Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Pharmaceutical Sciences

Application Deadline for Fall 2025 Admission:
January 3, 2025

PHOP, as a research area, evaluates the cost, access, and quality of pharmaceutical care from clinical, sociobehavioral, economic, organizational, and technological perspectives. Traditional and innovative areas of pharmaceutical health outcomes research include pharmacoepidemiology, pharmacoeconomics, comparative effectiveness research, patient-centered outcomes research and translational research.

The graduate program offers structured learning and experiences in health care systems, sociobehavioral sciences, health care quality, biostatistics, advanced regression analyses, research methods and design, pharmacoepidemiology, and pharmacoeconomics. Elective courses such as patient-reported outcomes and risk adjustment provide advanced learning experiences, along with the opportunities to participate in grant proposal writing as well as teaching and research practicums.

Mission

The mission of this program is to develop outstanding graduates to assume leadership positions in the field of health outcomes research for careers in academia, government, and industry-related healthcare organizations.

Program Goals

Graduates of this program will be prepared to become scientists, directors and professors with a philosophy based on excellence in teaching, research and service in the areas of Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR).

Program Dynamics

Yearly enrollment on a competitive basis
Financial assistance for qualified applicants based on availability
Collaboration with Texas Medical Center health care institutions
Collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry

The University of Houston (UH) is an urban teaching and research institution that sets standards of excellence in education, research and service. The UH College of Pharmacy has trained pharmacists and researchers to work in health care for 75 years. The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is the world’s largest medical and health center, with 42 member institutions specializing in every aspect of health care.

This graduate program is enhanced through its interaction and collaboration with the world-renowned institutions at the TMC, such as the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth) and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and other UH colleges and departments, including the C.T. Bauer College of Business Administration's MBA program (fully accredited by the prestigious American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business), and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences' Department of Economics that offers Ph.D. and nationally recognized M.A. in Applied Economics programs.

With its renowned faculty, dedication to serving the community and affiliation with the prestigious TMC, the UHCOP is an international leader in providing quality education for its graduate students.

Job Opportunities

There is considerable evidence regarding a severe lack of qualified professional and scientific personnel nationally in the area of HEOR. Graduates will have numerous opportunities in the industry, consulting and research organizations and academia. Welcoming its first students in 2009, UHCOP's PHOP doctoral program – now offered as a concentration of the Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences – is celebrating its 10-year anniversary and boasts a 100 percent job placement rate for all of its graduates.