Curriculum

Ph.D. Program Requirements

A 60-hour curriculum including a health services related internship and a dissertation that demonstrates a sophisticated knowledge of the topic area.

Courses

The Health Services Research PhD has 60 academic credit hours of course work beyond the Masters’ Degree. The program of study consists of 12 credits of Health Services core courses and 18 credits of Research core courses.The Health Policy Core consists of 6 credits. The cognate includes 6 credits.The internship (3 credits), and the dissertation seminar (3 credits) constitute the culminating course-work. Twelve (12) credits of dissertation credits are required to complete the program. The Program of Study for the PhD in Health Services Research is contained in appendix E. A minimum of two semesters of full-time study is required of students in the program to meet university residency requirements. Course descriptions for the PhD in Health Services Research can be found in appendix F.

Health Services Core (12 Credits)

HLSC 801 Introduction to Health Services
HLSC 809 Multidisciplinary Approaches to Health Services
HLSC 814 Theory in the Health Sciences
HLSC 864 Health Economics

Research Core (18 Credits)

HLSC 810/ PADM 853 Research Design and Application
HLSC 812 Qualitative Research Methods
HLSC 813 Measurement of Health Phenomena
HLSC 846 Epidemiology
HLSC 811 Health Care Research Methods
PADM 804 Program Evaluation

Health Policy Core (6 Credits)

HLSC 815 Decision Analysis
HLSC 872 Policy and Politics of Health

Culminating Courses (6 Credits)

HLSC 868 Internship in Health Services
HLSC 881 Dissertation Seminar

Cognate Courses (6 Credits)

Cognate Areas offer choices for students to specialize in an area inside and outside of the Health Arena. Possibilities include:

Urban Services
Epidemiology
Education of Health Professionals
Environmental Health
Engineering Management
Clinical Research
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Health Psychology
Modeling and Simulation
Demography/GIS
Other areas to be determined by students and faculty

Dissertation (12 Credits)

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COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

HLSC 801 Introduction to Health Services: 3 hours; 3 credits.
This course focuses on the complexities and strategies that are useful in assessing issues related to public health, healthy people/communities and health care delivery in traditional and nontraditional settings, public and private health care regulation and responsibility.

HLSC 809 Multidisciplinary Approaches to Health Services Research: 3 hours; 3 credits.
This course examines health services trends and issues, coalition building, multidisciplinary theory, and application of research from an administrative, educational and public health perspective.

HLSC 810 / PADM 853 Research Design and Application. 3 hours; 3 credits.
This course explores the advantages/disadvantages and uses of non-experimental, quasi-experimental, and experimental designs in health related research with application to management, education and public health issues.

HLSC 811 Health-Care Research Methodologies 3 hours; 3 credits
This course addresses the applied approach to selection and application of bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques in health services research with an emphasis on handling large data sets and the use of a computer for manipulation of quantitative data.

HLSC 812 Qualitative Research Methods 3 hours; 3 credits
This course explores qualitative research methods with an emphasis on participant observation, the generation of grounded theory as well as interviews, focus groups, historical and phenomenological studies, and mixed methods.

HLSC 813 Measurement of Health Phenomena 3 hours; 3 credits.
This course is an overview of measurement theory with emphasis on the development, testing and refinement of norm and criterion-referenced data collection instruments for health related research.

HLSC 814 Theory in the Health Sciences 3 hours; 3 credits.
This course discusses major theories in Health Services and the research that supports them, by examining the standards for evaluation of theories and discussing selected theories from the sciences and health sciences.

HLSC 815 Decision Analysis 3 hours; 3 credits.
This course teaches students the art and science of decision-making and covers expected utility theory, decision tree analysis, cost benefit analysis, and the psychological aspects of the decision-making process in the context of health policy research.

HLSC 846 Epidemiology 3 hours; 3 credits.
This course examines epidemiology as a method of viewing inborn community health problems and as a body of knowledge derived from the method. It teaches skills in using epidemiology as method and knowledge to solve community health problems.

HLSC 868 Internship in Health Services 3 credits Available for pass/fail grading only
This course includes supervised work experience in private as well as public agencies.Requirements include completing a research project that is publishable or presentable at a professional conference.

HLSC 872 Policy and Politics of Health 3 hours; 3 credits.
This course introduces the student to the policy process and background research necessary for policy implementation strategies.It enables the student to develop systematic, analytical frameworks for understanding health and health care policy issues in policy-making.

HLSC 874 Administration in Health Services 3 hours; 3 credits.
This course introduces the resource management and organizational theory pertaining to the delivery of health care and the education of health professionals.

HLSC 881 Dissertation Seminar 3 hours; 3 credits.
This course will assist students to develop a dissertation proposal by introducing the steps in the research process, university guidelines and other resources related to completing their task.

HLSC 864 Health Economics 3 hours; 3 credits.
This course describes the application of economic tools to analyze the operation of markets for health care and insurance with an emphasis on the complexities of economics unique to health care.

HLSC 895 Topics in Health Sciences 3 hours; 3 credits
This course provides a group of advanced students with an opportunity to study special topics of interest to health services researchers.