UNIVERSITY
OF
1119 M a i n A d m i n i s t r a t i o n B u i l d i n g
College Park, M a r y l a n d 20742-5031
301.405.5252 TEL 301.405.8195 FAX
MARYLAND
OFFICE OF T H E SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND PROVOST
December 4, 2015
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Jane Clark
Dean, School of Public Health
FROM:
Elizabeth Beise
Associate Provost for Academic Planning and Programs
SUBJECT:
Proposal to Modify the Ph.D. in Health Services (PCC log no. 15003)
At its meeting on November 6, 2015, the Senate Committee on Programs, Curricula and
Courses approved the proposal to modify the Ph.D. in Health Services. A copy of the proposal is
attached.
The change is effective Spring 2016. Please ensure that the change is fully described in
the Graduate Catalog and in all relevant descriptive materials.
MDC/
Enclosure
cc:
Andrew Harris, Chair, Senate PCC Committee
Barbara Gill, Office of Enrollment Management
Reka Montfort, University Senate
Erin Taylor, Division of Information Technology
Pam Phillips, Institutional Research, Planning & Assessment
Anne Turkos, University Archives
Linda Yokoi, Office of the Registrar
Alex Chen, Graduate School
Coke Farmer, School of Public Health
Luisa Franzini, Department of Health Services Administration
T H E UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, C O L L E G E P A R K
PROGRAM/CURRICULUM/UNIT PROPOSAL
PCC LOG NO.
•
Please email the rest of the proposal as an MSWord attachment
to pcc-submissions(2).umd.edu.
•
15003
Please submit the signed form to the Office of the Associate Provost
for Academic Planning and Programs, 1119 Main Administration Building, Campus.
CoUege/School: SPHL
Please also add College/School Unit Code-First 8 digits: 01203300
Unit Codes can be found at: https.V/hypprod. umd. edu/Html_Reports/units.htm
Department/Program: H L S A
Please also add Department/Program Unit Code-Last 7 digits: 1331301
Type of Action (choose one):
X Curriculum change (including informal specializations)
• New academic degree/award program
• Curriculum change for an LEP Program
• New Professional Studies award iteration
• Renaming ofprogram or formal Area of Concentration
• New Minor
• Addition/deletion offormal Area of Concentration
• Request to create an online version of an existin
• Suspend/delete program
Italics indicate that the proposed program action must be presented to the fixll University Senate for conside
Summary of Proposed Action:
The doctoral program in health services (Ph.D.) at UMD School of Public Health, started in 2006, prepares graduates to
advance research, policy, and practice to improve access, equity, cost, and quality of health services, with a particular
emphasis on federal, state, and local health pohcy. The current Health Services PhD curriculum consists of 52 credits and
a portfolio requirement to be admitted to candidacy. As students have graduated from the program and entered
professional careers, we feel the need to offer a more traditional doctoral program which includes a core skill set in health
services research, followed by advanced courses in a chosen cognate area, a comprehensive exam, and a dissertation
proposal defense before being admitted to candidacy. We propose a new 50 credits curriculum that allows students to
specialize in one cognate area: health economics, health poUcy, health equity or an interdisciplinary track.
Departmental/Unit Contact Person for Proposal: Luisa Franzini, Professor and Chair
APPROVAL SIGNATURES - Please print name, sign, and date.
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PCC Application to modify the Ph.D. program in Health Services offered by the Department of Health Services
Administration
September 10, 2015
Overview and Rationale:
Overview: Health services now comprise the largest industry in the United States, producing nearly one seventh of the
United States' gross national product. The Ph.D. program in Health Services provides interdisciplinary training in
research, practice, and policy analysis relevant to the planning, administration, management, and evaluation of health
and public health programs. The degree program prepares students to advance research, policy, and practice in order to
improve access, equity, cost, and quality of health services, with a particular emphasis on federal, state, and local health
policy. The Ph.D. program in Health Services at UMD School of Public Health started in 2006. The current Ph.D.
curriculum consists of 52 credits, including the five public health core masters-level courses in epidemiology,
environmental health, biostatistics, health behaviors and health systems (if the student's completed master's degree does
not include equivalent foundational public health content), and a minimum of 42 credit hours of advanced course work.
The 42 credit hours include a minimum of 21 credit hours in methods for health services research, a minimum of 9
credit hours in a cognate area, and a minimum of 12 credit hours in dissertation research. In the current program,
students are admitted to candidacy after completing portfolio requirements which includes essays and work with
faculty. The dissertation requires three publishable papers and an oral dissertation defense.
