Healthcare quality, cost and access are significantly affected by government policies and by a wide range of institutions, including hospitals, physician groups, pharmaceutical companies and health insurers. To formulate effective health policy and improve clinical practice, it is essential to understand the interactions among these institutions, medical decision making at the population level, and the social and economic environment of healthcare.
Given the complexity of health policy and its far-reaching effects on societal health, it is important that physicians with training in health policy issues and research are involved in shaping national health policies. The Scholarly Concentration in Health Services and Policy Research at the Stanford University School of Medicine provides just such training. The program emphasizes the fundamental issues and methodologies of health services research, and it encourages students to explore areas of particular interest.
The scholarly concentration in Health Services and Policy Research is offered jointly by Stanford University's Center for Health Policy/Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research (CHP/PCOR) and by the Stanford School of Medicine's Department of Health Research and Policy (HRP). CHP and PCOR are sister centers that conduct multidisciplinary research and oversee three postdoctoral fellowship programs in health services and health policy research. The Department of Health Research and Policy conducts research and offers courses and graduate degree programs in health services research and policy, including areas such as epidemiology and biostatistics.
The co-directors of the scholarly concentration are Laurence C. Baker, associate professor and chief of the Division of Health Services Research in the Department of Health Research and Policy, and a fellow at CHP/PCOR; and CHP/PCOR executive director and senior scholar Kathryn M. McDonald. The coordinator of the scholarly concentration is Corinna Haberland, lecturer in the Department of Health Research and Policy.
For more information, please visit Guide to the Scholarly Concentrations.