The Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSoM) is launching its first online program in the Fall 2019 semester; Master of Biomedical Science (MBS). GCSoM is excited to enter the online marketplace officially, now offering one of only a few online MBS programs. Developing the online program required more than just creating online courses, the educational technology infrastructure received upgrades, faculty received extensive training, and an online learning team now exists within the graduate school.
The Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSoM) is launching its first online program in the Fall 2019 semester; the online Master of Biomedical Science (MBS). This initiative developed from the desire to innovate, provide flexibility to our current students, and reach a larger population of students. The MBS degree is designed to help students succeed in furthering their graduate studies, attending a professional school (such as medical, dental, or optometry), gain entry into a health-related field, or for a student to advance within their organization. Since GCSoM’s first MBS class in 2009, the program is a traditional, classroom-based program at the Scranton and Doylestown campuses.
As a medical school, GCSoM values traditional educational delivery methods. When first approached with the idea of taking the MBS program online, faculty and staff members did not have a favorable view of the initiative. Over time, the graduate school’s online learning team was able to win-over enough faculty and staff to make an online MBS program a reality. Obstacles faced include revamping GCSoM’s educational technology applications, redesigning existing classroom-based courses to be delivered online, preparing faculty members to teach online, and preparing staff members to support online students.