Graduate Training

SPPH students

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:

Bola R, Guo M, Karimuddin A, Liu G, Phang PT, Crump T, Sutherland JM. An examination of rectal prolapse surgery patients' quality of life and symptoms using patient-reported outcome instruments: A prospective cohort study. Am J Surg. 2024 Feb 8:S0002-9610(24)00102-8. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2024.02.014. Online ahead of print. Read more

Wickham ME, McGrail KM, Law MR, Cragg A, Hohl CM. Validating methods used to identify non-adherence adverse drug events in Canadian administrative health data. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2024 Feb 6. doi: 10.1111/bcp.16014. Online ahead of print. Read more

Bond M, Bicknell M, Crump T, Penner M, Veljkovic A, Wing K, Younger A, Liu G, Sutherland JM. Shared Decision Making in Hallux Valgus Surgery: A Prospective Observational Study. J Patient Exp. 2024 Feb 1;11:23743735241229376. doi: 10.1177/23743735241229376. eCollection 2024. Read more

Zeitouny S, McGrail K, Tadrous M, Wong ST, Cheng L, Law M. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prescription drug use and costs in British Columbia: a retrospective interrupted time series study. BMJ Open. 2024 Jan 4;14(1):e070031. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-070031. Read more

Thandi M, Wong ST, Price M, Baumbusch J. Perspectives on the representation of frailty in the electronic frailty index. BMC Prim Care. 2024 Jan 2;25(1):4. doi: 10.1186/s12875-023-02225-z. Read more

Zeitouny S, Cheung DC, Bremner KE, Pataky RE, Pequeno P, Matelski J, Peacock S, Del Giudice ME, Lapointe-Shaw L, Tomlinson G, Mendlowitz AB, Mulder C, Tsui TCO, Perlis N, Walker JD, Sander B, Wong WWL, Krahn MD, Kulkarni GS. The impact of the early COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare system resource use and costs in two provinces in Canada: An interrupted time series analysis. PLoS One. 2023 Sep 8;18(9):e0290646. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290646. eCollection 2023. Read more

Itiola AJ, Cheng L, Zhang W, Gomes T, Shah BR, Law MR. The Impact of Blood Glucose Test Strips Reimbursement Limits on Utilization, Costs, and Health Care Use in British Columbia. Can J Diabetes. 2023 Aug 21:S1499-2671(23)00193-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jcjd.2023.08.005. Online ahead of print. Read more

Zeitouny S, Cheng L, Wong ST, Tadrous M, McGrail K, Law MR. Prevalence and predictors of primary nonadherence to medications prescribed in primary care. CMAJ. 2023 Aug 8;195(30):E1000-E1009. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.221018. Read more

Desai S, Zhang W, Sutherland JM, Singer J, Quon BS. Factors associated with frequent high-cost individuals with cystic fibrosis and their healthcare utilization and cost patterns. Sci Rep. 2023 Jun 1;13(1):8910. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-35942-7. Read more

Saleeb M, Mohtashami F, Gadermann A, Murphy R, Flexman A, Crump T, Liu G, Sutherland JM. Associations between perceptions of shared decision making and health among hysterectomy patients: A prospective observational study. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2023 Apr 20. doi: 10.1002/ijgo.14802. Online ahead of print. Read more