PhD Health Services Research

In addition to the general Doctor of Philosophy degree competencies, graduates with a concentration in Health Services Research will:

1. Know how to apply alternative theoretical and conceptual models relevant to health services research (HSR);
2. Apply in-depth disciplinary knowledge and skills relevant to health services research, and pose innovative and important research questions, informed by systematic reviews of the literature, stakeholder needs, and relevant theoretical and conceptual models;
3. Use knowledge of the structures, performance, quality, policy, and societal context of health and health care to formulate solutions for health policy problems;
4. Select appropriate interventional (experimental and quasi-experimental) study designs to address specific health services research questions, and use appropriate analytical methods to clarify associations between variables and to delineate causal inferences;
5. Introduce how to collect primary health and health care data obtained by survey, qualitative, or mixed methods;
6. Know how to assemble secondary data from existing public and private data sources;
7. Use a conceptual model to specify study constructs for a health services research question and develop variables that reliably and validly measure these constructs;
8. Implement research protocols with standardized procedures that assure reproducibility of the science;
9. Assure the ethical and responsible conduct of research in the design, implementation, and dissemination of health services research; and
10. Effectively communicate the findings and implications of health services research through multiple modalities to technical and lay audiences.