Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy (MS)

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The Department of Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy (School of Pharmacy) offers a program of study leading to the MS degree. Applicants must apply to the Graduate School and meet the admissions requirements of the program. This program requires students to demonstrate skills in the analysis of pharmaceutical and health technology innovations, as well as an understanding of contemporary health policy issues.

A minimum of 36 units of graduate level courses is required.

Grade Point Average

A grade point average of at least 3.0 (A = 4.0) must be achieved on graduate course work at USC.

Recommended Courses

Students must complete all recommended courses for the degree within five years of entry into the program. It is recommended that the student complete the following 36 units of graduate level course work.

PPD 501a Economics for Policy, Planning and Development Units: 2 and
PPD 501b Economics for Policy, Planning and Development Units: 2
HCDA 506 Foundations of Insurance and Global Access Units: 3
PMEP 509 Research Design Units: 4
PMEP 525 Pharmacoeconomics I Units: 4 *
PMEP 526 Pharmacoeconomics II Units: 2 *
PMEP 527 Pharmacoeconomics III Units: 4
or approved elective
PMEP 535 Behavioral Science and Policy in Healthcare Units: 4
PMEP 539 Economic Assessment of Medical Care Units: 4
PMEP 547 Programming Methods for Empirical Analysis of Health Data Units: 4
PMEP 551 Introduction to Health Econometrics Units: 4
PMEP 552 Advanced Health Econometrics I Units: 4
or approved elective
PMEP 590 Directed Research Units: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Note:

* The student must satisfactorily complete the recommended courses in public administration (PPD 501a and PPD 501b ) prior to enrolling in PMEP 525 and PMEP 526 .

Additional Degree Requirements

The student is also required to complete an empirical research project on a topic relevant to pharmaceutical economics and policy. This paper will be completed under the advisement of a faculty member in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics and be approved by two additional faculty.

List of Approved Electives

ECON 401 Mathematical Methods in Economics Units: 4
ECON 415 Behavioral Economics Units: 4
ECON 419 Advanced Econometrics Units: 4
ECON 500 Microeconomic Analysis and Policy Units: 4
ECON 513 Practice of Econometrics Units: 4
ECON 601 Microeconomic Theory I Units: 4
ECON 603 Microeconomic Theory II Units: 4
ECON 604 Game Theory Units: 4
ECON 611 Probability and Statistics for Economists Units: 4
ECON 615 Applied Econometrics Units: 4
ECON 688 Empirical Industrial Organization Units: 4
HCDA 506 Foundations of Insurance and Global Access Units: 3
HCDA 507 Foundations of Product Development and Commercialization Units: 3
MEDS 500 Basic Concepts in Global Health Units: 4
PM 510L Principles of Biostatistics Units: 4
PM 511aL Data Analysis Units: 4
PM 511bL Data Analysis Units: 4
PM 511cL Data Analysis Units: 4
PM 512 Principles of Epidemiology Units: 4
PM 523 Design of Clinical Studies Units: 3
PM 536 Program Evaluation and Research Units: 4
PM 552 Statistical Methods in Clinical Trials Units: 3
PM 560 Statistical Programming With R Units: 2
PSYC 426 Motivated Behaviors and Addiction Units: 4