Students ordinarily complete all degree requirements in four years — about two and one-half years of formal coursework, including directed research, followed by a thesis, which generally takes one to one and a half years to complete. The first year of coursework is normally spent on quantitative methods, economics, and courses in the disciplinary cluster. Typically, the student completes two Health Care Management and Economics courses during the first year. The second year, and the first half of the third year, are devoted to the remaining Health Care Management and Economics courses and the disciplinary cluster. The third and fourth years are spent on full-time work on dissertation research.

Disciplinary Clusters
The purpose of the disciplinary cluster is to equip candidates to conduct research in their areas of choice and to teach in fields in addition to Health Care Management and Economics. The courses may be drawn from the following clusters:

• Economics/Public Management
• Operations and Information Management
• Statistics/Epidemiology
• Finance/Accounting
• Management
• Marketing
• Public Policy and Management

Student Involvement in the Department
Students participate in faculty-supervised projects as research fellows, starting in the second year of the program. This work provides first-hand knowledge of research methods and design and often furnishes the basis for a dissertation topic. It also teaches students the art of securing funding for research, which is important for any aspiring health services researcher. Students are also expected to participate in the Leonard Davis Institute's Research and Policy Seminar Series, which feature external speakers working on cutting-edge health services research projects and policy issues. In addition to regular seminars, all PhD students are expected to participate in the department colloquium, which features discussion of research in progress by faculty members, students, and guests.

Health Care Courses

The major field course requirements are selected from the following list. Normally, all PhD students are expected to take HCMG 900, 901, and 903.

Statistics and Microeconomics
Students are normally required to meet the statistics requirement corresponding to their major disciplinary cluster. Examples are as follows:

• Economics/Public Management
• ECON 705 and 706
• Management
• STAT 510 and 511
• Operations and Information Management (varies by track)

• ECON 681 and 682 (or ECON 701 and 703)

Sample Program Sequence

General requirements for candidates in Health Care Management and Economics are the following: