Ph.D. Programs in Health Care Administration
There are a number of doctoral programs nationwide which focus on the area of Health Care Administration. It is the purpose of this paper to survey three programs which offer the Ph.D. in health care administration, focusing on the admission requirements, doctoral courses, and number of courses and units required for graduation. The universities selected are Columbia University, George Washington University, and the University of Iowa. Partial information is also included for Johns Hopkins University.
Columbia University in New York offers a Ph.D. which is interdisciplinary in nature, involving public health with a focus on either biostatistics, epidemiology, or sociomedical sciences. These interdisciplinary programs are under the supervision of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Admission requirements include a bachelor's degree, and there is no foreign language requirement.
The specialty in epidemiology also offers five programs which are available for predoctoral and postdoctoral training in epidemiology--cancer epidemiology, epidemiology of muscoskeletal disorders, neuroepidemiology, psychiatric epidemiology, and cardiovascular epidemiology.
The specialty of sociomedical sciences brings together professionals and students who are interested in studying the influence of social and cultural factors on health and health care delivery. An understanding of those particular factors are crucial to the effectiveness of health care administrators. The sociomedical science specialty has two programs of study, one research-oriented, and the second a specialization in health promotion and disease prevention. A Doctor of Public Health degree is also offered in this area.
Students who elect to each a Ph.D. in any of these specialties generally have academic backgrounds in the social sciences or professional experience in clinical health areas, such as nursing, social wo...