Become the Educator Healthcare Needs

Healthcare professionals do more than provide care. They teach students, mentor residents and fellows, train clinical teams, lead programs, and shape how future clinicians learn. The online Master of Science in Health Profession Education (HPE) helps working healthcare professionals build the educational expertise to teach more effectively, lead with greater confidence, and improve healthcare training environments.

100% online and designed for working adults, the program gives you practical tools to strengthen your role as an educator while continuing your career, in 24 months.

Find Your Path in Healthcare Education

Already Teaching or Mentoring?

A doctor in a white coat reviews a clipboard with two medical students in blue scrubs. They appear focused and engaged in a hospital setting.

Are you already teaching students, residents, fellows, or staff while figuring out assessment and mentorship as you go? Learn practical approaches to guiding learners, evaluating progress, giving feedback, and supporting development in real healthcare training environments.

Leading Educational Programs or Initiatives?

Group of medical professionals in white lab coats sitting attentively. A blonde woman raises her hand to speak, suggesting a seminar or discussion setting.

When you’re responsible for a rotation, residency program, curriculum, training initiative, or learner experience, your decisions shape how others learn. Develop stronger tools for curriculum design, program improvement, assessment, and education-focused leadership.

Interested in Teaching or Education?

A nurse in blue scrubs smiling, holding a clipboard, sunlight streaming in. The scene conveys professionalism and warmth in a healthcare setting.

Are you drawn to teaching but unsure what a path to education looks like? Get a flexible way to explore health professions education while building skills you can use in clinical training, staff development, or a future faculty role.

Build Skills for Teaching, Leadership, and Educational Research

The program includes two specializations: Educational Leadership and Educational Research. Small cohort sizes and close faculty guidance create a personalized learning experience where questions are encouraged and support is readily available. You’ll learn alongside working professionals from across healthcare, public health, social work, and related fields.

Through coursework, applied projects, and faculty mentorship, you’ll build skills that will strengthen your current work and prepare you for in-demand roles in teaching, educational leadership, program development, and health professions education research.

You Will Be Equipped To

Teach and mentor learners more effectively
Evaluate learner progress and performance
Design curriculum, courses, rotations, and learning experiences
Strengthen training programs and educational experiences
Apply evidence-based approaches to teaching and learning
Lead education-focused initiatives in healthcare settings
Design and conduct research on teaching, learning, and learner outcomes
Use research and evaluation to improve health professions education

You Will be Prepared for Roles In

Academic health professions education
Residency and fellowship education
Clinical training and staff development
Curriculum development and instructional design
Program evaluation and assessment
Educational program leadership
Faculty development
Health professions education research and scholarship

Learn from Faculty Who Understand Healthcare Practice

The HPE master’s program is led by Karen L. Gordes, PhD, PT, DScPT, an experienced health professions educator whose work spans clinical education, faculty development, academic leadership, mentorship, and student success.

Dr. Gordes’ career includes roles in the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she developed faculty leadership programs, created educational resources, delivered faculty development workshops, and mentored health professions educators.

HPE master’s students learn from faculty who understand that healthcare education happens in classrooms, clinics, hospitals, rotations, training programs, and teams where learners are preparing for high-impact careers.

Why a Master's Degree?

You may already have the clinical knowledge, professional experience, and motivation to teach. The HPE master’s program helps you build on that experience with the educational foundation to teach more effectively.

Instead of relying on trial and error, you’ll learn how to make evidence-based decisions about teaching, feedback, assessment, curriculum, mentorship, and program improvement.

The master's program helps you move from “figuring it out as you go” to making more intentional choices about learners build skills, how progress is measured, how feedback is delivered, and how educational programs are improved.

Why Choose the School of Graduate Studies?

Take the Next Step

Wondering if the program fits your goals? Request information learn more about the program, ask questions, and explore whether the HPE master's program fits your goals.