Institutional Training Programs: University of California, Los Angeles/RAND

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Institutional Training Programs (T32s)

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)/RAND Corporation, Santa Monica

School of Public Health

Contact

Robert M. Kaplan, Ph.D.
Program Director
Chair, Department of Health Services
School of Public Health
University of California at Los Angeles
P.O. Box 951772
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772
Phone: (310) 206-1824

Web sites: http://www.ph.ucla.edu/hs/degree.html and http://www.ph.ucla.edu/hs/post_doctoral.html

Content Areas

Quality and Outcomes Research.
Priority Populations (racial/ethnic minorities, low-income populations, HIV).
Managed Care Systems.
Cost and Cost-Effectiveness Research.
Financing of Care and Consumer Choice.
Evaluation of Health Care Delivery.

Program Description

The purpose of the RAND/UCLA predoctoral and postdoctoral research training program is to educate and train future health services researchers and health policy analysts. The program relies on a group of core faculty who represent a variety of disciplines that are essential to conducting high-quality health services research, and who have a history of collaboration in both research and training. All trainees are required to join one or more ongoing research projects at UCLA or RAND.

The combined environment of UCLA and RAND offers unique opportunities for trainees. UCLA offers a wide range of academic disciplines with a nationally recognized faculty. RAND is a full-time research organization with a broad range of funded projects that can offer students the opportunity to work on studies that are designed to address important national and international health policy issues.

All pre- and postdoctoral trainees are required to take courses in health services financing and organization (unless they possess adequate prior training), health services research methodology, and statistical methodology. In addition, all trainees are expected to attend a weekly seminar in which published recent journal articles are reviewed and critiqued. All students also must present their research projects before groups of trainees, other students, and faculty. Predoctoral trainees can receive a Ph.D. at UCLA in the Departments of Health Services, Economics, Epidemiology, or Sociology, thus benefiting from either multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary training options. Students pursuing the multidisciplinary option of a degree in health services, however, must also choose to specialize in a cognate area (e.g., economics, sociology, management, or epidemiology) in order to enrich their theoretical perspectives. Seventeen courses are required.

Prior to qualifying for AHRQ support, applicants must first be admitted to the Ph.D. programs in UCLA's Departments of Health Services, Economics, Epidemiology, or Sociology. Predoctoral students are required to do research work with a faculty member for 10 hours per week beginning in the winter of their first-year. Postdoctoral trainees must have obtained a Ph.D., medical degree, or other professional doctoral degree, and are required to take at least eight courses during an expected 2-year training period.

In addition to the above general requirements, postdoctoral trainees are encouraged to take additional courses that complement their research interest. As part of their training, all are expected to prepare one or more research proposals to be submitted to an outside funding agency. Fellows also must prepare and submit at least one original research article to a peer-reviewed journal.

Current as of August 2008

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Internet Citation:

Institutional Training Programs (T32s): University of California, Los Angeles/RAND. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/fund/training/T32-4.htm