With the benefit of input from students who have graduated from the program and entered professional careers in
academia and private/public research institutions, we feel the need to offer a more flexible but rigorous program that
better allows students to obtain in depth research skills in a cognate area. Therefore, we propose to change the Ph.D.
curriculum by providing a required core research skill set in health services research, followed by advanced courses in a
chosen cognate area (track), a qualifying exam in the cognate area, a dissertation proposal course and an oral
dissertation proposal defense. During candidacy, students take dissertation credits, a graduate seminar, and, if needed,
any additional courses that may be helpful for the dissertation. All students must complete a dissertation (preferably in
the three papers format) and pass an oral dissertation defense to graduate. The new 50 credits curriculum allows
students to specialize in one cognate area (health economics, health policy, health equity/sociology of health or an
interdisciplinary track) by requiring 5 elective courses in the cognate area, of which 2 must be methods courses relevant
to the cognate area, and by passing a qualifying exam in the cognate area.
Rationale: We propose to modify the Ph.D. curriculum to strengthen the rigor of the program while increasing
flexibility. The purpose is to allow students, after having acquired a strong and broad methodological foundation in
health services research, to select, in consultation with the advisor, a specialized area within health services, such as
health economics, health policy evaluation, health equity/sociology of health, or a well-crafted interdisciplinary
health services research area, and obtain in depth research and substantive skills in their specialized area.
Increase flexibility to specialize in cognate area
The current curriculum provides 21 required research methods credits (mainly research seminars and biostatistics
courses) and 9 elective credits in a cognate area. We propose a curriculum with 18 required credits in the core
health services research methodologies (health economics, economic evaluation, econometrics, policy analysis,
health equity/sociology of health, and advanced research methods) and 15 elective credits in the selected cognate
area (including 2 methods courses relevant to the cognate area).
Rigorous curriculum
In the current curriculum, students proceed to candidacy after meeting portfolio requirements, which consist of: 1. a
literature review on a topic chosen by the student in conjunction with the advisor; 2. an essay written by the student
that answers the question "How do you define your cognate area? How does it tie into key health services
principles?"; 3. a co-authored publishable manuscript or book chapter submitted for publication in a reputable
academic venue; 4. a grant proposal co-authored with a faculty member; 5. The student writes a second essay
addressing student’s career agenda and future research agenda. This essay addresses the question "Please describe
your future career path, define your future research agenda, and explain how the two support one another?"
In the proposed program, students will be focused on acquiring in depth skills in their selected area of
2 specialization through elective courses and on completing the dissertation proposal. Students will have to
successfully pass a qualifying exam in their cognate area (track), take a proposal development course which guides
them in writing the dissertation proposal, and pass an oral proposal defense to be admitted to candidacy.
New and modified courses
The department has developed 3 new courses (HLSA 723 Policy Analysis and Advocacy, HLSA 714 Economic
Evaluation of Health and Medical Care, HLSA 725 Econometrics in Public Health) that are listed in the new
curriculum (two have been fully approved through the university’s VPAC process; the third is approved as a pilot
and the proposal for permanent course status is in process). The new curriculum will include 6 existing HLSA
courses (HLSA 711 Health Care Economics and Analysis, HLSA 787 Minority Health and Health Equity, HLSA
790 Advanced Methods in Health Services Research, HLSA 780 Qualitative Methods for Health Services
Research, HLSA 765 Oral and Written Communications and HLSA 709 Current Topics in Health Services). Some
of the existing courses will be modified to meet the goals of the new program. For example, HLSA765 Oral and
Written Communications, which currently culminates with a paper/proposal will be refocused on guiding students
through the development of the dissertation proposal. Similarly, HLSA 709 Current Topics in Health Services,
which currently has mainly faculty reporting on their research, will encourage students to report on their
dissertation work. In addition, the HLSA department has plans to develop courses in the cognate areas so as to give
options to students. These courses will be developed in the coming years as the first cohort of students enter this
modified Ph.D. program and as new faculty increase their workload and new faculty are hired. However, students
will still have the option of taking cognate area courses outside the department.
Competencies
The competencies for the program are:
1.
Develop skills in research methods for the creation and analysis of complex theoretical, conceptual, and statistical
models containing economic, policy, demographic, financial and/or health data and information.
2.
Critically synthesize the literature in health services research, health economics, health policy, health
administration and/or health disparities to guide research questions, hypotheses, and conceptual models
3.
Develop expertise in designing, critiquing, and conducting research studies, analyzing data and testing hypotheses
that advance health services research
4. Effectively acquire knowledge of the health care system and health services research and disseminate that
knowledge to academic and practitioner audiences as well as to policymakers and stakeholders.
