Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality

Program Overview

The Master of Applied Science (MAS) is a fully online, part-time degree designed for working professionals, delivered through the Online Programs for Applied Learning (OPAL). Programs focus on emergent industry sectors in public health and health care that have a need for highly skilled professionals. By building on the strengths of the School, they provide unmatched opportunities for advanced training and focus on both local and global health issues. Students are prepared to create innovative solutions through multidisciplinary approaches that apply the latest scientific knowledge. All MAS programs will culminate in a final Integrative Activity. The goal of this activity is for students to synthesize knowledge and skills obtained through coursework in a final project that demonstrates mastery of program competencies, as applied to real-world public health and health care questions. Students can complete their degree program in as little as two years, but are allowed up to four years.

The Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality master's program is an interdisciplinary degree offered by the Johns Hopkins University. It is a first of its kind collaboration between the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. It combines coursework from JHU's top-ranked schools with the Armstrong Institute's pioneering advances in patient safety. The program is designed to educate students in the transformative mechanisms and evidence-based protocols that reduce preventable patient harm and improve clinical outcomes.

LinkedIn Group

We have established a LinkedIn group for each of the OPAL program areas in order to strengthen connections between current students, faculty, and alumni of OPAL programs, as well as to facilitate student-to-student peer networking.

Participation is voluntary, but we encourage students to join this professional networking community.

BSPH OPAL Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality

Additional Public Health Learning Resources

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Public Health Training Center provides links to many of its online learning resources, as well as external resources, databases and public health organizations. These can be used to supplement learning on a particular topic, or provide background material. Many of these resources are available for free via their website.

The Welch Medical Library at Johns Hopkins has many resources related to research, writing and documentation on their YouTube channel.

The School has a number of research and practice related seminar series that occur throughout the year and contribute to the intellectual community of the School, for students, staff, and faculty.  The Bloomberg School has a website that provides some additional resources for practitioners as well.

Practitioners can also access dozens of courses from Bloomberg School faculty on Coursera. Practice-focused offerings include courses on topics such as gun violence, food systems, health equity, biostatistics, and epidemiology, among others. 

MAS in Patient Safety Contact Information

MAS Program Advisers

Albert Wu, MD
Professor and Program Director, MAS Program Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality
Email: [email protected]

Matthew Austin, PhD
Assistant Professor
Email: [email protected]

Cheryl Connors
Associate
Email: [email protected]

Paula Kent, DrPH, MSN, MBA
Associate Scientist
Email: [email protected]

Julia Kim, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Email: [email protected]

Michael Rosen, PhD
Assistant Professor
Email: [email protected]

For Program-wide Issues

Elizabeth F. Topper, PhD, MEd, MPH
Senior Lecturer and Director, Online Programs for Applied Learning (OPAL)
Email: [email protected]

PROGRAM COMPETENCIES

The Master of Applied Science in Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality is an interdisciplinary degree offered fully online. It spans several divisions across Johns Hopkins University. Faculty at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing contribute to the program via course development, teaching, and advising students. The topics and concepts educate students in the transformative mechanisms and evidence-based protocols that reduce preventable patient harm and improve clinical outcomes.

By the end of the program, students should be able to:

1. Describe several frameworks and theories for assessing and improving the quality of care
2. Describe current key policy and programmatic areas in quality of care
3. Describe how to assess quality of care for a medical condition
4. Describe key elements of published quality assessment and improvement studies
5. Articulate how to develop a workable quality improvement and evaluation plan
6. Recognize the extent of problems in patient safety in medical care
7. Describe the role of various systems and factors in creating safety and causing errors and adverse events
8. Discuss problems and issues in measuring and reporting safety
9. Demonstrate knowledge of the basics of conducting an incident investigation and disclosing an adverse event
10. Design solutions to improve patient safety
11. Articulate the ethical, legal, and regulatory implications related to patient safety

Hopkins invests in developing global perspectives so students can be engaged citizens wherever they are.

As a global university with students from all over the world, we welcome all kinds of experiences and new ways of thinking. We’re here to connect international students with the resources you need to become leaders and active members in our community and beyond. 

Please email [email protected] with any general international admissions questions. You can also email your regional admissions counselor if you have any questions specific to the area where you live or study.