TAIWAN PhD IN HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
The Department of Health Services Policy and Management (HSPM) offers the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Taiwan (Republic of China). This program is run on a cohort basis with a new cohort starting approximately every two years. The program attracts health care professionals, who wish to further their knowledge in the areas of health policy, health care reimbursement, quality control and clinical outcomes, and health services research methods. The Ph.D. program in Taiwan started in 1996 and is currently in its fourth cohort.
ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS:
Applicants must complete the application form, provide three letters of reference, a personal statement of their professional goals, transcripts from all previous higher education, scores for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Applicants with a terminal degree (e.g. MD, DDS) may request that the GRE be waived. Students who have completed prior graduate education in the United States need not take the TOEFL. In some cases, it may be possible to take an English Proficiency exam through the University of South Carolina EPI services.
PROGRAM OF STUDY:
The program combines the convenience of having approximately half the course work provided in Taipei, and the experience of studying in the United States during the summer. Some students opt to spend the dissertation phase, following their coursework, at the Columbia, South Carolina campus for one to two years. Students take 49 credit hours in coursework and 12 credit hours of dissertation, for a total of 61 credit hours. Those who do their dissertation in Columbia are required to take additional dissertation hours in order to maintain their student visa status.
The program is identical to the Ph.D. offered in Columbia to full-time students, and generally the same faculty members who teach on the Columbia campus teach the courses for this program. Some courses are now being offered via the Internet by video-streaming live lectures being given on the Columbia campus. For all courses, there will be face-to-face contact time with the professor either in Taiwan or during the on-campus summer session. Students will take an 18-credit hour core in health policy, management, reimbursement, quality management and improvement, health services research methods, and biostatistics. Students take an additional 12 credit hours in statistics and research methods (e.g. demography, reliability and validity, clinical trials, qualitative methods, advanced regression models), 15 credit hours of management electives (e.g. information systems, decision analysis, human resources, planning, marketing), four credit of doctoral seminar, and 12 credit hours of dissertation. Applicants should view the Department of Health Services Policy and Management web site for more information on the program.
SAMPLE CURRICULUM:
(subject to change)
| Curriculum Requirements (61 hours) |
| Advanced Topics In Health Policy & Management (6 hours) |
| HSPM 845 - Advanced Topics In Health Policy & Management I |
| HSPM 846 - Advanced Topics In Health Policy & Management II |
| History of Public Health & Health Politics (6 hours) |
| HSPM 710 - History of Public Health |
| HSPM 711 - Health Politics |
| Statistics & Research Methods (6 hours) |
| BIOS 757 - Intermediate Biometrics |
| HSPM 719 - Health Services Research Methods |
| Statistics & Research Methods Cognate (12 hours) |
| After completing BIOS 757 and HSPM 719 |
| Concentration (15 hours) |
| Designed by student |
| Dissertation (12 hours) |
| HSPM 899 - Dissertation/Project |
| Doctoral Seminar (4 hours) |
| HSPM 800 - Doctoral Seminar |
PROGRAM CONTACT:
Mitchell Taylor
Administrative Assistant
e-mail: taylormw@mailbox.sc.edu
phone: 803-777-1627