The basic aim of the Department is to maintain and enhance the academic excellence of doctoral studies in Sociology on the UCSF campus, while diversifying and developing new teaching, research, and service activities, and innovative programs that complement current offerings. More specifically, the goal is to maintain a position of strength among the nation's graduate programs that are training medical sociologists. SBS is part of the newly formed Center for Health and Community, a group of health policy and social sciences departments and research units with a common mission that includes advancing innovative partnerships and interdisciplinary programs.
Enrollment is open to students with a bachelors or masters degree in sociology or a related field.
Entering students proceed through a program of coursework, preliminary and qualifying examinations, and dissertation preparation. The program's substantive emphases lie in the sociology and social psychology of health and illness and health care policy and institutions. The theoretical bases of the program focus on classical, interactionist, and contemporary perspectives, and the program has a dual orientation toward qualitative and quantitative research methods. These orientations and areas of study reflect the current interests of SBS faculty and the health and science orientation of the campus. The principal aim of the program is to educate students interested in professional careers as sociologists in both academic and applied contexts, where they can contribute to the advancement of sociological knowledge, with an emphasis on the study of problems in health care, the evaluation of health programs and systems, and the analysis of health and public policies.