Curriculum

The program curriculum spans four major domains: health economics, health policy, research methods, and statistics. In addition, other training areas covered include:

Leadership	Bioethics	Career mapping
Study design and analysis	Multidisciplinary science	Grant writing and submission
Communication	Survey design	Clinical experience

Tracks

There are two separate tracks in the Masters of Science in Health Policy Research program:

1. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program (RWJ) track.

2. The Health Policy Research (HPR) Track.

Venn

Both tracks share core courses and most activities.

The RWJ track has a separate application process and is funded through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Information on the program can be found here.

The HPR track allows students to take electives to supplement the core curriculum to provide instruction in quantitative and qualitative methods.

1. Seven core courses in health economics, health policy, research methods and statistics.
2. Three electives drawn from throughout the University of Pennsylvania
3. Mentored research project

Individual Research Projects

All students are required to complete a final research project/thesis as part of the Master of Science in Health Policy Research curriculum and individual organizational relationships with the nonprofit sector are facilitated by the program. Scholar projects range from community-based research partnerships with primary data collection to large-scale health policy analysis based research partnerships with primary data collection to large-scale health policy analysis using national administrative datasets. All research projects are guided by small teams of faculty mentors, with frequent opportunities for group feedback on research in progress. The program also connects scholars with a strong network of faculty on the campus, community leaders from Philadelphia, and program alumni across the U.S.

Electives

Three credit units of electives are available to supplement the core curriculum to provide instruction in quantitative and qualitative methods.

Electives can be taken from the program or in schools across the University. Example of existing courses include advanced health policy from the MSHP; advanced epidemiology or biostatistics from the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics; advanced health care economics and health care statistics from the Wharton School; survey design, measurement and analysis from the Annenberg School; social policy and social environment from the School of Social Policy and Practice; and social forces and demography from the School of Arts and Sciences.

Course Schedule

The course schedule allows full time students to finish in two years while providing sufficient flexibility for part-time students to have a logical series of courses over a three or four year period. Course information is found here.