The Kentucky plan revisited: lessons learned from an innovative doctoral education program.

Abstract

In the first doctoral education special issue of the Journal of Health Administration Education, the authors presented the University of Kentucky College of Public Health's plans for an innovative new Doctor of Public Health (Dr. P.H.) degree. The degree as designed, prepares graduates for professional practice, and included extensive supervised field experience as part of the academic training linking theory with practice. Based upon the interest that the Kentucky Dr.P.H. degree program received, the authors will share the experience of the degree's initial years of operation through a "lessons learned" paper. As the program evolved there have been many lessons related to trends, curriculum design, admissions, prerequisite requirements, curriculum innovations, scheduling, the comprehensive examination, and attrition. In addition, there are many questions for the future. "In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not."-- Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra.