The Doctor of Philosophy in Healthcare Management and Health Policy provides the foundation to ensure that health services, systems, technologies, and policies function in ways that are equitable, efficient, and ethical. Students train and study under experts in economic evaluations, big data, survey and outcomes research, and quantitative methods. Students make improvements in high-need fields like preventive and therapeutic population health management, policy evaluation and research, pharmacoeconomics, veteran’s affairs, long-term care, health disparities, and health and economic outcomes.

See the Fall 2024 to Summer 2025 PhD Healthcare Management and Health Policy.

All doctoral students have access to expertise, faculty, and research across all locations.

This degree program is managed by the Department of Management, Policy and Community Health (MPACH).

The department chair is Dr. Aanand Naik, and the academic and admissions advisor is Leticia Valles.

For more information about the Department of Management, Policy and Community Health, visit their web page.

In addition to the UTHealth School of Public Health’s general admission requirements, Healthcare Management and Policy PhD candidate applications will also be evaluated against the following considerations:

• An earned master’s degree or equivalent in one of the social sciences, policy, law, management or public health
• Successful completion of coursework covering quantitative methods, statistics and mathematics 

The PhD program requires students to complete 48 credit hours* as detailed in the Healthcare Management and Policy PhD degree planner. Most full-time students complete the PhD program in three to five years. All students are eligible to elect to complete one or more graduate certificates in addition to required coursework.

For more information about academic requirements at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, reference the academic catalog.

*For students who do not hold a graduate degree in public health, additional coursework and time to bring you up to competence may be required.