In Nashville But Also Designed for Those Regional Offices Across the U.S.

Contact: Carla Angelo-Arbogast; Director
Center for Advanced Systems Research and Education
Industrial and Systems Engineering
University of Tennessee
865-974-9965

Nashville has a new program designed to support excellence in Healthcare. The University of Tennessee is starting a Cohort Program for a Doctors, Nurses, Managers, and other Healthcare Leaders.  As a healthcare professional with operational experience, you can now obtain a Master of Science in Industrial & Healthcare Systems Engineering/Operational Excellence.

The Master of Science in Industrial & Healthcare Systems Engineering/Operational Excellence provides existing healthcare practitioners interested in joining the rapidly expanding field of healthcare systems, with models and tools such as quantitative analysis, systems modeling, and computer simulation for effective decision making in healthcare organizations and systems. The program is tailored to meet the needs of a broad range of working professionals interested in leading health care systems engineering and management initiatives.

Students complete 33 credit hours. This includes a three credit hour capstone project that emphasizes the integration and application of theory, concepts and procedures in several areas including, but not limited to, engineering economy, systems, inventory and production control, operations research, and manufacturing processes. The student’s ability to apply this material will be of fundamental importance to succeed in this program.

History:

Today’s busy lifestyles have made it almost impossible for non-traditional students to go back to school in part due to work demands and family obligations. Stress levels have sharply increased and work life balance has become more of a juggling act. The rise in demands for an advanced degree not based on want but need to stay competitive in a tuff job market has also created a need for onsite extended degreed programs. A recent study indicates that participation in adult education has grown steadily over the past three decades (Kim and Creighton 2000; Creighton and Hudson 2002).

The onsite cohort program began in 2011 when Dr. Rupy Sawhney responded to the unique needs of the non-traditional student. Seeking to redesign the structure of the traditional college experience and better understand the need, he structured the cohort program to accommodate the non-traditional student while creating value to their organization by utilizing the project-based assignments to show immediate ROI on the educational investment of the employer or employee. The organization benefits almost immediately because the project based learning structure has a direct value cost saving metric attached to it.

Success Matters:

With traditional graduate education, success rate is at approximately 40% our blended learning format has a graduation success rate of 98%. In addition to the graduation success rate of our program participating companies have seen a substantial return on investment due to project based learning that establishes innovative concepts that save in obsolescence cost avoidance while developing their workforce with real world problem solving capabilities.

Unlike traditional programs, all participants have completed the program in 2 years. To date we have had five cohorts with 67 graduates. Of those graduates, many have been promoted within their organizations. The sixth and seventh cohorts are currently underway with 40 participants. We will begin a new cohort spring of 2018 focused on Healthcare Systems and Operational Excellence.

For more information, please contact: Carla Arbogast 865-974-9965

Master of Science in Industrial Engineering with a Concentration in Healthcare Systems/Operational Excellence

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Here is an Example of the Types of Courses:

Core Courses

IE 516 Statistical Methods in Industrial Engineering Three credit hours

The application of classical statistical techniques to industrial engineering problems. Statistics and statistical thinking in managerial context of organizational improvement; descriptive statistics and distribution theory; relationship between statistical process control techniques and classical statistical tools; parameter estimation and hypothesis testing; goodness-of-fit testing; linear regression and correlation; analysis of variance; single and multiple factor experimental design.

IE 518 Advanced Engineering Economic Analysis Three credit hours

The application of engineering economic analysis in complex decision situations. Inflation and price changes; uncertainty evaluation using non-probabilistic techniques; capital financing and project allocation; evaluations involving equipment replacement, investor-owned utilities, and public works projects; probabilistic risk analysis including computer simulation and decision trees; multi-attribute decision analysis; and other advanced topics.

IE 522 Optimization Methods in Industrial/Systems Engineering Three credit hours

Classical optimization applied to constrained and unconstrained, non-linear, multi-variable functions; search techniques; decision making under uncertainty; game theory; and dynamic programming. This course will develop skills required to identify opportunities and manage the implementation of an optimization-based decision support tool.

Systems Engineering Courses

IE 591 Healthcare Systems Thinking Three credit hours

As people and institutions become more complex and interconnected, only those that can navigate this complexity and approach challenges from a systems perspective will develop sustainable solutions. Traditional analysis focuses on individual constituent parts of what is being studied. This course will introduce students to a system thinking approach to problem-solving.

IE 592 System Requirements in Healthcare Engineering Three credit hours

Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary approach to design, implementation, and evaluation that is key to the successful development of complex systems. This course introduces students to the fundamental principles of systems engineering and their application to the development of complex systems. Students address typical systems engineering problems that highlight important issues and methods of problem resolution.

IE 527 Lean Healthcare Systems Three credit hours

Strategies for planning, development, and implementation of Lean. Emphasis is on the integration of people, technology, processes and information dimensions (including product development, production, and extended supply chain) into unified frameworks. Applications will be implemented into the industry with work to further develop lean principles.

IE 517 Reliability of Lean Systems in Healthcare Three credit hours

The course is divided into two major components. The first half of the course will focus on introducing the students to the concepts of reliability and maintainability and the impact of lean on the reliability of complex systems. The concepts of reliability engineering are utilized to address lean system failures, including equipment failures, human failures, material failures and scheduling failures. Will develop the ability to design systems that are both lean and reliable. The second half of the course will introduce students to specific case studies of systems failures and ask the student to develop solutions by considering different dimensions including financial, technical feasibility, risk, safety, security, and others. Multi-criteria decision-making methodologies will be presented to allow students to make decisions when different criteria lead to conflicting solutions.

Example of Support Courses

EMNG 536 Project Management for Healthcare Three credit hours

Development and management of engineering and technology projects. Project proposal preparation; resource and cost estimating; and project planning, organizing, and controlling network diagrams and other techniques. The role of the project manager: team building, conflict resolution, and contract negotiations. Discussion of typical problems and alternative solutions. Case studies and student projects.

IE 515 Advanced Production and Inventory Systems Focused on Healthcare Operations Three credit hours

This course takes a systematic approach to minimize cost and improve efficiencies in the supply chain that can be applied to healthcare operations to increase patient throughput, minimize resource utilization and streamline processes that improve overall inefficiencies in daily operations within the healthcare organization. Material requirements planning, production planning and master scheduling; just-in-time concepts; distribution requirements planning and other selected topics.

IE 519 Human Factors on Healthcare Three credit hours

This course takes into account human strengths and limitations in the design of interactive systems that involve people and work environments. Human as biomechanical system; human information processing; minimization of human error; anthropometry; anatomy and physiology; physical and mental workload; effects of environmental factors: temperature, lighting, weightlessness, and vibration on humans; manual materials handling and back injuries; design of workstations and office ergonomics; design of displays and controls; hand tool design; and cumulative trauma injuries.

Capstone Study

IE 501 Systems Capstone Project Three credit hours

A project base capstone that builds upon elements of the curriculum and integrates the knowledge and skills learned with systems decision making and addresses defined problems in healthcare with innovative sustainable solutions.