Walden MHA + UMHS

Now that UMHS is approved for loans through Sallie Mae, this may not be as big of deal as it was before. Prior to the approval of private loans, the school only offered a small institutional loan so those that could not pay out of pocket for school needed to get money from elsewhere. Many turned to getting their Masters either through Walden University or Davenport University. UMHS partnered with these universities and they agreed to give us a 20% discount off our Masters tuition if we were enrolled with UMHS.

Walden University offers many programs but most students are in either the Masters in Healthcare Adminitration (MHA) program or Masters in Public Health (MPH). Davenport offers Masters in Buisness Administration (MBA). The MHA program consists of 8 weeks classes and I believe the MPH is 12 week classes. This is one reason I chose the MHA program because the semesters aligned up with UMHS' schedule so well.

I'm going to talk about the MHA program because that is the one I am currently enrolled in. I am a "part-time" student with walden which means I take 1 class a semester (every 16 weeks). UMHS' semesters are also 16 weeks so it means I take 8 weeks on and 8 weeks off for a total of 3 classes a year. I always chose to take the class the first 8 weeks of the semester because towards the end of the UMHS semester I wouldn't have to worry about dual studying during finals.

With 3 classes per year and a total of 12 classes, it places me at completing in 4 years, about the same time I graduate from UMHS.

A little note of advice, when I was planning out how long it would take me, I knew UMHS was a 10 semester program (or 11 but I did the med program). I thought it would be an excellent idea to take 2 classes the semester before I got to the island because then it would align prefectly. Well, I didn't take into account that everyone takes a semester off in between Maine and rotations to studying for Step 1 and move to an new location etc. I also didn't take into consideration that rotations naturally aren't going to be back to back. Sometimes you have 2 weeks here, 2 weeks there, time you take to study for Step 2 etc. So currently I have 3 more classes to complete which places me graduating with my MHA in June 2016 but probably won't receive my doctorate until the earliest of Sept 2016 or Dec 2016.

I work probably 10 hours per week on Walden sometimes 15 depending on what is due. For the most part you have things due on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Can't believe I'm almost done, 3/4 of the way finished, only 3 classes to go!