Curriculum

The Master of Science in Health Policy Research at Penn is a two year, training program with a primary focus on:

• health economics
• health policy
• qualitative/quantitative data collection
• research design
• statistics and data analysis

The degree requires seven core courses, three elective courses, and a supervised Masters Thesis.

The core courses are:

Economics of Health Care Delivery

Course Description:

This course covers how medical care is produced and financed in private and public sectors, economic models of consumer and producer behavior, applications of economic theory to health care.

Instructor:

Mark Pauly, PhD, Bendheim Professor of Health Care Systems, Business and Public Policy, Insurance and Risk Management, and Economics, the Wharton School.
Summer Year 1

---

Health Services and Policy Research Methods I

Course Description:

This course will introduce students to commonly used primary data collection methods and provide multiple examples of how they have been used in health services research. Through the course students will define a primary data collection research project and develop the methods necessary to conduct the project. To get the full benefit of this course, students should use this course to develop the methods they plan to employ in their primary data collection project.

Instructors:

Judith Long, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine
Judy Shea, PhD, Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine
Fall Year 1

---

Introduction to Statistics for Health Policy

Course Description:

Introduction to Data Analysis for Health Policy is intended to introduce participants to basic concepts of statistical thinking and analysis. The class with start with an overview of the goals of statistical analysis and the types of questions that such analyses can answer. Course content will include descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing for differences between two or more groups and correlation and prediction. Both parametric and non-parametric methods will be included along with issues for critically assessing study design and selection of statistical methods, sample size and power calculation and how to present statistical methods and results in manuscripts and reports.

Instructor:

Paul Allison , PhD, Professor of Sociology, School of Arts & Sciences
Fall Year 1

---

Health Services and Policy Research Methods II

Course Description:

Empirical research on health care systems frequently involves the analysis of observational data--information that is not primarily collected for research purposes. With the rapid increase in U.S. health information technology capacity, future opportunities for research using these "secondary data" appear promising. This course will describe the content and structure of several commonly used administrative and public databases available to researchers. Illustrations of common analytical techniques used to answer health services and policy research questions using observational data will be provided.

Instructor:

Daniel Polsky, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine
Spring Year 1

---

Applied Regression Analysis for Health Policy Research

Course Description:

This course will introduce the student to quantitative analysis in health policy research using the technique of multiple predictor regression modeling. In this course, you will learn how to 1) select an appropriate regression model for a given set of research questions/hypotheses, 2) assess how adequately a given model fits a particular set of observed data, and 3) how to correctly interpret the results from the model fitting procedure.  After a review of elemental statistical concepts, we will spend several weeks covering the fundamentals of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. In the second half of this course, we will cover regression models for categorical outcomes, time-to-event data, longitudinal data and clustered data. Special topics will include classification and regression trees and propensity score methods.

Instructor:

Nandita Mtira, PhD, Associate Professor of Biostatistics, School of Medicine
Spring Year 1

---

Fundamentals of Health Policy

Course Description:

While academic researchers often think of health policy in terms of research evidence and outcomes, politics and political processes also play important roles. The purpose of this course is to provide those pursuing careers in health services research and health policy with an understanding of the political context from which U.S. health policy emerges. This understanding is important for researchers who hope to ask and answer questions relevant to health policy and position their findings for policy translation. This understanding is important as well to policy leaders seeking to use evidence to create change. The class provides an overview of the U.S. health care system and then moves on to a more comprehensive understanding of politics and government, including the economics of the public sector, the nature of persuasion, and techniques and formats for communication. The course emphasizes reading, discussion and applied policy analysis skills in both written and oral forms. Concepts will be reinforced with case studies, written assignments and a final policy simulation exercise where students will be placed in the position of political advisors and policy researchers.

Instructor:

David Asch, MD, MBA, Robert Eilers Professor of Health Care Management and Economics, the Wharton School
David Grande, MD, MPA, Assistant Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine
Fall Year 2

---

Research in Progress

Course Description:

This course provides opportunities for students to present on their work to their peers and faculty from the program and receive constructive feedback. The course meets twice a month throughout the academic year and students attend and present during each of the two years that they are in the program.

Instructor:

David Asch, MD, MBA, Robert Eilers Professor of Health Care Management and Economics, the Wharton School

---

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.

	First Year				Second Year
	Summer	Fall	Spring		Summer	Fall	Spring
	Econ Hlth Deliv T,TR 9-10:15am	Hlth Svcs Pol Res Meth I T,TR 9-10:15am	Hlth Svcs Pol Res Meth II T,TR 9-10:15am			Fund Hlth Pol MW 9-10:15am
		Intro to Stat Health Policy T,TR 10:45-12pm	App Reg Hlth Pol Res T,TR 10:45-12pm		Electives	Electives	Electives
		Mentored Research Project	Mentored Research Project			Mentored Research Project	Mentored Research Project

Electives

A broad range of elective courses supplement the core curriculum to provide instruction in quantitative and qualitative methods. These include courses in:

• Health Policy
• Health Economics
• Statistics
• Epidemiology
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Anthropology
• Communication
• Management

↑ Top of Page