5. Develop oral and written communication skills to aid in dissemination of evidence, proposal writing, and conducting
original research
6. Demonstrate commitment to health equity, teamwork, ethics, and the field of health services research
The curriculum is adaptable to both a full and part-time student status. Admission requirements are unchanged.
3 Current (Old) Requirements:
The current Graduate Catalog and the HLSA Advising documents and webpage describe the PhD program:
… If the student's completed master's degree does not include public health content in the five core areas of epidemiology,
environmental health, biostatistics, health behaviors and health systems, these courses are required in addition to a
minimum of 42 credit hours of advanced course work required in the Ph.D. program. The 42 credit hours will include a
minimum of 21 credit hours in methods for health services research, a minimum of 9 credit hours in a cognate area, and a
minimum of 12 credit hours in dissertation research.
Current (old) table:
Public health
core
(required
master
coursework)
Research
methods
courses
Cognate area
courses
Dissertation
Course number and name
EPIB 650 Biostatistics I
EPIB 610 Foundations of Epidemiology
HLSA 601 Introduction to Health Systems
HLTH 665 Health Behavior I
MIEH 600 Foundations of Environmental Health
Total MPH core credits
EPIB 611 Intermediate Epidemiology
EPIB 651 Biostatistics II
EPIB 652 Categorical Data Analysis
HLSA 780 Qualitative Methods for Health Services
HLSA 765 Oral and Written Communications
HLSA 790 Advanced Methods in Health Services Research
HLSA 791 Seminar in Advanced Health Services Research
HLSA 787 Minority Health and Health Equity
HLSA 792 Health Services Portfolio Seminar I
HLSA 793 Health Services Portfolio Seminar II
HLSA 709 Current Topics in Health Services
Total Research methods credits
Elective, pending faculty advisement
Elective, pending faculty advisement
Elective, pending faculty advisement
Total cognate area elective credits
HLSA 899 Doctoral Dissertation Research
TOTAL CREDITS REQUIRED FOR PhD
Credits
3
3
3
3
3
15
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
1
31
3
3
3
9
12
52
Courses highlighted in blue are in both the old and new curriculum.
Candidacy in the current program is obtained by satisfying the Portfolio requirements. The Portfolio consists of the
following five items completed in the following order.
1.
Literature review on a topic chosen by the student in conjunction with the advisor. The review should demonstrate
the student’s ability to synthesize literature and may or may not be publishable.
2.
The student writes an essay that covers health services research courses and cognate areas, and answers the
4 question "How do you define your cognate area? How does it tie into key health services principles?" Students
will create their own research questions, which may be broadly related to a future dissertation topic.
3.
The student writes a co-authored publishable journal article (article submitted for publication to a peer-reviewed
journal) or book chapter submitted for publication in a reputable academic venue. During the Portfolio phase of a
student’s career, s/he will work with faculty members. Faculty will lead the project and students will learn about
authorship roles. Co-authorship means having one’s name on the paper.
4.
Grant proposal (co-authored with a faculty member). This could be a grant for a research project done with a
faculty member, a grant to obtain support for one’s dissertation work or other research. The student’s advisor
determines the appropriateness of the granting agency. The proposal needs to be submitted (not necessarily
funded.)
5.
The student writes a second essay addressing student’s career agenda and future research agenda. This essay
addresses the question "Please describe your future career path, define your future research agenda, and explain
how the two support one another?"
5 Proposed (New) Requirements:
The proposed (new) Graduate Catalog and the HLSA Advising documents and webpage will describe the
PhD program as:
… The Ph.D. in Health Services requires a minimum of 50 credits organized in four modules. After module 1 (required
core health services research courses), students select a cognate area or track. Potential tracks are: health economics,
health policy, health equity/sociology of health, and an interdisciplinary track (developed with advisor’s approval).
Together with their advisor, students select 5 elective courses in the track of which 2 must be methods courses relevant to
the cognate area. After completing the track coursework, students must pass a qualifying exam. All students must take an
ethics course, a proposal development course (HLSA765), and must pass an oral proposal defense to be admitted to
candidacy. After candidacy, students take a graduate seminar, and dissertation credits which culminate in a doctoral
dissertation and an oral dissertation defense. In addition, if the student's completed master's degree does not include public
health content in the five public health core areas, students are expected to complete additional coursework in those areas,
sufficient to demonstrate mastery of core public health competencies, or to demonstrate competency through placement
examinations in these areas before graduation.
