PhD in Health Services Research-Specialty Tracks

In addition to demonstrated ability in the eight core competency areas, students are expected to select a specialty track: Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, Healthcare Economics or Comparative Effectiveness Research and Evidence-based Medicine. Students may create their own specialty track in conjunction with their advisor. Permission for the plan of study must be obtained by the Graduate Program Director.

Specialty Track in Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmaceutical Health Services Research

The Department of Health Services Policy & Practice is committed to advancing safe, effective, and cost-effective pharmaceutical use.  While drug products and devices are evaluated for efficacy in clinical trials, their population effectiveness is dependent upon their dissemination to patients who can benefit from them while at the same time limiting the adverse consequences inherent to their use.  Students in our graduate program benefit from interdisciplinary, state-of-the-art training in epidemiology and biostatistics and application of real-world data to contemporary gaps in knowledge. These applications broadly span pharmacoepidemiology and pharmaceutical health services research.

Pharmacoepidemiology is the application of the principles of epidemiology to the study the use and effects of medications and other medical devices, generally in large populations.  Most studies examine the adverse events or therapeutic benefits of drugs or medical devices after products have been launched (post-marketing).  Such work is critical to overcome the inherent limitations of pre-marketing studies and for supporting the most appropriate use of medications/devices with respect to safety and effectiveness.

Pharmaceutical health services research moves beyond the risks and benefits of drugs in selected populations to important questions about access, quality, and costs.  Despite the fact that the United States spends more on pharmaceuticals than any other nation, there remain significant disparities in prescribing and utilization, poor adherence, and failure to achieve therapeutic outcomes. 

Specialty Track in Health Economics

The specialty track in health economics offers both economic theory as well as additional methodological training, relying upon the econometric tools used by that discipline but applied to better understanding the demand for health services and the industry factors that influence the distribution and shape of health care services in different markets. Of the increasing number of doctoral training programs in health services research, those built around the discipline of econometrics are prevalent. Nonetheless, few of these programs are designed to give students complete exposure to all aspects of economics as a discipline, then allowing students to specialize in health issues.   

The goal of the specialty track in health economics is to offer additional training in both the theory and methods of economics in order to prepare students to acquire greater substantive and technical competencies such that they can execute a dissertation that has the potential of contributing to the health services literature from the perspective of a health economist. College-level intermediate Microeconomics is required as a prerequisite; and intermediate Econometrics is highly recommended.

To complete this track, students must meet with Dr. Omar Galárraga (track advisor), work with their advisor, and take a minimum of four courses, one of which may be an elective.

Foundational courses: 

·       ECON2320 Economics of Labor and Population

·       ECON2360 Economics of Health and Population

·       PHP2480 Selected Topics in Global Health Economics  

At least one elective, from below: 

·       ECON1360 Health Economics

·       ECON1460 Industrial Organization

·       ECON1530 Health, Hunger and the Household in Developing Countries 

·       ECON1629 Applied Research Methods for Economists

·       ECON2330 Topics in Labor Economics

Specialty Track in Comparative Effectiveness Research and Evidence-based Medicine

Students selecting this emphasis area will learn about evidence synthesis, including systematic review and meta-analysis, for assessing the effectiveness and safety of interventions, and decision, economic [such as net health benefit, cost-utility, or cost-effectiveness], and value-of-information analysis, to identify “good” decisions to clinical, population health and economic questions.