This application requests five years of support for a postdoctoral training program in health services research at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). The overall goal of this program is to develop investigators who are trained to conduct high-impact and rigorous health services research as independent investigators with the goal of improving the quality, safety, efficiency, and equity of health care organization, financing, and delivery. The program leverages Penn's immense resources dedicated to producing high-quality and high-impact health services research including top-tier educational programs, outstanding mentoring, a robust research infrastructure, and a strong institutional commitment to health services research. Addressing the complex challenges disciplines. facing the nation's health care system requires input from diverse perspectives and Thus, our program is designed for postdoctoral fellows (or postdocs), both physicians with clinical backgrounds who are seeking to become clinician-researchers by acquiring thorough training in health services research and PhD-trained economists who are seeking to gain skills applying their substantive knowledge and research methods to the field of health care delivery. Our proposed program not only develops the competencies for both of the trainee groups, but also, by linking clinician-researchers with PhD-trained postdocs in the collaborative and rigorous training environment of health services research at Penn, we aim to develop leaders who can build diverse and inclusive teams that combine disciplinary and institutional expertise. This T32 will be led from Penn's Perelman School of Medicine (which houses one of the training program's key educational curricula?the Master of Science in Health Policy Research (MSHP)) and will work in close collaboration with LDI (which runs the second key training program?the LDI postdoc in health services research). Perelman and LDI have a long and robust history of successful collaborations and, supported by this environment, will also draw on expertise and mentoring from the Wharton School and the School of Nursing. Together these entities are well suited to provide high-quality training to both clinician-researchers and PhD-trained economists seeking to become independent and influential health services researchers. Thus, the proposed program capitalizes on Penn's unique strengths in fostering health services research across schools and disciplines by drawing on the expertise across the University.
Addressing the complex challenges facing the nation's health care system requires input from diverse perspectives and disciplines. This program is designed for postdoctoral fellows, both physicians with clinical backgrounds who are seeking to become clinician-researchers by acquiring thorough training in health services research and PhD-trained economists who are seeking to gain skills applying their substantive knowledge and research methods to the field of health care delivery. We aim to train future leaders in health services research?leaders who can address the current shortcomings of our health care delivery system and work towards making health care organization and delivery higher quality, safer, more efficient, and equitable and, ultimately, improve patient outcomes.
