Welcome to the Department of Health Policy

On behalf of all of us, welcome to the Department of Health Policy. The faculty and staff of the Department are excited about getting to know you and working with you to make your educational experience the best possible. I want to tell you a bit about the Department and what you can expect.

The mission of the Department of Health Policy is to prepare students, through rigorous teaching, research, and service, to analyze and engage in all phases of health policy in a broad, cross-cutting, and real-world context. Serving the Schools of Public Health and Health Services, Law, Medicine, and Public Policy and Public Administration, the Department offers nationally renowned faculty and unparalleled learning opportunities. The Department is also actively involved in the University's undergraduate program.

The Department is one-of-a-kind among Schools of Public Health in the United States, which tend to combine policy and management into one department. Dedicated solely to health policy study and research, the Department's education and research missions emphasize the major challenges in U.S. health policy that influence the health of the population as well as the accessibility and quality of health care, particularly for low-income, minority, and vulnerable populations. U.S. News and World Report ranks GW's health policy program sixth nationally among public policy programs offering a concentration in health policy.

The Department prizes diversity and collaboration and is home for health policy studies across the GW campus. Our students are incredibly diverse not only in their professional aspirations, but in their lives as well. This diversity enriches and deepens the formal learning experience. We also emphasize extensive involvement between faculty and students and one-on-one education and career counseling.

The Department offers rigorous training in health policy analysis that prepares its students for virtually any career in advanced health policy. Much of the Department's educational and research programming is designed to illuminate the critical issues that lie at the nexus of health care financing, the provision of health and medical care for low-income, minority, medically underserved, and vulnerable populations, the interaction of the health care system with U.S. policies aimed at reducing disparities in health and health care, and policies related to the overall improvement of the public's health.

The Department's programs and activities are available on the Department of Health Policy Web site where you can learn about not only the Department's educational programming but also about research activities, special programs and events, contact information for degree programs and professors, career opportunities, and more.

Beyond our degree and certificate programs, we offer wonderful educational opportunities throughout the year — special colloquia on national health policy reform, opportunities to meet and talk with some of the most important figures in U.S. health policy, and opportunities to work on research projects with members of the faculty. We pride ourselves on our orientation toward our students and on our support in career planning and professional development.

You will work hard here, but we have built a program which we truly believe will prepare you to tackle any career in health policy practice you wish to pursue. Please do not hesitate to drop by and visit with me, or with any of our faculty, as you pursue your studies with us.

With warm regards,

Sara Rosenbaum, J.D.

Hirsh Professor and Chair, Department of Health Policy