Health Services Research and Policy PhD
Major: Health Services Research and Policy
Degree Awarded: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 90.0
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 44.0503
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 11-9111
About the Program
The Doctor of Philosophy in Health Services Research and Policy equips students with the skills to identify and answer important questions regarding health services, systems, and policies in the United States and to disseminate and translate findings into actions that improve health. Students will benefit from engagement with the Department of Health Management and Policy’s interdisciplinary faculty, the Dornsife School of Public Health’s emphasis on urban health and social justice, and the School’s location in Philadelphia—the 6th largest city in the United States where dynamic networks of academic, government, non-profit, and community-based organizations share a commitment to addressing health problems.
The program prepares researchers and scholars for careers in universities and other organizations, such as governmental agencies and private health-related industries (insurers, pharmaceuticals, philanthropic foundations, etc.), where health services research is conducted. Graduates will serve to improve the US health care system and individual and population health outcomes through research and advocacy.
The program’s four core areas of study are based on principles articulated in the Institute of Medicine report on Health Services Research: Training and Workforce Issues:
- Social and Political Determinants of Health and Health Systems: The multi-level factors that affect the health of individuals and populations and that undergird US health systems.
- Research Methods: The methods for investigating health services research and policy questions that involve collecting, analyzing, and interpreting health and health services data.
- Health Economics: The supply and demand of health care resources and the impact of allocation and scarcity of these resources on populations.
- Implementation Science: Approaches to designing and implementing health services interventions at multiple levels using community engagement strategies.
- Research Specialization: Elective courses outside of program requirements selected at the student’s discretion, with faculty mentor approval, that focus on topics applicable to the student’s research interests.
Students will take a comprehensive exam that requires them to synthesize coursework and demonstrate mastery of public health competencies. Students will then develop and defend a dissertation proposal and complete a dissertation of publishable quality and final defense.
Major Competencies
- Weigh the social, political, behavioral, and economic contexts of health and health services
- Develop and use theoretical frameworks to formulate testable research questions in health services research
- Apply quantitative and mixed methods to answer health services research questions
- Translate and disseminate research findings to inform health services practice and policy
- Ensure the ethical and responsible conduct of health services and policy research
Additional Information
For more information about this program, please contact:
DSPH Academic Advising Team
Office of Education
dsphadvising@drexel.edu
Additional information can be found on the Dornsife School of Public Health website, including admissions criteria and how to apply.
Degree Requirements
| Required Courses * | ||
| BST 555 | Introduction to Statistical Computing | 3.0 |
| or BST 559 | Intermediate SAS | |
| EPI 560 | Intermediate Epidemiology | 3.0 |
| HMP 802 | Health and Human Rights | 3.0 |
| HMP 810 | Health Services Research | 3.0 |
| HMP 811 | Legal Aspects of Public Health | 3.0 |
| HMP 814 | Research and Practice Workshop ((taken twice at 1.5 credits each)) | 3.0 |
| HMP 815 | Cost Benefit Analysis for Health Services | 3.0 |
| HMP 817 | Public Health Workforce: Pedagogy and Development | 3.0 |
| HMP 820 | Methods in Implementation Science | 3.0 |
| HMP 852 | Health Economics I | 3.0 |
| HMP 853 | Health Economics II | 3.0 |
| PBHL 501 | Introduction to Public Health * | 0.0 |
| RCRG 600 | An Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research | 0.0 |
| Research Methods Selective (Select three) | 9.0 | |
| Survival Data Analysis | ||
| Applied Multivariate Analysis | ||
| Intermediate Biostatistics I | ||
| Qualitative Research in Community Health | ||
| Econometrics | ||
| Introduction to GIS for Public Health | ||
| Implementation and Translation Selective (Select one) | 3.0 | |
| Measuring Health | ||
| Health Systems Policy Analysis | ||
| Policy Analysis for Population Health | ||
| Electives ** | 27.0 | |
| Pre-Dissertation Research | 9.0 | |
| Pre-Dissertation Research | ||
| Dissertation (9.0 credit minimum) | 9.0 | |
| PhD Dissertation Guidance | ||
| Total Credits | 90.0 | |
- *
Students without an MPH from a CEPH-accredited school of public health are required to take HMP 500 and HMP 501 before the end of their first year of coursework.
- **
Foundational Public Health Learning Objectives: PBHL 501 is only required for students who do not have a degree from a CEPH accredited school.
- ***
15.0 credits from a student's master's degree may count towards the electives requirement. For the remaining credits, students will work in consultation with their faculty mentor to select electives that focus on the student's research and professional development needs. These electives are courses at the 500-999 level for the following: BST, CHP, COM, ECON, EOH, EPI, HMP, PBHL, PSY.
At least 2 electives must be at the 800-level.
Sample Plan of Study
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| HMP 802 | 3.0 | BST 555 or 559 | 3.0 | EPI 560 | 3.0 | VACATION | |
| HMP 810 | 3.0 | HMP 811 | 3.0 | HMP 814 | 1.5 | ||
| HMP 852 | 3.0 | HMP 853 | 3.0 | HMP 815 | 3.0 | ||
| PBHL 501* | 0.0 | RCRG 600 | 0.0 | Elective** | 3.0 | ||
| Elective** | 3.0 | Elective** | 3.0 | Research Methods Selective | 3.0 | ||
| Research Methods Selective | 3.0 | ||||||
| 12 | 15 | 13.5 | 0 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| HMP 817 | 3.0 | HMP 997 | 3.0 | HMP 814 | 1.5 | VACATION | |
| HMP 820 | 3.0 | Electives | 9.0 | HMP 997 | 6.0 | ||
| Elective** | 3.0 | Implementation and Translation Science Selective | 3.0 | ||||
| Research Methods Selective | 3.0 | Elective** | 3.0 | ||||
| 12 | 12 | 13.5 | 0 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| HMP 999 | 3.0-9.0 | HMP 999 | 3.0-9.0 | HMP 999 | 3.0-9.0 | ||
| Elective | 3.0 | ||||||
| 6-12 | 3-9 | 3-9 | |||||
| Total Credits 90-108 | |||||||
- *
PBHL 501 is only required for students who do not have a degree from a CEPH accredited school.
- **
Electives that are satisfied through 15.0 credits from a student's master's degree
