The Master of Health Care Design degree is a post-professional program focusing on the design and performance of health care environments for professionals with a demonstrated level of competency in their respective fields. Courses from the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, the College of Public Health and the College of Nursing comprise the program, which is open to individuals with a professional degree in a design field -- architecture, interiors, landscape, or urban or graphic design. It is also designed for those professionals who want to have a deeper understanding of not just health care design, but of other drivers of health care innovations such as public policy, reimbursement, emerging technologies and what patient-centered care really means from the perspective of patients and families. The program typically takes two to three and a half years to complete, depending on course load. Students are introduced to professionals in many different fields over the course of the program, expanding their horizons as well as their networks. Program courses provide students with background knowledge and theory, and also deal with behavioral science, health science, ethical and cultural issues in health care, codes and regulatory requirements, existing and emerging technologies and evidence-based design procedures that aid architects, administrators, planners and health care professionals to better meet the needs of end users -- patients, families and staff. Following successful completion of coursework, students complete a master's project, which integrates learned principles and incorporates codified standards through an independently-directed design problem with the goal of improving designs for health care. There is both a written component and a design component based on a real project in a health care setting of the student's choice. Students will conduct a literature review and analysis, complete comparable site analyses, develop and conduct a research project in the setting and develop design solutions.

Over the next decade, public health is projected as one of the strongest sectors for job growth. Likewise, the occupational outlook for architects is projected at 23.1% growth by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This represents a job placement of 58,800 and translated into architecture graduates the number exceeds 100,000 individuals, since the architecture degree is a platform from which to enter many disciplines. Interior design projections indicate an increase of 19.3% or 10,900 positions. As the demand for new facilities and renovations create new job opportunities for designers in the future, health related facilities will be a major component of that growth, where health related jobs are projected to have growth rates from more than 20 to 30%.