CHSPR is a leader in educating and empowering graduate students interested in advancing health policy and health services research in Canada
We aim to help our students develop core competencies necessary to become a leaders in the field, while providing students with the flexibility to advance and pursue their own interests. Across sectors and disciplines, students gain critical skills for solving complex problems and have the opportunity to collaborate in policy relevant research with some of the world’s top health services and policy researchers.
Working and studying at CHSPR, students gain an appreciation for the values that underpin strong health services and policy research that is aimed at serving the public interest.
Degree Programs
CHSPR faculty supervise students pursuing graduate degrees focused on health services and policy research. We provide instruction and mentorship within our applied research environment for students enrolled in degree programs offered through the UBC School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) and the UBC School of Nursing, as well as other related programs offered through various UBC faculties and schools. Most of our students are completing SPPH MSc and PhD programs in population and public health, with a focus on health services and policy research.
CHSPR Faculty
As a CHSPR student, you will work with professors that are internationally renowned for their expertise in a number of health services and policy research areas, including health human resources, primary health care, pharmaceutical policy, health care financing and funding, and health care use and effectiveness.
Prospective students are encouraged to contact specific CHSPR faculty, based on research interests.
A Supportive Environment
The Centre provides a positive, interdisciplinary, and inter-professional environment for our students. Student workspaces facilitate access to faculty and an internal seminar series provides opportunity to present work-in-progress and get feedback from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives.
Funding
Where there is close alignment between student research interests and a faculty supervisor’s research program, CHSPR students may be partly funded by a CHSPR faculty research grant, or alternatively may be offered a research assistantship. Students at CHSPR are consistently successful in competing for research grants from major research institutions, including the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and Michael Smith Health Research BC, as well as other more specialized funding sources. CHSPR faculty supervisors support students in developing competitive grant proposals. We proudly acknowledge that our students have been consistently funded and recognized in local and national award competitions year after year.
Publications
CHSPR graduate students have an impressive publication record. Recent journal articles first-authored by CHSPR students include:
Guo M, Mourad N, Karimuddin A, Sutherland JM. A population-based exploration of immigrants undergoing general surgery procedures in British Columbia: Do immigrants present for emergency surgeries more than non-immigrants? Health Policy. 2025 Aug 5;161:105410. doi: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2025.105410. Online ahead of print. Read more
Nisingizwe MP, Tadrous M, Janjua NZ, Bansback N, Hedt-Gauthier B, Suda KJ, Law MR. Global disparities in access to hepatitis C medicines before and during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: an ARIMA-based interrupted time series analysis. BMJ Public Health. 2025 Jun 25;3(1):e001340. doi: 10.1136/bmjph-2024-001340. eCollection 2025. Read more
Bird J, Tobias S, Grant C, Lysyshyn M, Tupper K, Wood E, Kerr T, Ti L. Sharing drug checking results in a Canadian setting: a multi-site analysis. Int J Drug Policy. 2025 Jun 24;143:104903. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.104903. Online ahead of print. Read more
Bond M, Beresford A, Noonan V, Rotem-Kohavi N, Dvorak M, Kwon B, Liu G, Sutherland JM. Long-Term Survival for Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury in British Columbia, Canada: A Retrospective Evaluation of 20 Years of Linked Health Care Data. Neurotrauma Rep. 2025 Jun 16;6(1):551-559. doi: 10.1089/neur.2025.0057. eCollection 2025. Read more
Lukey A, Howard AF, Mei AJ, Law MR, Huntsman D, Pearce CL, Meza R, Hanley GE. Risk-reducing salpingectomy: considerations from an OBGYN perspective. BMC Cancer. 2025 Jun 6;25(1):1011. doi: 10.1186/s12885-025-14384-6. Read more
Thandi M, Price M, Baumbusch J, Brown S, Wong S. Capturing factors associated with frailty using routinely collected electronic medical record data in British Columbia, Canada, primary care settings. Prim Health Care Res Dev. 2025 May 8;26:e41. doi: 10.1017/S1463423625000337. Read more
Bond M, Beresford A, Noonan V, Rotem-Kohavi N, Dvorak M, Kwon B, Liu G, Sutherland JM. Epidemiology of Spinal Cord Injury in British Columbia, Canada: 20 Years of Population-Based Administrative Data. Neurotrauma Rep. 2025 Apr 9;6(1):311-321. doi: 10.1089/neur.2025.0012. Read more
Sriram V, Rakasi M, Sharma K, Law MR, Brophy SA. Health Worker Protests in Canada: A Descriptive Analysis of Protest Events From 2021-2022. Healthc Policy. 2025 Feb;20(2):66-82. doi: 10.12927/hcpol.2025.27564. Read more
Sharma K, Cheng L, Dormuth CR, McGrail KM, De Vera MA, Clement F, McCracken RK, Mamdani M, Law MR. The impact of eliminating out-of-pocket payments for medicines on low-income households: a controlled interrupted time series analysis using linked administrative data from British Columbia. Health Policy. 2025 Feb 17;155:105270. doi: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2025.105270. Online ahead of print. Read more
Lukey A, Sowamber R, Huntsman D, Pearce CL, Howard AF, Meza R, Law MR, Phung MT, Hanley GE. Evaluating ovarian cancer risk-reducing salpingectomy acceptance: a survey. Cancer Res Commun. 2025 Jan 9. doi: 10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-24-0566. Online ahead of print. Read more