PhD Curriculum and Requirements

Sample Course Schedules

Final schedules to be discussed with, and approved by, the student's primary advisor. Possible schedule options could be:

Degree Requirements and Milestones

For full details please see Stanford’s Graduate Academic Policies and Procedures (https://gap.stanford.edu/), the Stanford Bulletin (https://bulletin.stanford.edu/) and the Health Policy PhD Student Handbook.

The minimum number of units required for a Ph.D. degree at Stanford (satisfied both through coursework and research units) is 135.

First year:

• Completion of first-year coursework with a minimum grade of B- in all courses and an overall minimum GPA of 3.0 (equivalent to a grade of B)
• Completion of the Individual Development Plan (IDP) meeting with primary advisor within the first quarter
• Completion of CITI/HIPAA training and research ethics/responsible conduct of research (MED 255) course
• Regular meetings with primary advisor(s) (at least every other week is strongly recommended, more frequent meetings can be scheduled)
• Development and presentation of first-year research proposal (as part of the Spring Quarter Tutorial)
• Completion of progress assessment/milestone meeting with primary advisor (Spring Qtr)
• Taking and pass General Section written qualifying exam

Second Year:

• Completion of second-year coursework with a minimum grade of B- in all courses and an overall minimum GPA of 3.0 (equivalent to a grade of B)
• Completion of the Individual Development Plan (IDP) meeting with primary advisor within the first quarter
• Regular meetings with primary advisor(s) (at least every other week is strongly recommended, more frequent meetings can be scheduled)
• Maintenance of CITI/HIPAA training.
• Development of second-year research project (as part of Tutorial)
• Development and submission of funding/grant proposal (as part of Tutorial)
• Completion of progress assessment/milestone meeting with primary advisor (Spring Qtr)
• Taking and passing Track Specific written exam
• Submission, and approval by advisor, of the Second Year Paper
• Advancement to PhD Candidacy
• Presentation of second-year research project

Third Year:

• Completion of IDP meeting with primary advisor within the first quarter
• Regular meetings with primary advisor(s) (at least every other week is strongly recommended, more frequent meetings can be scheduled)
• Maintenance of CITI/HIPAA training
• Development of dissertation proposal
• Taking and passing the departmental PhD Oral Exam - dissertation proposal defense
• Completion of progress assessment/milestone meeting with primary advisor (Spring Qtr).

Fourth Year (& Beyond):

• Completion of IDP meeting with primary advisor within the first quarter.
• Regular meetings with primary advisor(s) (at least every other week is strongly recommended, more frequent meetings can be scheduled)
• Maintenance of CITI/HIPAA training
• Completion of progress assessment/milestone meeting with primary advisor (Spring Qtr)
• Completion of dissertation
• Final presentation of dissertation

Exams

Written Qualifying Exams:

• In order to advance to PhD Candidacy students must take and pass two written qualifying exams
• The first, given at the end of first year, will cover broader health policy concepts (such as ones covered in the first year Tutorial)
• The second, given at the end of second year, will cover track specific topics
• The exams will be evaluated and graded by core faculty

Oral Exam:

• In accordance with University policy (see: http://gap.stanford.edu) students must take and pass an Oral Examination as part of the PhD degree requirements
• The Oral Examination (colloquially known as “the proposal defense”) will be focused mainly on the student’s dissertation proposal - as well as examining feasibility and understanding of the dissertation proposal, it assesses the candidate’s command of the field of study
• Students are required to take the Oral Exam after passing their Written Qualifying Exam, and when the advisor believes that the student is ready. 

PhD Dissertation:

• Students must present a PhD dissertation that is the result of independent investigation and that constitutes a contribution to knowledge in health services research and health policy
• Students must select a primary dissertation advisor and at least 2 additional faculty members, from the program's core faculty, to serve on the dissertation committee
• Presentation of a prospectus outlining the proposed research to the committee and approval by the committee - as part of the oral examination
• Submission of a final draft of the work signed by all members of the dissertation committee
• Final talk to present thesis work and findings