Admission Requirements:

Applicants must:

1. Have a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, with a minimum 2.7 GPA or 3.0 in the last half of the undergraduate program:
2. Meet the Graduate School admission requirements:
3. Submit a one-page personal statement describing their professional history and goals in dementia care (see guidelines below). Please send your Personal Statement to Admissions, along with your application to the Graduate School. Also, send a copy to the advisor of the Graduate Certificate in Dementia program.
4. Have an interview with the certificate coordinator.

A student does not have to be enrolled in a graduate degree program. Please note that credit earned for the Graduate Certificate may count, subject to applicability, toward a graduate degree.

Personal Statement Guidelines:

• How did you become interested in the field of dementia care?
• What personal experiences have you had with persons with dementia or their families?
• What professional experiences have you had with persons with dementia or their families?
• Have you taken any college courses in the area of dementia care?
• What skills have you developed in working/communicating with individuals with dementia?
• Do you have any clinical or leadership experience in the field of dementia care?
• What are the areas in dementia care that you wish to learn more about?
• What types of care settings would you want to have experiences in? (Home care, assisted living, adult day care, long-term care, community-based service agencies?
• Do you have an interest in education or training others in dementia care?
• What are your career plans in the field of dementia care?

School Information:

School of Health Sciences - College of Health and Human Services

Advisor Information:

Fieldwork Opportunities:

A unique feature of this program is the fieldwork experiences that have been integrated into most courses. Assignments are customized, enabling students from different disciplines to complete projects in their own work settings. The Alzheimer’s Education Program team makes on-site visits, when feasible, to see students’ work in progress and to offer concrete feedback and mentoring. The instructional team is committed to individualizing projects so that students can explore challenging issues in more depth in their own work settings. This hands-on approach to learning enables students to refine their clinical and leadership skills and to become more effective clinicians/administrators.

The Alzheimer’s Education Program has affiliations with several local clinical programs including Huron Woods, a residential dementia care program located on the campus of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, the Alzheimer’s Association and The Silver Club, an adult day program designed specifically for persons with dementia.

Scholarship Opportunities:

Several scholarships — the Edna Gates Scholarship in Dementia Care, the Mary Schroder Scholarship and the Sarah Graf Scholarship — are available to students enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Dementia program. Awards are generally granted for the fall term.

Degree Requirements: 12-13 hours

The Graduate Certificate in Dementia is awarded upon satisfactory completion of 12-13 hours. This includes five required core courses, a 120-hour internship and enrollment in a practicum seminar.

The minimum acceptable grade in each required course is a B (3.0). Students scoring less than a B may repeat the course once before being dismissed from the program.