Health Policy and Administration
Doctor of Philosophy
The EPH doctoral program with a concentration in Health Policy is
designed to educate scholars who can:
- draw upon the conceptual perspectives of the social sciences
that are relevant to improved health, more effective health policymaking,
and high quality health care;
- apply knowledge derived from public health sciences to issues
relevant to health services and health policy research;
- creatively extend this collective knowledge to current and
emerging issues in the health care field.
Health Policy doctoral students specialize in one of two tracks:
policy-epidemiology or health economics. Students usually complete
the degree in four to five years. Courses are taken in four general
content areas: Political Science/Policy Analysis, Biostatistics/Econometrics,
Epidemiology, and Economics/Finance, as well as in an area of substantive
specialization. Students are encouraged to become members of the faculty-directed research projects in order to develop their
research skills.
Research Areas
Research in the division applies the methods and theories of economics,
epidemiology, and political science to study the processes by which
health policies are created and implemented, the consequences of
health care interventions to quality of care and quality of life,
and the management of health care systems and institutions.
Current Divisional Research Projects:
Redesigning health policy interventions to more accurately reflect how people understand and respond to uncertain prospects. Simulation models to explore the costs and consequences of alternative patient care strategies for major chronic diseases such as AIDS and asthma. Impact of work life and habits on health. -
Economic and policy analysis of substance abuse (drugs, alcohol, and smoking) including treatment effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and outcomes.
Quality improvement efforts in the care of older adults. Factors influencing physician decision-making, including patient selection, referral patterns, procedure use and technology adoption. The impact of states’ mandates on programs and regulatory policies: children’s Medicaid coverage and enrollment rates, geographic variations in managed care penetration, and managed care’s impact on physician’s practices. Determining how people interpret and respond to problematic medical experiences. Examining the impact of health care spending on the economic well-being of households. Studies of how the general public and political leaders understand health and social policies. End-of-life care such as use and impact of hospice care. -
Economic analysis of the long term impacts of childhood illness (depression, ADHD, obesity) on life outcomes (educational attainment, substance use, criminal activities).
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Affects of risk disclosure on use of prescription drugs (e.g., antidepressants and suicidal risk).
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Impact of health insurance design on cost, quality and access.
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Test how framing of obesity-related policies affects public attitudes.
Funding Opportunities:
Many faculty have grants
which can be supplemented to provide training-related expenses
and stipends.
Learning Objectives
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for a Ph.D. at the Graduate School
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