Case School of Medicine, Cleveland

Institutional Training Programs

Contact

Alfred Rimm, Ph.D., Director
David Litaker, M.D., Ph.D., Co-Director
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
School of Medicine, WG57
Case Western Reserve University
10900 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106-4945
Phone: (216) 368-5957

Contact: Alicia Boscarello
E-mail: alicia.boscarello@case.edu

Web site: http://epbiwww.cwru.edu/

Content Areas

• Priority Populations (minorities; chronically ill, disabled, and older adults, Medicaid and uninsured).
• Primary Care and Prevention.
• Long-term Care and Rehabilitation.
• Health Care Decision Making (including descriptive and normative methods).
• Quality of Care Measurement and Improvement.
• Clinical Effectiveness and Outcomes.
• Health Economics and Policy.
• Systems of Care.

Program Description

The Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) Training Program in Health Services Research capitalizes on the challenges and opportunities presented by its location in a large North Central American city and on the substantial resources of a leading research university. Housed in the School of Medicine's Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, predoctoral trainees use established collaborative links with several CWRU Schools (Management, Law, and Applied Social Sciences) and Centers (Health Systems Management, Health Care Research and Policy, Law-Medicine, Urban Poverty and Social Change, Biomedical Ethics, Alzheimer's, and Aging and Health) to examine important clinical and policy-relevant problems of disadvantaged and vulnerable urban populations. The training program encourages disciplinary and cultural diversity.

Predoctoral trainees are provided with research training support that leads to a Ph.D. in Epidemiology and Biostatistics/Health Services Research with opportunities for a dual degree (M.D. and Ph.D.) in Medicine and Health Services Research available to exceptional applicants. Post-baccalaureate trainees typically complete their doctoral degrees in 5-6 years, or 6-7 years for students in the dual degree program.

Bonds between students and faculty and among students are fostered in several ways. Students are assigned a faculty Academic (curriculum and career) Advisor at entry and select a Research Mentor before embarking on thesis or dissertation research. Alongside other health services research graduate students (totalling 35 in 2005), AHRQ trainees and program faculty have monthly career and curriculum-oriented luncheons, as well as weekly journal club seminars along with graduate students and faculty from other disciplines in the public health sciences. Students also are encouraged to attend and present at a weekly works-in-progress research seminar of health services research faculty and staff.

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