PhD in Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University

Concentration Director: Brendan Saloner, PhD

The PhD concentration in Bioethics and Health Policy differs from most other bioethics doctoral programs in two important ways: first, it focuses on bioethics as it relates to moral questions in public health and health policy (rather than, for example, in clinical decision-making or bedside dilemmas); and, second, it provides rigorous training in quantitative and qualitative empirical research methods and expects the analysis of data to be part of the dissertation. Students and faculty in the concentration study and conduct independent empirical and normative research on ethical issues in public health practice, research, and policy such as: ethics and emergency preparedness, domestic and international research ethics, genetic screening policy, ethics and obesity prevention, ethics and infectious diseases, HIV screening, social justice and resource allocation.

Original doctoral research conducted by students in the bioethics program involves analyzing primary or secondary empirical data about specific areas of public health, health policy, of health research, and examining the ethical implications of the issue or study results. By the end of their PhD training, students are prepared to provide not only normative recommendations regarding ethics and public health policy but also are equipped to function as independent researchers, conducting empirical research related to bioethics, public health, and health policy.

Students in the Bioethics program complete the departmental core requirements, including courses in health policy, epidemiology, economics, and biostatistics. In addition, students in Bioethics also complete coursework in moral philosophy, applied bioethics and public health law. These requirements are satisfied, in part, through the Department of Philosophy of the Johns Hopkins University and Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. Generally, course work is completed in the first two years of the program. Students are required by the concentration to have a normative ethics chapter in their thesis in addition to the other chapters traditionally required. Students completing the manuscript option for the PhD will have one of their manuscripts focus on the normative aspects of their selected issue or results.

Concentration Director: Matthew Eisenberg, PhD, MPhil

Health economics is a field of study that applies the theoretical concepts an empirical methods of economic analysis to various issues throughout the health sector, such as understanding underlying patient, provider, and insurer behaviors and evaluating healthcare interventions and policies. The PhD concentration in Health Economics and Policy prepares doctoral students for conducting innovative research on the economics of health and healthcare.

The curriculum stresses a solid grounding in applied modern microeconomic theory, economic evaluation, quantitative methods, and econometrics applications, including PhD-level courses from the Department of Economics in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (KSAS). Incoming students must have prior training in linear algebra, multivariable calculus, and real analysis in preparation for the economics courses at KSAS. The curriculum offers a broad exposure to the health economics literature and public health disciplines and stresses the policy implications of these fields of research. Student research generally focuses on econometric analyses of hypotheses generated by economic theory or quantitative evaluation of the effectiveness of various interventions.

Concentration Director: Cass Crifasi, PhD, MPH

Finding solutions to public health problems through the development, analysis, implementation, and evaluation of health policies is the focus of the PhD concentration in Health and Public Policy. Faculty and students consider a broad array of public health policies that affect health and safety. These include policies pertaining to food, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, inequality, housing, injury, transportation, and the environment. Students examine challenging public health problems and learn how political, social, economic, ethical, and legal factors affect health, and how health policy can address these problems. Students acquire skills that enable them to conduct rigorous research to inform policy solutions, effectively translate their scholarly work to policy and practice, and emerge as leaders in public health policy.

Faculty employ an interdisciplinary approach to their teaching, research, and practice which is reflected by their backgrounds in medicine, epidemiology, political science, sociology, law, environmental health, and the risk sciences. Through coursework, research, and practice, students across the concentration gain an understanding of the relationship between health and policy.

Within this concentration, students may focus their elective and dissertation studies in one of the following areas: environmental and occupational health policy, injury prevention and control, social policy and health, and the practice of prevention; other specialty areas may be developed in consultation with each student's adviser and concentration director.

Concentration Director: Jennifer L. Wolff, PhD, MHS

The PhD concentration in Health Services Research and Policy provides a firm grounding in public health principles, research and evaluation methods, policy analysis and numerous content areas related to health and health services delivery and population health. The program at the Bloomberg School is one of the oldest and most respected of its type in the nation.

In this concentration, students acquire the conceptual and methodological tools needed to conduct research, program evaluation, and policy analysis and synthesis to advance the state of knowledge. The curriculum emphasizes the following areas: public and private sector health insurance and financing, organization and delivery of health care, methods for measuring and improving quality and safety of medical care, methods to measure personal and population health status, methods for assessing the impact of government health care policy on individuals and populations, and patient-centered outcomes research and comparative effectiveness research methods for assessing the impact of technology and treatments on patient outcomes. Emphasis is placed on special need populations, such as older adults, minorities, persons with mental illness and substance abuse, high burden diseases, and disabilities.

The concentration stresses the development of skills in research and analysis methods, as well as content knowledge. In addition to careers in academia, this concentration prepares students for leadership careers as health services researchers and health care policy analysts working in public or private agencies or organizations. Issues of relevance to the U.S. are emphasized. All students in the concentration will be exposed to a broad array of methods and content. In addition, it is expected that all students will select at least one methods sub-area (e.g., econometrics, advanced statistical methods, informatics, or qualitative analysis). It is also expected that all students will develop expertise in one or more content areas.

