Read the full story by Kirk Kardashian, published by the Tuck School of Business.

The Master of Health Care Delivery Science program has been recognized for its innovation, leadership, and educational excellence.

“This is essentially the Dartmouth brand, with a twist,” says Josh Kim, right. Kim is Dartmouth’s director of digital learning initiatives. (Photo by Laura DeCapua)

Apple, Inc. has named MHCDS—a collaboration between Tuck and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice (TDI)—a “Distinguished Program” for 2015-2017. The designation recognizes educational programs around the world that display outstanding innovation, leadership, and educational excellence, and it gives such programs a platform to share their insights and methodology with a broad audience of educators, technology specialists, and students.

MHCDS is a unique distance education program that helps health care professionals in every corner of the industry reduce costs and improve patient outcomes. It does this through an 18-month blended learning curriculum that features online and residential courses taught in an integrated way by professors at TDI and Tuck.

The 50 MHCDS participants stay in their careers and communities while enrolled in the program. They visit Dartmouth for short sessions and the rest of the time interact with professors, staff, and colleagues remotely through online educational platforms such as Canvas and iTunes U.

“This recognition from Apple highlights Dartmouth’s approach to distance education,” says Robert Shumsky, professor of operations management and co-faculty director of the MHCDS program. “We’re looking to provide an educational experience that immerses the students in the process, keeps them engaged, and makes sure that what they learn sticks with them and is used.”

The result is an online program that meets Dartmouth’s standards for student engagement and teaching, and aims to endow participants with the knowledge and networks to transform health care delivery. “This is essentially the Dartmouth brand, with a twist,” says Josh Kim, director of digital learning initiatives at Dartmouth. “It’s an intimate, rigorous education for people who can’t live here the whole time.”