This program is designed primarily for students interested in academic careers or senior research positions in government or the private sector. The emphasis is on theory, modeling, and quantitative methods. Coursework is supported by the student's ongoing involvement with faculty on research projects and is linked to the health-care field by these projects. Students select an area of concentration in either policy or administration. Both concentrations include courses in research methods, health-care systems and environments, health economics, and statistics.
Students take a supporting program or minor.
During their course of study, students also work as research assistants on a project with a faculty member in the student's area of interest. This experience allows students to follow a research project from beginning to end. Students must apply to each program separately. D. allows students to complete the first two years of medical school, then complete the entire Ph.D. program during the next four to five years. Students then complete the final two years of medical school and their chosen residency.