Health Policy (HTHPOL)
Assistant Research Professor Conover, Director
A certificate, but not a major, is available in this program.
The Center for Health Policy, a part of the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, offers an interdisciplinary certificate in health policy. The program speaks to the needs of students preparing for careers in health care policy, management, and the associated professions as the American health care industry continues to experience rapid and profound change.
Courses in the Health Policy Certificate Program address three interrelated goals: (1) to investigate the machinery of contemporary health policy-making and to understand the broad political dynamics which have conditioned American health policy, past and present; (2) to familiarize students with the institutional and economic complexity of the American health care system through the study of the interaction between the key players in health care financing and organization, employers, private insurance carriers, government regulators, health care providers, and consumers; and, (3) to explore the cultural and ideological underpinnings of modern conceptions of health and the recurrent ethical dilemmas facing health care providers, patients, and policymakers.
The program draws upon established research programs relating to health services centered in economics, political science, public policy, and sociology but recognizes the inspired contributions to health care debates originating in the disciplines of anthropology, history, law, medical arts, philosophy, psychology, and religion.
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
The Health Policy Certificate Program is open to all undergraduates. Successful candidates must complete the prescribed combination of six cour ses: an introductory course; any one methods course; two courses drawn from the core set of health policy course offerings; any one additional elective course; and the capstone course. No more than three of the six courses taken to satisfy the requirements of the certificate may originate in a single department or program; moreover, no more than two courses used to satisfy Health Policy Certificate requirements may also be used to satisfy the requirements of any other major, minor, or other certificate program. Appropriate courses may come from the list given below or may include other courses (new courses, special topics courses, independent study, and, under special circumstances, courses offered through the UNC School of Public Health
) as approved by the director.
INTRODUCTORY COURSE (required).
111. Introduction to the United States Health Care System. SS One course. C-L: see Public Policy Studies 111
CAPSTONE COURSE (required).
255. Health Policy Analysis. R, SS, W One course. C-L: See Public Policy 255
Other Health Policy Courses
295. Topics in Health Policy. Topics vary by semester. Instructor: Staff. One course.
METHODS COURSES (any one course):
Economics
55D. Intermediate Economics I
261. Evaluation of Public Expenditures
Environment
272. Evaluation of Public Expenditures
Public Policy Studies
55D. Introduction to Policy Analysis
261. Evaluation of Public Expenditures
CORE COURSES (any two courses):
Regularly Scheduled Courses
Economics
156. Health Economics
Law
347. Health Care Law and Policy
Political Science
188. Comparative Health Care Systems
249. The Politics of Health Care
Public Policy Studies
156. Health Economics
157. Health Policy
178. Comparative Health Care Systems
253. The Politics of Health Care
263S. Public Health Research Methods and Issues
Sociology
171. Comparative Health Care Systems
Special Topics Courses, Offered Periodically (counting as Core Courses)
Public Policy Studies
49. Evolution of the United States Health Care System (may be substituted for Health Policy 111/Public Policy Studies 111)
264S. Getting Value for Money in Health Care: Rationing in Theory and Practice
Sociology
227S, C. Proseminar in Medical Sociology. Organization and Financing of Health Care. (May not be counted toward certificate if Sociology 227D is counted.) One course.
ELECTIVE COURSES (any 2 courses)
Regularly Scheduled Courses
Economics
163. Economics of the Environment
251S. Regulation of Vice and Substance Abuse
270. Resource and Environmental Economics
Environment
149. United States Environmental Policy
163. Economics of the Environment
270. Resource and Environmental Economics
274. Environmental Politics
History
123. Madness and Society in Historical Perspective
189B. History of Public Health in America
Philosophy
118. Philosophical Issues in Medical Ethics
Psychology and Neuroscience
109A. Health Psychology
Public Policy Studies
149. United States Environmental Policy
251S. Regulation of Vice and Substance Abuse
272. Resource and Environmental Economics
274. Environmental Politics
Religion
182. Medicine and Religion in American Society
Sociology
163. Aging and Health
Hebrew
For courses in Hebrew, see Asian and African Languages and Literature.
Hindi
For courses in Hindu see Asian and African Languages and Literature.
Subject to regulations governing interinstitutional course registration. Note that the UNC School of Public Health semesters and daily schedules differ from those of Arts and Sciences at Duke.