Module
Module 1
Module 2
Description
Health Services Research core courses
Track courses
Module 3
Module 4
Dissertation courses
Dissertation credits
Courses/credits
6 courses – 18 credits
At least 5 elective courses in track of which 2
must be methods courses – 15 credits
3 courses – 5 credits
At least 12 credits
Revised table·
PHD in Health Services Module 1: Health Services Research core courses Module 2: Elective courses in track* Module 3: Dissertation courses Module 4: Dissertation credits HLSA 711 Health Care Economics and Analysis HLSA 787 Minority Health and Health Equity HLSA 723 Policy Analysis and Advocacy HLSA 790 Advanced Methods in Health Services Research OR HLSA 780 Qualitative Methods for Health Services Research HLSA 725 Econometrics in Public Health HLSA 714 Economic Evaluation of Health and Medical Care HSR core credits Electives PhD level courses in track Electives PhD level courses in track Electives PhD level courses in track Electives PhD level methods courses in track Electives PhD level methods courses in track Total track credits HLSA 765 Oral and Written Communications HLSA 709 Current Topics in Health Services or elective seminar EPIB 641 Public Health and Research Ethics Total dissertation courses credits HLSA 899 Doctoral Dissertation Research PHD TOTAL CREDITS Credits 3 3 3 3 3 3 18 3 3 3 3 3 15 3 1 1 5 Min 12 50 * The elective courses in the cognate area (track) are selected by the student and approved by the advisor.
6 Sample Program:
Fall year 1:
HLSA 790 Advanced Methods in Health Services Research OR HLSA 780 Qualitative Methods for Health Services
Research
HLSA 725 Econometrics in Public Health
HLSA 714 Economic Evaluation of Health and Medical Care
Total Credits (9)
Spring year 1:
HLSA 711 Health Care Economics and Analysis
HLSA 787 Minority Health and Health Equity
HLSA 723 Policy Analysis and Advocacy
Total Credits (9)
Fall year 2:
Three (3) elective courses in cognate area (9)
Total Credits (9)
Spring year 2:
Two (2) elective courses in cognate area (6)
HLSA 765 Oral and Written Communications (3)
Prepare dissertation proposal defense
Total Credits (9)
Fall year 3:
EPIB 641 Public Health and Research Ethics (1)
HLSA 899 Doctoral Dissertation Research (3-6)
Total Credits (4-7)
Spring year 3:
HLSA 899 Doctoral Dissertation Research (3-6)
Total Credits (3-6)
Year 4
HLSA 709 Current Topics in Health Services or elective seminar
HLSA 899 Doctoral Dissertation Research (to complete the 12 required credits)
Prerequisite Structure
No change.
New Courses:
The following courses will be required:
HLSA 711 Health Care Economics and Analysis: This course is currently offered to MHA students. It will be modified
for Ph.D. students. Depending on the Ph.D. cohort, there will be a separate class for doctoral students or both master and
doctoral students will attend the same class but may have different course work expectations.
HLSA 723 Policy Analysis and Advocacy: This new course will be offered to both doctoral and master students.
Depending on the Ph.D. cohort, there will be a separate class for doctoral students or both master and doctoral students
will attend the same class but may have different course work expectations.
7 HLSA 725 Econometrics in Public Health: This new course will be offered to both doctoral and master students.
Depending on the Ph.D. cohort, there will be a separate class for doctoral students or both master and doctoral students
will attend the same class but may have different course work expectations.
HLSA 714 Economic Evaluation of Health and Medical Care: This new course will be offered to both doctoral and master
students. Depending on the Ph.D. cohort, there will be a separate class for doctoral students or both master and doctoral
students will attend the same class but may have different course work expectations.
Courses Deleted from Requirements
The following courses will no longer be required
EPIB 611 Intermediate Epidemiology
EPIB 651 Biostatistics II
EPIB 652 Categorical Data Analysis
HLSA 780 Qualitative Methods for Health Services
HLSA 791 Seminar in Advanced Health Services Research II
HLSA 792 Health Services Portfolio Seminar I
HLSA 793 Health Services Portfolio Seminar II
Other Departments Affected
The Ph.D. program is adding 2 elective courses in the cognate area. While 3 elective cognate area courses were required
in the old curriculum, the new curriculum requires 5 elective cognate area courses. The anticipated number of students
taking such elective courses is expected to be small so that the expected number of additional students taking a specific
course in a specific semester is 0-2. Students will have to obtain instructor permission before enrolling to avoid
oversubscribing courses. The HLSA department may develop additional elective courses in the tracks depending on
student demand.
Previously Enrolled Students
All previously enrolled students (prior to Fall 2016) will be granted the opportunity to complete the degree requirements
under which they were admitted. This grandfather clause is valid for two academic years. Should students enrolled prior
to Fall 2016 wish to adopt the new curriculum, they may do so.
8