Ahead of the Curve: Army-Baylor Builds AI Fluency Across the Program
As artificial intelligence (AI) moves rapidly from novelty to necessity in health care, the Army-Baylor Graduate Program in Health and Business Administration has launched two initiatives designed to ensure its graduates lead that change rather than react to it. The first builds AI expertise into the degree through a new program of study. The second delivers foundational AI training to students, faculty and the wider military health enterprise.
Beginning with the Class of 2026-2028, students will have the opportunity to earn a concentration in Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics. The 13-credit concentration pairs four didactic courses with a residency requirement: HCA 5315 Foundations of Applied Artificial Intelligence, HCA 5317 Digital Health Strategy, HCA 5358 Quantitative Methods II: Modern Data Science, and a three-hour AI-focused elective drawn from HCA 5311 Business Analytics for Healthcare Leaders or HCA 5V93 Selected Topics in Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics.
The capstone of the concentration is a one-credit residency requirement, completed during the residency year. Students carry out an approved artificial intelligence or advanced analytics project in a real-world health care setting under a qualified preceptor, with the work reviewed by the program's Residency Committee. Faculty must validate that the project meaningfully applies AI in practice – a deliberate check that the concentration produces applied capability, not classroom familiarity. The curriculum is aligned with the Department of War's digital modernization priorities and CAHME competency standards.
The program’s second initiative extends that same foundation beyond the classroom. Foundations of Applied Artificial Intelligence in Health Care is a 40-hour executive short course taught by a team of Army-Baylor faculty: Dr. Christine Downs, who serves as course lead, Dr. Jared Black and Dr. Kim Decker. The course couples theory with hands-on exercises, coaching participants through scenarios that build capability in evaluating and applying AI tools and awards an Army-Baylor completion certificate and digital badge.
Originally piloted with Army-Baylor faculty, the short course has since been taught at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and at the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Future iterations in the fall of 2026 are scheduled for delivery in Landstuhl, Germany, and Fort Carson, Colorado. We are proud of our Army-Baylor instructors bringing this important training directly to the operational force.
The Foundations of AI course has also become a core class for all incoming Army-Baylor students. The intent is practical and immediate: teach the basic “under the hood” architecture of AI, sharpen the ability to detect false or inaccurate output, and build capacity in using the tools competently and ethically.
Taken together, these initiatives position Army-Baylor students at the cutting edge of a technology reshaping the profession they are preparing to lead.
