College offers BS degree in case management
The Business College of Detroit in Dearborn, MI, will graduate its first student to earn a bachelor of science degree in case management this year. Working case managers from several disciplines and practice settings make up the faculty for the program, which began in September 1996 and currently has 120 students.
Enrollment is open to working health care professionals and students with no previous experience in health care. "We've developed several courses for students with no prior medical background," says Carole B. Gdula, MS, RN, COHN-S, who chairs the Health Services Administration at the Detroit College of Business. "And, we've been very careful to counsel students on their job prospects and future education needs. We tell students without prior health care experience or training they will either have to get a job doing an entry-level position, like intake for an insurance company that doesn't require RNs for those positions, or continue on and get a master's and become licensed in another area such as counseling, vocational rehabilitation, or social work."
Practicing nurses or other professionals who take three classes each quarter should graduate in two and a half to three years, says Gdula. The college also offers certified case manager preparation courses. Students must complete 196 credit hours to graduate, but may receive credit toward graduation for previous formal education and college-level work experience. Courses included in the 17 case management major courses are:
· medical terminology I and II;
· legal/ethical aspects of case management;
· case management insurance;
· community services;
· disease management of acute and chronic conditions;
· risk management;
· psychosocial/psychological adjustment to disability.
In addition, students must select two elective courses designed to give them exposure to special practice areas. Those include:
· disability case management;
· home health care;
· aging;
· rehabilitation of the impaired;
· behavior health care;
· social services.
Classes are scheduled to meet the needs of working professionals, with most courses offered in the evening or on Saturday. "We're also trying to develop a distance-learning program using interactive video," says Gdula.
The current fee schedule is $174 per quarter hour. Each course in the case management program is four quarter hours, making the cost per course $696. For more on the program, contact: Carole Gdula, Detroit College of Business, 4801 Oakman Blvd., Dearborn, MI 48126. Telephone: (313) 581-4400, ext. 444.
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