There are many research opportunities within the Department and elsewhere within the University and Health System. The Baltimore-Washington area is the home to the largest concentration of public and private health services research and health care policy analysis organizations in the world. Formal and informal relationships with these agencies, including research practicums, thesis collaborations, and internships are encouraged and facilitated.

Upon successful completion of the PhD program in Health Policy and Management, students in each of the four concentrations will have mastered the following core competencies; specifically, students by the end of the program will have the ability to:

• Analyze the nature, scope and determinants of major health policy problems by applying conceptual frameworks from key academic disciplines, formulating testable hypotheses, and identifying appropriate interventions based on an understanding of the existing evidence base.
• Critique the policymaking process, including the underlying roles of legislation, regulation, litigation, and advocacy; the differences between federal, state, and local policies; and the influence of academic research in the policy formulation and evaluation processes.
• Assess the organization and financing of public health and/or medical services and critique their impact on access and use, quality of care, costs, and outcomes.
• Apply appropriate rigorous empirical methods to the evaluation of health policy, including a well-rounded foundation of  the methods and tools of public health.
• Communicate scientific findings effectively through written and oral methods to technical and lay audiences, demonstrating an ability to interpret study limitations and prior research.
• Conduct research in accordance with the highest ethical standards, scientific integrity, and interpersonal collegiality.

Upon successful completion of the PhD concentration in Bioethics and Health Policy, students will have mastered the following core competencies; specifically, students by the end of the program will have the ability to:

• Recognize moral problems in public health practice, research, and health policy, and identify which ethical principles or foundational ethical theories are at stake and potentially in tension.
• Analyze moral problems in public health practice, research, and health policy, identify and communicate morally compelling lines of argument that may include: building on existing ethical frameworks, further specification of an existing framework or ethical principle; further specification of an ethical norm or formulating a novel ethical norm.
• Use relevant literature from moral and political philosophy and public health ethics in analyzing moral problems in public health practice, research, and health policy.
• Identify when, why, and how empirical scholarship can make a contribution to bioethics and how data can be relevant to normative analysis.
• Construct public policy arguments informed by the analysis of empirical and normative scholarship in bioethics.

Upon successful completion of the PhD concentration in Health Economics and Policy, students will have mastered the following core competencies; specifically, students by the end of the program will have the ability to:

• Apply key concepts in microeconomic theory, including how the behavior of individual households and firms affects the market supply and demand of goods and services and how market failures arise under certain circumstances.
• Analyze key theoretical concepts in health economics, including the underlying determinants of health, patient demand for healthcare services, and the organization and financing of healthcare services, with an emphasis on critiquing the effects of alternative forms of financing and organizing healthcare services on cost, quality, access, and overall public health.
• Apply key concepts in applied econometrics, including both sophisticated empirical models for healthcare utilization, expenditures, and health outcomes.
• Conduct original research in the field of health economics, ranging from conception of innovative ideas through study design, selection and application of appropriate analytic methods and data; interpretation of results; and both written and oral dissemination of findings.

Upon successful completion of the PhD concentration in Health and Public Policy, students will have mastered the following core competencies; specifically, students by the end of the program will have the ability to:

• Demonstrate how to identify, describe, and analyze a public health problem, and recommend an appropriate policy solution to address it (e.g., legislative, regulatory, judicial, organizational).
• Describe the steps of the policymaking process, including problem setting, formulation, implementation, analysis, and evaluation.
• Critically compare and apply theories of the policy process to the study of public health problems.
• Identify the major institutions, sectors, and stakeholders involved in the policymaking processes at the global, federal, state, and local levels.
• Effectively translate and communicate public health policy research, in both oral and written forms, to policymakers, key stakeholders, and the public.

Upon successful completion of the PhD concentration in Health Services Research and Policy, students will have mastered the following core competencies; specifically, students by the end of the program will have the ability to:

• Understand key concepts and developments in the field of health services research, including issues relating to care quality and safety, access, cost, and the role and effects of alternative forms organizing and financing services. 
• Integrate and critique theoretical and empirical literature in the formulation of an original and significant health services research and policy research question with clear and testable hypothesis.
• Evaluate the strengths and weakness of experimental, quasi-experimental and observational study designs and be able to select the most appropriate design for a specified research question.
• Identify, evaluate and determine the most suitable data source for a specified research question (data sources may include existing data sources or the development of a primary data collection protocol utilizing quantitative or qualitative methods). 
• Select and implement appropriate analytic techniques from advanced epidemiological, statistical, economic, and qualitative or survey methods to examine a specified research question. 

The PhD program includes coursework that has been approved to meet the Introductory Public Health Learning Objectives required by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) for academic programs.