Catalog
Pharmaceutical Health Services Research
Required Courses
PHSR 610—Pharmacy, Drugs, and the Health Care System (3)
This course examines the principle components of the U.S. health care system, with special emphasis on their relationship to the provision of drugs and pharmacy services.
PHSR 620—Introduction to Health Behavior Theory (3)
This course covers medical sociology, psychology, social psychology, and interpersonal communication theories and research as they address medicine use and health-related behaviors involving patients, pharmacists, physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals. Students are acquainted with select health behavior theories and learn about research issues specific to the field of behavioral science.
PHSR 650—Pharmaceutical Economics (3)
This course is designed to familiarize the student with the economic structure, conduct, and performance of the pharmaceutical industry. The course includes such topics as prices and profits in the industry, productivity, cost, economies of scale, innovation, economic effects of regulation, cost benefit and cost effectiveness of pharmaceuticals, and efficiency of drug delivery systems. Prerequisite: One undergraduate economics course or permission of the instructor.
PHSR 701—Research Methods I (3)
This course is designed to introduce the student to the concepts of scientific research in pharmacy practice and administrative science. Topics to be discussed include the scientific method and problem-solving processes, social science measurement, and several specific methods of research. Co-requisite: Introduction to Biostatistics.
PHSR 702—Research Methods II (3)
This course is the capstone methodology seminar for Pharmaceutical Health Services Research (PHSR) doctoral students. It is designed to give you the research tools to design studies of the impact of pharmaceutical (or other) interventions or policies in actual practice settings. Unlike clinical trials where subjects are randomized to treatment or placebo arms, health services researchers typically are forced to use non-experimental designs with secondary data. The course will take you through the pitfalls in such designs and show you how to deal with them. Prerequisite: PHSR 701 Research Methods I or similar graduate-level introductory social science research methods course PLUS Introduction to Biostatistics (multivariate regression) or permission of the instructor.
PHSR 704—Pharmacoepidemiology (3)
An introduction to the field of pharmacoepidemiology, which uses quantitative research methods to examine questions of benefit or risk in regard to the use of marketed medications. The course is intended to offer useful techniques to medical and health researchers who wish to assess the utilization, effectiveness, and safety of marketed drug therapies. Prerequisites: Introduction to Biostatistics and Introduction to Epidemiology.
PHSR 709—Graduate Seminar (1)
This course is a weekly seminar involving graduate students, department faculty, and participants outside the department. Must be repeated for a total of 3 credits.
PREV 600—Principles of Epidemiology (3)
A comprehensive treatment of the concepts and methods of chronic disease epidemiology. Topics include the classification of statistical associations and the methods for distinguishing between causal and non-causal associations. Casecontrol, cohort, and experimental studies are considered in some detail. The course involves the presentation by students of epidemiological papers, including those linking lung cancer to cigarette smoking. Co-requisite/Prerequisite: PREV 620 Principles of Biostatistics or an Introduction to Biostatistics equivalent.
PREV 619—Computer-Aided Analysis of Research Data (2)
Provides the student with comprehensive experience in the application of epidemiological and biostatistical methods available in the Statistical Analysis System (SAS). Hands-on experience in weekly workshops is gained by conducting analyses of existing data designed to answer a research question. A third credit can be earned through a term project. Co-requisite/Prerequisite: PREV 620 Principles of Biostatistics, previously or concurrently, and consent of instructor.
PREV 620—Principles of Biostatistics (3)
This course is designed to develop an understanding of statistical principles and methods as applied to human health and disease. Topics include research design; descriptive statistics; probability; distribution models; binomial, Poisson and normal distributions; sampling theory; and statistical inference. Prerequisite: Knowledge of college algebra required. Calculus recommended.
PHSR 899—Dissertation
Elective Courses
PHSR 670—Principles of Health Education, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (3)
Health education is a scientific process designed to achieve voluntary behavioral change in an identified or target population to improve their health status. Health promotion utilizes health education, social marketing and other strategies to promote health and prevent disease. The PRECEDE/PROCEED Model is an analytical instrument used to explore health issues and identify and assess the associated behavioral and non-behavioral factors in order to design interventions with improved predictive validity. This course addresses health education at the level of the individual, the family, and the community at large. Because the relationship between practitioner and patient is often a major determinant of outcome, health promotion in the clinical setting is given emphasis.
PHSR 708—Special Problems (1-6)
This course involves students working with faculty members in numerous research projects or on a problem. Can be used to finish a cognate area with prior approval by curriculum committee. It can be undertaken for credit when initiated under the supervision of the student’s research mentor or another faculty member. The student must register for PHSR 708. If the student opts to take that course, he or she should provide a one-page document which details the objective of the research and the deliverable expected from the project before the semester commences. This can be taken for a maximum of 6 credits per semester. Non-Dissertation Research Special Problems - used for all Cognate Areas.
PHSR 722—Product Safety and FDA Regulation (2-3)
The purpose of this course is to engage students in the techniques of pharmacoepidemiology through case studies and by working through an actual drug safety investigation. Drug safety will be addressed in the context of science and the law through readings, debates, and discussions with invited guests. Using the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System database and the medical literature, students will work up the epidemiological characteristics of a drug safety signal. Based on the characteristics of the signal, the team will design a pharmacoepidemiological study to further evaluate the safety signal. Prerequisites: PREV 600 Principles of Epidemiology, PREV 620 Principles of Biostatistics, and PHSR 704 Pharmacoepidemiology or permission of instructor.
PREV 720—Statistical Methods (4)
Course provides instruction on the specific statistical techniques used in the analysis of epidemiological data. Topics include treatment of stratified and matched data, detection of interaction, conditional and unconditional logistic regression, survival analysis, and proportional hazards models. Prerequisites: PREV 600 Principles of Epidemiology, PREV 620 Principles of Biostatistics, and consent of instructor.
Food and Drug Law Seminar (3) UMB School of Law
This seminar considers the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a case study of an administrative agency that must combine law and science to regulate activities affecting public health and safety. The class is designed both for students who expect to become involved in food and drug matters and for those who are interested in the interplay of law and science. Topics to be discussed may include: history of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; food law, misbranding, and economic issues; nutritional policy and health claims; regulation of carcinogens, food additives, and color additives; drug regulation; drug approval process; breakthrough drugs and ethics of drug testing; medical device regulation; and regulation of biotechnology. Course requirements include a seminar paper, which may be written for certification. Students, with the consultation of their Curriculum Committee, will select courses from UMB and other University System of Maryland institutions/schools that will fulfill the students’ requirements for their cognate area as well as any elective courses for which the student decides to register. Students may visit the appropriate university catalog or Web site for complete information regarding these courses.