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Department of Health Services, Policy & Practice

Doctoral Program

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SPH students

Apply to our program

Start the next chapter of your career by studying health services at Brown University.

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Program Handbook

Health Services Research Doctoral Program Handbook 2023-2024 Academic Year

Download the handbook (PDF)
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Advisor Handbook

Health Services Research Doctoral Program Advisor Handbook 2023-2024 Academic Year

Download the handbook (PDF)

Doctoral Program

The Health Services Research (HSR) doctoral program offers training in research methods to advance knowledge of issues central to the improvement of population health by focusing on organizational characteristics of health care delivery systems, providers and economic forces that shape consumer and provider behavior, as well as the policy environment in which these relationships exist.

The competency-based curriculum provides students with a strong analytic foundation and general health services research orientation. Students may select an emphasis area in Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, Health Economics, and Comparative Effectiveness Research and Evidence-based Medicine.

Ph.D. in Health Services Research

Dive into the curriculum, proficiencies, and highlights of our doctoral program

Program Highlights 

  • Faculty who are leaders in the field of health economics, synthesis, aging, and health policy
  • Outstanding student-to-faculty ratio
  • Opportunities to engage in research from your very first semester
  • Opportunities for teaching including an optional teaching certificate
  • Training in grant writing (many students obtain federally-funded dissertation grants)
  • Guaranteed funding for up to five years, including summers
  • Opportunities to work on applied research projects with external partners

The Health Services Research (HSR) doctoral program in offers training in research methods to advance knowledge of issues central to the improvement of population health by focusing on organizational characteristics of health care delivery systems, providers and economic forces that shape consumer and provider behavior, as well as the policy environment in which these relationships exist.

Students may opt to take a general HSR track or an emphasis area in:

  • Pharmacoepidemiology
  • Health Economics
  • Comparative Effectiveness Research and Evidence-based Medicine
  • or a customized analytic track.

Core courses:

  • PHP2446: HSR Doctoral Seminar: Financing & Delivery (Fall semester), required for Year 1
  • PHP2447: HSR Doctoral Seminar: Quality & Equity (Spring semester), required for Year 1
  • PHP2090: Research Grant Writing for Public Health, required for Year 2
  • PHP2150: Foundations in Epidemiologic Research Methods, elective  
  • PHP2200: Intermediate Methods in Epidemiologic Research, required in Year 1
  • PHP2510: Principals of Biostatistics and Data, elective
  • PHP2511: Applied Regression Analysis, elective
  • PHP2455A: Health Services Research Methods I, required for Year 2
  • PHP2455B Health Services Research Methods II, required for Year 2
  • PHP2980: Graduate Independent Student Study and/or Thesis Research

Students are also expected to:

  1. Complete PHP1001, an online, noncredit introductory course
  2. Complete a noncredit online introductory course on Stata (required Year 1)
  3. Participate in the journal club series
  4. Complete the noncredit Responsible Conduct in Research (RCR) course

Within the Department, the major requirements for the Ph.D. are:

  • Completion of three years of course work (two with a prior graduate degree)  
  • Demonstration of reaching experience via one TAship and one Teaching Experience with a focus on course design
  • Synthesis of a core body of knowledge, evaluated via written examination.
  • Demonstration of readiness to undertake original research, via oral presentation of prospectus or written dissertation proposal (oral exam).
  • Submission of a dissertation grant to an external funder.
  • Completion and oral defense of a dissertation that makes an original contribution to the chosen field of study

Upon completion of the Ph.D. program, students are expected to have proficiency in the following areas:

  • Developing a strong foundation in contemporary approaches to health services research
  • Designing a research study that can appropriately and efficiently examining a health services research question; writing and submitting a proposal to support and fund this research
  • Conducting appropriate analyses of health research data using standard regression models in Stata, SAS or R
  • Distinguishing between association and causation based on counterfactual theory to make causal inference using data obtained from experimental and quasi-experimental studies
  • Learning to interpret and integrate multiple lines of scientific evidence concerning a particular topic of importance to the field of health services research
  • Communicating scientific finding effectively
  • Demonstrating mastery of a substantive area
  • Reviewing, critically analyzing and synthesizing existing health services research literature to identify meaningful gaps in current knowledge and formulate research objectives

Ph.D. Funding

As a result of Brown's commitment to high quality education, all students admitted into the Ph.D. program receive full scholarships that include tuition, healthcare and a research-assistant-based stipend for five years of graduate study.

See details

Health Services Research (HSR) Doctoral Program Contacts

  • David Meyers

    Assistant Professor, PhD Program Director
    david_meyers@brown.edu
  • Alyssa Bilinski

    Peterson Family Assistant Professor Of Health Policy, Assistant Professor Of Health Services, Policy And Practice And Biostatistics, HSR Ph.D. Admissions Director
    Alyssa_Bilinski@Brown.edu
  • Emmanuelle Belanger

    Associate Professor, HSR Ph.D. Admissions Director
    Emmanuelle_Belanger@brown.edu

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Health Services Research Hour

We look forward to meeting you and answering your questions about Health Services Research!

HSR Hour form
SPH students

Apply to our program

Start the next chapter of your career by studying health services at Brown University.

Application information
SPH logo

Program Handbook

Health Services Research Doctoral Program Handbook 2023-2024 Academic Year

Download the handbook (PDF)
SPH logo

Advisor Handbook

Health Services Research Doctoral Program Advisor Handbook 2023-2024 Academic Year

Download the handbook (PDF)
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