Office of Student ServicesPhone: 979.436.9356SPH-GradInfo@tamu.edu
PhD Program
Maggie AcostaSenior AdministrativeCoordinator IIPhone: 979.436.9488acosta@tamu.edu
The Doctor of Philosophy in Health Services Research is designed to prepare students to conduct high-quality research addressing important health services issues through intensive education in research methods.
Students will be provided opportunities for advanced training in health policy, organization theory, and health economics along with applied knowledge in specific substantive areas of health policy or management.
Students in the PhD program will receive financial support in the form of an assistantship and/or tuition stipend. For more information, contact the PhD program directly.
The PhD in Health Services Research program only opens admission every two years (on odd years, i.e., 2023, 2025, 2027).
Jan. 15, 2023
New Students
TBA
International Students
August 2023
(date TBA)
For a better understanding of your total cost of attendance (COA), please visit our cost and tuition rates webpage (https://aggie.tamu.edu/billing-and-payments/cost-and-tuition-rates). This webpage will provide you with an opportunity to review estimated COA information for undergraduate, graduate and professional students, as well as other resources such as the tuition calculator and billing and fee explanations.
Prior to admission to the PhD program, students are expected to have successfully completed courses for their PhD work in the following areas: rural health, basic statistics, epidemiology, and health policy and administration. Students entering the program without appropriate foundation courses in these areas will do so with the understanding that courses in these areas must be taken prior to their comprehensive examinations. The departmental doctoral committee will be responsible for noting deficiencies upon admission.
Each student must select one of two cognate areas: (1) health economics or (2) health politics and policy; These cognate areas provide students with a core of knowledge relating to a specific conceptual approach for health services research. Students typically designate their cognate area at or before matriculation but must designate a cognate area no later than the end of their first semester.
The program also includes nine credit hours of free electives and concludes with nine (or more) credit hours for doctoral capstone (dissertation).
PhD applicants must submit all of the required documents by the posted deadline to be reviewed for admission. International applicants should review the International Applicant information for additional requirements.
Review the instructions section in your SOPHAS application for more details. In addition to describing why you want to pursue the chosen degree plan/concentration with the School of Public Health, SOPHAS recommends the following topics:
Doctoral applicants must submit a writing sample that demonstrates their analytical and writing skills. Preference is given to samples in which the applicant is the sole and/or primary author.
