What is Health Policy?
The incidence of disease and injury in our society, the quality and cost of health care services to prevent and treat those diseases and injuries, and access to those services are central concerns of health policy. Indeed, health policy affects the life of every individual, whether through the financing of health insurance, the creation of incentives that govern how and where medical care is provided, the dissemination of information about the health risks of smoking and other potentially harmful behaviors, or the adoption of regulations to reduce human exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment. In both the public and private sectors, the importance of health policy is large and growing.
History of the Harvard Interfaculty Initiative in Health Policy
Harvard launched its Interfaculty Initiative in Health Policy out of a conviction that the consequences of various health policy alternatives are critically important, and that Harvard is uniquely positioned to contribute to the health care debate.
The PhD Program
A major component of the Interfaculty Initiative in Health Policy is the PhD Program in Health Policy. In 1992, under the direction of Joseph P. Newhouse, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy and Management, Harvard created an interdisciplinary PhD program that now draws on the expertise of six Harvard schools: Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Law School.
The Blue Book
Starting eleven years ago with the publication of the first edition of “A Course Guide for Harvard Undergraduates Interested in Health Policy,” or “The Blue Book” as it is now called, the Initiative has been identifying and expanding health policy course offerings for Harvard undergraduates. And since that first edition in 1997, we have both fostered and witnessed a rise in undergraduate interest in health policy and in courses designed to meet that growing interest. Several new courses were created especially for undergraduates, including Professor Richard Frank’s “Introduction to Health Care Policy,” (Extra-Departmental Courses 186, this year taught by Professor Michael Chernew, and formerly General Education 187), and “The Quality of Health Care in America,” (Extra-Departmental Courses 187, formerly General Education 187), co-taught by Dr. Donald Berwick, Dr. Howard Hiatt, and Dr. Warner Slack.
The Certificate Program
In the fall of 2000, the Interfaculty Initiative in Health Policy launched a Certificate Program in Health Policy for Harvard College students. Students eligible for the Certificate complete coursework in health policy and a senior thesis or one-semester research project relating to health policy. The goal of the Certificate is to recognize a student's mastery of a coherent body of work in the field of health policy. At the heart of the Certificate Program are courses that illuminate the issues of health policy from the perspective of a number of different academic disciplines.
As of June 2009, 176 Harvard students have completed the Certificate Program in Health Policy. These students have engaged in a number of pursuits after graduation, including the following: Senior Associate, Medicare Practice, Avalere Health LLC; Infrastructure Analyst, South Asia Energy and Infrastructure Unit, The World Bank; Legislative Assistant, Health Care, Education, and Welfare Policy for U.S. Senator Schumer (D-NY); HIV/AIDS Research Intern, Zambia; Statistical Analyst, Medica HealthCare Plans, Inc. (a start-up Medicare Advantage Plan in Miami-Dade County, FL); Research Associate, The Advisory Board Company; Research Assistant, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Research Assistant, RAND Corporation; Associate Consultant (Health Policy), Bain & Company; Policy Analyst, Families USA; Fulbright Scholars (Ghana and Jamaica); Director, Office of the President, Borschow Hospital and Medical Supplies, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Program Associate, Program on Health Care Quality Improvement, The Commonwealth Fund; Paul Wellstone Fellow for Social Justice, Families US. To download a list of alumni of the Health Policy CertificateProgram (and Secondary Field Program, described below), indicating their concentrations, research topics, advisors, and current pursuits, click here.
Certificate students have also attended: medical schools, schools of public health, schools of public policy, law schools, business schools, graduate schools of design (urban planning), and PhD programs in health policy.
The Secondary Field in Health Policy
In May 2007, the Educational Policy Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted to approve the creation of a Secondary Field in Health Policy. Like the Certificate Program, which will be phased out in the next few years, the Secondary Field requires students to complete significant coursework in health policy and a senior thesis or one-semester research project relating to health policy. The goal of the Secondary Field is to recognize a student's mastery of a coherent body of work in the field of health policy. The successful completion of a Secondary Field in Health Policy will appear on a student’s academic transcript. In June 2009, 41 students graduated with a Secondary Field in Health Policy.
Leadership of the Undergraduate Program in Health Policy
Professor David Cutler took a lead role in initiating the Undergraduate Program in Health Policy and was its first faculty chair. After serving as Dean for the Social Sciences at Harvard University for five years, he is returning this year as faculty chair of the program. In the intervening years, the following faculty members served in this capacity: Professor Peter Marsden, Professor Daniel Carpenter, and Professor Robert Blendon.