Health Services Research and Policy, PhD

Required Public Health Core Courses

• EPIDEM 2110 - PRINCIPLES OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
• PUBHLT 2011 - ESSENTIALS OF PUBLIC HEALTH
• PUBHLT 2022 - THE DEAN’S PUBLIC HEALTH GRAND ROUNDS

Required HPM Core Courses

• BIOST 2041 - INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL METHODS
• BIOST 2049 - APPLIED REGRESSION ANALYSIS
• BIOST 2050 - LONGITUDINAL AND CLUSTERED DATA ANALYSIS
• HPM 2905 - QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN FOR HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• HPM 3000 - DOCTORAL RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR PART 1
• HPM 3001 - DOCTORAL RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR PART 2
• HPM 3010 - SEMINAR ON ORGANIZATIONAL STUDIES: HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS AND ENVIRONMENTS

• *HPM 3010 and HPM 3125 are offered alternating years; taken in either the first or second year 

• HPM 3064 - HEALTH POLICY ANALYSIS
• HPM 3065 - ADVANCED HEALTH POLICY ANALYSIS: IMPLEMENTATION, EVALUATION, AND TRANSLATION
• HPM 3125 - INTERMEDIATE HEALTH ECONOMICS

• *HPM 3010 and HPM 3125 are offered alternating years; taken in either the first or second year 

• HPM 3501 - SEMINAR IN HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH METHODS 1
• HPM 3502 - SEMINAR IN HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH METHODS 2
• HPM 3505 - ADVANCED EMPIRICAL MICROECONOMICS METHODS WITH APPLICATIONS FOR HEALTHCARE RESEARCH
• HPM 3506 - DISSERTATION GRANT WRITING CAPSTONE

Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree:

(Note: This is not a complete list of requirements.)

For an overview of University-wide regulations for doctoral students, see Regulations Pertaining to Doctoral Degrees. All Pitt Public Health doctoral students must:

• Complete specific courses as determined by the program or the school, including at least 3 credits of 3100 (dissertation) or one term of FTDR (full-time dissertation research).
• Fulfill the University’s residency requirement.
• Satisfactorily complete the preliminary/qualifying examination, the comprehensive examination, the dissertation overview, the dissertation defense, and the annual Individual Development Plan.
• Meet the requirement for proficiency in tools of research.
• Register for two terms of Public Health Grand Rounds.
• Complete the online Academic Integrity Modules in the first semester.

Individual programs will provide specific information on fulfillment of these requirements.

The Health Services Research and Policy (HSRP) PhD program meets an ongoing need for public health researchers who focus on cost, access and quality of the health care system. Graduates will be prepared to conduct research on policy issues affecting the organization, financing, and delivery of health care and public health services.

The PhD requires a minimum of 72 credits. Students will work with their academic advisors to develop an area of focus with at least 12 credits (included in the 72 credit total) that focuses on a discipline or area of interest. The area of focus is the opportunity for students to gain specialized skills and knowledge relevant to their chosen research area. The courses for the area of focus can be based in a traditional discipline, an established field, or can be thematically linked based on the students’ interests and goals. For example, students may choose from a traditional discipline such as economics, psychology, sociology or bioethics. Others may choose to focus on a technical area such as quantitative or qualitative research methods or survey design, or a substantive area such as quality and patient safety, gerontology, pharmacoeconomics, substance abuse, or mental health. Students must successfully pass a preliminary exam given after the first year, a comprehensive exam given after the second year, and typically present their dissertation overview towards the end of the third year. The doctoral dissertation will take the form of three thematically linked manuscripts of publishable quality. 

PhD Curriculum