplinary areas who also possess substantial career experience in management or clinical practice. The practitioner-scholar philosophy further encourages the appointment of part-time and adjunct faculty who are contemporaneously engaged in management practice and who offer the students a range of academic, clinical, and professional advising experiences. Executives from hospitals, physician group practices, and managed care organizations are recruited to the faculty, based in part upon their interest in students and their desire to participate in the instructional programs of the department. The implementation of the practitioner-scholar model has led to the development of excellent relationships with the health care provider community in the greater New Orleans area. Currently there are over fifty organizations working with the department, providing practice experiences to department students. In some cases, the development of these relationships is a direct result of the faculty's involvement in the health care community through participation on boards of directors, advisory committees, and professional organizations. The success of department students in residency positions has also led several area organizations to contact the department directly in order to initialize discussions about becoming host organizations. One additional benefit of these relationships is the increased involvement of local practitioners in the activities of the department. Local practitioners serve as residency preceptors, teach departmental courses, serve as guest lecturers in classes or student meetings, facilitate retreats, and provide a source for class projects and research. The faculty fully supports the involvement of practitioners in the department and continually looks for new collaborative opportunities. |
