Best Online Courses for Health Care Professionals

Every day the health care industry evolves and makes significant advancements with the introduction of new technologies, systems, and ways of working within an organization. As a health care professional, you understand the importance of staying informed and ahead of these changes. The best way to keep pace with the industry is to actively pursue professional development opportunities that will help you provide the best possible care and services to the patients and communities within your scope of work. The good news is, whether you are a nurse, physician, administrator, or executive, there are a wide variety of online health care courses available that can help you achieve your professional and organizational goals.

In order to help you take the next step in your professional development, we have compiled a list of our top professional development courses for health care professionals.

Equity and Access in Medicine

How does your organization address racial equity and access to health care? Offered in conjunction with the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), this five-week course will use real-world examples, case studies, and insights from leaders in the field to help you digest the latest in understanding racial disparities in health care—allowing you to create strategic approaches that you can apply to your organization.

Digital Health and Strategic Transformation

Want to learn how to help your health care organization adopt new digital softwares and products? Join Stanley Y. Shaw, MD, PhD, Associate Dean for Executive Education at Harvard Medical School, to learn about the opportunities and difficulties facing widespread adoption of digital technologies in healthcare. In this four-week course, you’ll explore innovative frameworks that will help you think strategically about adopting and implementing digital transformation in your organization.

Bioethics and Legal Frameworks

Do you work in the reproductive or genetics field of medicine? Do you want to understand the legal implications surrounding reproduction and human genetics? This law course includes interviews with individuals who have used surrogacy and sperm donation, with medical professionals who are experts in current reproductive technologies like In Vitro Fertilization and Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, and bioethicists and journalists who study the ownership and use of genetic information within human tissue. Additional Harvard colleagues will also share with you their thoughts on topics such as disability law as it relates to reproductive technology.

Global and Community Health Initiatives

How can your work impact health on a global scale? This introductory global health course aims to frame global health's collection of problems and actions within a particular biosocial perspective. It develops a toolkit of interdisciplinary analytical approaches and uses them to examine historical and contemporary global health initiatives with careful attention to a critical sociology of knowledge.

Furthermore, if you are looking to impact remote communities, there are specialized programs available. This course, developed in collaboration with the Community Health Academy at Last Mile Health, introduces learners to the core concepts of community health worker programs, and explores what is needed to build and strengthen large-scale programs in order to improve access to high-quality health services.

Pharmaceutical Regulation and Policy

Do you work in pharmaceuticals and want a better understanding of how prescription drugs make their way to the pharmacy’s shelves? This course investigates the major issues affecting the regulatory approval and evidence-based use of prescription drugs. You will learn the rules and regulations governing the pricing, marketing, and safety monitoring of approved prescription drugs and the importance of the FDA in regulating key aspects of the pharmaceutical market.

Summary of Professional Development Topics

• Health Care Strategy: Strategic approaches to organizational goals.
• Digital Health: Adoption and implementation of digital transformation.
• Bioethics: Legal implications of reproductive technologies and human genetics.
• Racial Equity: Understanding disparities and creating strategic access approaches.
• Global Health: Interdisciplinary approaches to biosocial perspectives.
• Community Health: Building and strengthening large-scale programs for high-quality health services.