The Systems Science for Health Equity doctoral concentration provides an opportunity for students interested in the transdisciplinary field of systems science to complete relevant coursework and mentored research.
Concentrating in Systems Science for Health Equity
The concentration aims to prepare next-generation public health and social work scholars in complex systems thinking and methods through the following competencies:
- Understand how organizational, community, and health-care systems contribute to public health as complex systems.
- Apply core systems science principles, such as complexity, feedback, emergence dynamics, evolution, endogeneity, social structures, and interactivity to public health research and intervention design.
- Describe how systems thinking and systems science methods contribute to core research activities of description, prediction, explanation, and causal inference.
- Design studies incorporating systems science tools, such as agent-based modeling, systems dynamics modeling, network analysis, group model building, etc.
- Engage diverse partners in systems science research to ensure equitable public health processes and outcomes.
PhD students concentrate in Systems Science for Health Equity by completing related coursework, getting involved in the various research training opportunities at WashU, and conducting mentored dissertation research that contributes to the field.
Training opportunities
Students are encouraged to take advantage of training opportunities across the university, such as the quarterly meetings of the Systems Science Interest Group, the annual Systems Sciences for Social Impact Summer Training Institute, and mentored research opportunities through relevant WashU centers such as the Center for Public Health Systems Science, the Center on Social Dynamics and Policy, the Social System Design Lab, the Center for Mental Health Services Research, and the Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy, and Economic Research.
Mentored systems science dissertation research
Students identify faculty mentors whose scholarship involves systems science. Typically, these faculty will supervise the completion of an area statement and qualifying exam. After finishing the required doctoral coursework and milestones, students conduct dissertation research in systems science under the mentorship of faculty working in the area.
Coursework
Students complete at least three doctoral courses from the options presented below as part of their PhD requirements in the first two years of the program. Students also have the option of creating an independent study course to replace one of the required courses, allowing individualized systems science study beyond the content of the courses available.
Students select at least three courses (9 credits) from the following options:
| Course # | Course Name | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| S90 5660 | Systems Thinking in Health | 3 |
| S90 5050 | Community-Based System Dynamics | 3 |
| S90 6915 | Introduction to Agent-Based Modeling | 3 |
| S90 5010 | Social Network Analysis | 3 |
| S90 5661 | System Dynamics Simulation for Strategic Design | 3 |
Concentration lead
Ross Hammond, PhD
Associate professor
Betty Bofinger Brown Distinguished Professor in Public Health Systems Science
Process
Students interested in the concentration work with their faculty advisor, the Systems Science for Health Equity concentration lead, and their program director to ensure interest alignment. The student and faculty develop and execute research that culminates in a dissertation that contributes to the systems science literature. The successful defense of the dissertation is recorded in the student’s final academic transcript.