Health Services Research, PhD

Core Courses (30 credits)

Concentration and Elective Courses (30 credits)

Students take additional courses in one of two concentration domains: Knowledge Discovery and Health Informatics or Health Systems and Policy. Doctoral-level elective courses outside of CHHS or concentration-related content areas may be taken as approved by the student’s academic advisor. A maximum of 6 credits of 600-level courses may be applied to the degree.

Comprehensive Exams

Two comprehensive examinations (written and oral) will determine whether the student has the necessary knowledge and skills to undertake dissertation work. The comprehensive exams must be taken within one year of completion of all coursework (except for dissertation sequence courses). Students shall indicate by the end of the previous regular semester their intent to take the written comprehensive exam. Students must have organized a dissertation committee with a chair approved by the HSR PhD Program Director. The dissertation committee will develop and evaluate the individual’s comprehensive exams on a pass/no-pass basis. Students must pass both comprehensive exams to enter PhD candidacy. Students who fail to pass the written and oral comprehensive exams may attempt each exam again the following semester. No more than one additional attempt at the written and oral comprehensive exam will be permitted. Students who do not pass both comprehensive exams after the maximum number of attempts will be dismissed from the program.

Written Comprehensive Exam

Members of the dissertation committee will utilize a written comprehensive examination to assess the student’s ability to apply theoretical concepts of research design and methods (including study design, data acquisition or collection, data management, analysis and interpretation) to relevant research questions in the student’s concentration and area of research.

Oral Comprehensive Exam

Members of the dissertation committee will utilize an oral comprehensive examination to assess the student’s knowledge of theory and application pertaining to the content of the “field” and relevant subject matter, based upon the student’s concentration and areas of research.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students who pass the written and oral comprehensive exams and all core and concentration course requirements advance to candidacy. A student must advance to candidacy status before taking the dissertation courses.

Dissertation Sequence Courses (at least 12 credits)

• HAP 998 - Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Credits: 1-3
• HAP 999 - Doctoral Dissertation Credits: 1-9 (at least 6 credits)

Dissertation

After advancement to candidacy, the HSR PhD student must complete an approved dissertation. The student must seek and obtain the approval of the HSR PhD Program Director on the selection of his/her Dissertation Chair and committee members. The committee must have at least three members, each of which must be a full-time member of the graduate faculty. The Chair must hold an appointment in the Department of Health Administration and Policy (HAP) and be approved by the Program Director. The second member of the dissertation committee must be a member of either the HAP Department or the College of Health and Human Services, and the third member of the committee must be from the College or other academic unit at George Mason University. A fourth member of the committee may be appointed, from another academic unit or from outside Mason, with the approval of the Program Director.

Within six months of passing the comprehensive examinations, the student must submit a draft dissertation proposal to the Dissertation Chair and committee. The proposal shall describe the proposed research as directed by the Chair and Committee. Failure to submit the proposal in a timely manner is grounds for academic probation. The proposal must provide a detailed literature review that provides the context and rationale for the research objectives, state the dissertation objective(s), and describe the proposed study design and analytic methods. The proposal must address the feasibility of completing the dissertation research and state the chair and members of the student’s dissertation committee (with signatures or other appropriate documentation through e-mail) and include a short rationale for the inclusion of each member. An oral proposal defense must be scheduled with dissertation committee members who have agreed to serve. During the oral proposal defense, the student will describe their proposed research and address questions by the committee members. At the oral defense, the Dissertation Committee determines approval or disapproval of the proposal. Committee disapproval is accompanied by written recommendations for improving the proposed research with expectations for resubmission.