PhD Program in Health Services Research in Pharmacy at UW–Madison School of Pharmacy

HSRP Program Overview

The Health Services Research in Pharmacy (HSRP) Master’s and PhD program has a singular focus on improving medication outcomes. The program is designed to provide rigorous, interdisciplinary training for theory-based research in improving patient outcomes, including knowledge and understanding of medication use, patient and provider communication and behaviors, patient safety, and healthcare systems.

The program prepares the next generation of health services researchers to best meet the needs of patients and the communities in which they live. By integrating knowledge of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals with theories and concepts from the social and management sciences, medicine, epidemiology, history, and economics, the HSRP PhD at UW–Madison delivers a program rich in both depth and breadth, giving graduates the tools to design and shape the future of health care delivery. The program is nationally recognized for its areas of research expertise and world-renowned faculty in the School of Pharmacy’s Social and Administrative Sciences Division.

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The Best Choice in HSRP

6 Reasons to Choose HSRP at UW–Madison

When cutting-edge flexibility and interdisciplinarity are combined with more than a century of global distinction.

Competitive Funding and Financial Support
The majority of graduate students in the HSRP program are funded with TA/RA positions, including a stipend of approximately $2,000 per month with tuition waiver.
Fellowships and Awards

More financial support is available through the Weiderholt Distinguished Fellowship, the Sonderegger Fellowship, and the Sonderegger Research Center Dissertator Awards.
Travel Support

Professional development is a cornerstone of the HSRP program, and students are funded up to $1,000 each year to present at conferences.
Research Training in an Academic Environment

Students in the HSRP graduate programs have all the advantages of studying at a world-class institution that is UW–Madison, a national research powerhouse with over $1 billion in annual research expenditures. Courses taken from a wide range of academic units on campus provide access to top faculty and researchers.
Strong Job Placement
The HSRP program has a consistent and successful track record in placing graduates in tenure-track positions in research intensive academic institutions, competitive postdoctoral fellowships, the pharmaceutical industry, managed care, nonprofits, and government agencies.
Flexible Program Customized to Your Interests

The HSRP program has considerable flexibility and can be tailored to the interests of individual students. Since the program faculty have a broad range of knowledge and expertise, students can specialize in diverse areas of emphasis. In the past, our students have graduated with doctoral minor/concentration in the following fields:

Learn more about earning the MS and/or PhD degrees in Health Services Research in Pharmacy with an emphasis in any of the diverse areas of concentration within our program.

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HSRP Graduate Student Success

Medication Deprescribing Interventions for Veterans

Helen Omuya received a 2023 PhRMA Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship in Value Assessment-Health Outcomes Research for her work with the Department of Veterans Affairs health system on creating tools that enable health care providers to help patients safely go off medications. Read the Q&A at https://ow.ly/kmPT50OXk2A

Watch Video

Reducing Antibiotic Resistance in Nursing Homes

Chi-Yin Liao publishes her research on interventions to prevent the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in nursing homes in the journal "Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology".