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DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PhD) IN HEALTH SYSTEMS

Required and Elective Courses, 2022-2023

Required and Elective Courses

All students in the PhD in the Health Systems Program must take the required courses listed below. All required courses must be taken for a letter grade except for courses only offered for pass/fail grading. Below you'll find the lists of required and elective courses.

Any application to waive courses must be made in writing (with an approval from the advisor) to the coordinator at least 1 term prior to the start of the course. Even if waivers are granted, students are responsible for course content on comprehensive exams.

Required Courses 2022-23
Course No. Course Title Term Credits
Health Systems Program Requirements 
220.605 Doctoral Seminar in International Health I 1 3
220.606 Doctoral Seminar in International Health II 2 3
221.602 Applications to Managing Health Services Organizations in LMICs 1,3 3
220.600 International Travel Preparation, Safety, and Wellness 2,3,4 1
221.646 Health Systems in LMICs* 2 3
221.620 Applying Summary Measures of Populations Health to Improve Health Systems** 2,4 3
221.638 Health Systems Research and Evaluation in Developing Countries  3 4
552.608 Biologic, Genetic, and Infectious Bases of Human Disease 1,2,3 0.5
220.842 Doctoral Independent Goals Analysis (IGA) 1,2 1
Research Methods: Biostatistics (choose one of the following series for a total of 16 credits)

140.621

140.622

140.623

140.624

Statistical Methods in Public Health I

Statistical Methods in Public Health II

Statistical Methods in Public Health III

Statistical Methods in Public Health IV

1

2

3

4

 

4

each

140.651

140.652

140.653

140.654

Methods in Biostatistics I

Methods in Biostatistics II

Methods in Biostatistics III

Methods in Biostatistics IV

1

2

3

4

 

each

Research Methods: Epidemiology 
340.751 Epidemiologic Methods I 1 5
340.752 Epidemiologic Methods II 2 5
Seminars 
221.801 Health Systems Program Seminar I 1 1
221.802 Health Systems Program Seminar II 2 1
221.861 Doctoral Seminar in Health Systems I (Year 1) 3 1
221.862 Doctoral Seminar in Health Systems II (Year 1) 4 1
221.863 Doctoral Seminar in Health Systems III (Year 2) 1 1
221.864 Doctoral Seminar in Health Systems IV (Year 2) 2 1
Ethics
550.860 Academic and Research Ethics at BSPH 1 0

550.600 or

306.665

Living Science Ethics Responsible Conduct of Research or 

Research Ethics and Integrity: US & Int'l Issues

1,4

3

2

3

  CITI Training    

*PhD students may take the on-campus OR online version

**PhD students MUST take on-campus version ONLY

Elective Courses 2022-23

Fifteen (15) additional credits are required for the PhD program from the following list of elective courses, if not already selected to satisfy another requirement. The courses must cover at least 2 of the 3 blocks detailed below. These courses must be taken for a letter grade with the exception of courses only offered pass/fail grading.

Course No. Course Title  Term Credits
Health Systems Management
221.722 Quality Assurance Management Methods for Developing Countries  1 4
312.617 Fundamentals of Financial Accounting  1 3
312.603 Fundamentals of Budgeting & Financial Management  1-4 3
221.608 Managing NGOs in the Health Sector 3 3
312.604 Quantitative Tools for Managers  2,3,4 2
221.610 Pharmaceuticals Management for Under-Served Populations  3 3
312.633 Health Management Information Systems  3 3
312.621 Strategic Planning  3,4 3
International Health Topics
180.620 Food Systems and Public Health  1 4
221.613 Introduction to Humanitarian Emergencies  1 2
221.639 Health Care in Humanitarian Emergencies 1,2 3
221.612 Confronting the Burden of Injuries: A Global Perspective  2 3
224.689 Health Behavior Change at the Individual, Household, and Community Levels 2 4
221.637 Health Information Systems 2 3
221.627 Issues in the Reduction of Maternal and Neonatal Mortality in LMICs 2 4
221.635 Advances in Community-Oriented Primary Health Care 3 4
182.626 Issues for Water and Sanitation in Tropical Environmental Health 3 2
221.616 Ethics of Public Health Practice in Developing Countries  4 2
221.661 Project Development for Primary Health Care in Developing Countries  4 4
221.624 Urban Health in Developing Countries  4 3
410.610 Health and Homelessness  4 3
Health Policy
300.600 Introduction to Health Policy 1 4
221.614 International Political Science for Public Health Practitioners  2 2
300.712 Formulating Policy: Strategies & Systems of Policymaking in the 21st Century 2 3
223.687 Vaccine Policy Issues  3 3
221.650 Health Policy Analysis in LMICs 3 3
300.713 Research and Evaluation Methods for Healthy Policy 3 3
300.652 Politics of Health Policy 4 4
308.610 The Political Economy of Social Inequalities and Consequences for Quality of Life 4 3

Research/Analytical Methods Electives 

Fifteen (15) additional credits are required from the following list of courses. The selected courses must cover at least 2 of the 5 blocks. These courses may be taken for a letter grade or pass/fail grading. 

Course No. Course Title Term  Credits
Quantitative Methods
140.646 Essential of Probability & Statistical Inference I: Probability  1 4
330.657 Statistics for Psychosocial Research: Measurement 1 4
340.728 Advanced Methods for Design and Analysis of Cohort Studies 1 4
140.647 Essentials of Probability & Statistical Inference II: Statistical Inference  2 4
340.606 Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analysis  3 6
340.753 Epidemiological Methods III 3 5
340.715 Problems in the Design of Epidemiologic Studies: Proposal Development & Critique 4 5
Health Systems Research & Evaluation
221.645 Large-Scale Effectiveness Evaluations of Health Programs 2,4 4
309.712 Assessing Health Status & Patient Outcomes 2 3
340.717 Healthy Survey Research Methods 2 4
380.711 Issues in Survey Research  3 3
223.664 Design and Conduct of Community Trials  3 4
380.712 Methods of Analysis of Large Population Surveys  4 3
Qualitative Methods
224.690 Qualitative Research Theory and Methods  1,3 3
224.691 Qualitative Data Analysis 2,4 3
410.710 Concepts in Qualitative Research for Social & Behavioral Sciences  2 3
224.692 Formative Research for Behavioral & Community Interventions  3,4 4
Methods in Specific Topics 
221.641 Measurement Methods in Humanitarian Emergencies  2 2
222.647 Nutrition Epidemiology  3 3
380.750 Migration and Health: Concepts, Rates, and Relationships 3 3
221.644 Econometric Methods for Evaluation of Health Programs  4 4
Health Economics**
313.601 Economic Evaluation I 1 3
313.602 Economic Evaluation II 2 3
313.643 Health Economics  2 3
221.652 Financing Health Systems for Universal Health Care 3 3
313.603 Economic Evaluation III 3 3
221.644 Econometric Methods for Evaluation of Health Programs  3 4
313.641 Introduction to Health Economics  3 3
313.644 Intermediate Health Economics  3 3
221.662 Globalization and Health: Economic Development  3 3
221.663 Globalization and Health: A Framework for Analysis  4 3

**The Health Systems Program also offers a Health Economics “specialization,” which tracks with school-wide standards set out by the interdepartmental PhD Program in Health Economics. For further information on these courses, see the Health Systems Program Coordinator.