Department of Health Policy and Management | Johns Hopkins University Academic Catalogue

About

Since its founding in 1921, the Department of Health Policy and Management (HPM) has been dedicated to advancing local, state, national, tribal, and global health policy to make a difference. HPM faculty and staff aim to address pressing public health problems through the development, implementation, and evaluation of health and social policies. The faculty’s policy-making expertise provides a solid foundation for systemic evidence-informed changes to change and strengthen policies that promote health and achieve health equity. With a deep commitment to learning and education, faculty are also training tomorrow's leading policymakers, researchers, analysts, and health care administrators with the skills to make a difference. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School was ranked #1 in Health Policy and Management by peers in the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 U.S. News & World Report Rankings.

The Department faculty and staff are committed to advancing research, education, and practice in the following broad areas of health policy:

Bioethics and Health Policy
Health Economics and Policy
Health and Public Policy
Health Services Research and Policy
Leadership and Management

Degree Programs

HPM is home to six academic degree programs that provide students with opportunities to engage directly with leading educators and practitioners, be involved in cutting edge and impactful research, and complete practicums and placements in the field to gain hands-on experience.

Research Centers & Institutes

HPM faculty come from many disciplinary and professional backgrounds but share a common focus on research and practice that addresses major health and social policy issues and their impact on population health. The Department's research efforts are largely organized around nearly twenty centers and institutes in areas of public health importance. The research conducted by these centers and institutes is timely and rigorous, responsive to the needs to clinicians, healthcare administrators, officials, and policymakers at the local, state, and national levels. The research of these efforts is broad, beyond the U.S. and North America, to promote and protect health across the world, especially other hi-and middle-income countries. All HPM centers and institutes are listed here and include:

Affiliated Centers, Institutes, and Initiatives

Faculty

The faculty of the Department are trained in many disciplines and lead a wide range of research and practice. Areas of focus include:

Analyzing and evaluating the effects of policy changes on the health of individuals and populations.
Assessing the organization, financing, and delivery of health care and public health services and their impact on access, quality of care, patient outcomes, and cost.
Developing and testing community-based models of health and preventive services to improve access, quality of care, patient outcomes, and cost.
Improving methods for measuring the health of populations and individuals, risks to health, and the characteristics of health services provided to individuals and populations, including access to care, quality, and cost.
Analyzing the ethics of public health policy, practice, and research.

The department also has a distinguished part-time faculty including leaders in management, practice, policy, and public health. The part-time faculty hold appointments as adjunct professors, senior associates, and associates. They teach courses, serve as preceptors, and are available to mentor students.

A full list of faculty associated with the Department can be found here.

Department Governance

The Department strives to ensure that policy and decision-making processes are participatory and that decision criteria are transparent to all stakeholders. The Department engages faculty, staff, and students in its governance. Standing committees consist of elected or appointed members, and there are formal and informal opportunities to meet with the department leadership to discuss issues and policies. Central to the functioning of the Department are the Leadership Team and several standing faculty and staff committees.

The Leadership Team (LT) is charged with making day-to-day decisions for the Department and facilitating strategic change. The committee consists of the Chair of the Department, the Vice Chair for Academic Programs, the Vice Chair for Faculty, the Vice Chair for Inclusion, Diversity, Anti-Racism & Equity (IDARE), the Department Administrator, and the Director of the Department’s Office of Academic Affairs.

The Committee on Inclusion, Diversity, Anti-Racism, and Equity (IDARE) promotes scholarship and training to cultivate an environment where all people, especially those who are historically marginalized, disenfranchised, or excluded, can thrive. The committee, which is comprised of students, staff, and faculty, works closely with the School's IDARE office and HPM leadership to build a diverse inclusive community in HPM and support actions grounded in anti-racism and equity. Further information on HPM's IDARE activities can be found on our website.

The Academic Policy and Admissions Committee (APAC) monitors the department’s policies related to admissions, curriculum, and methods for assessing the quality of education in the Department. The scope of APAC’s responsibilities includes oversight of academic policies, review of new programs, monitoring consistency among program curricula, setting standards for admissions, and other issues of concern related to the academic health of the department. Members of APAC include program directors and student representatives.

The Faculty Development Committee (FDC) monitors department faculty progress, appointments, and promotions and makes recommendations to the Department Chair in accordance with the School’s policies. The committee is composed of senior faculty in the department.

The Practice Committee is charged with creating a culture and environment that advances opportunities for faculty, students, and staff to learn more about, participate in, and be recognized for public health practice efforts. Members of the committee include faculty and students.

The Social Committee is charged with improving interactions among faculty, staff, and students. It organizes department-wide events such as the annual holiday party. Members of the committee include faculty, staff, and students.

The Student Endowment Awards Committee is charged with reviewing and selecting recipients for Departmentally-based student endowments. Faculty members are appointed by the chair to serve on this committee.

HPM Departmental Academic Policies

On This Page

Advising
Email Signature Lines
Teaching Assistantships
Student Conflict Mediator
HPM Student Coordinating Committee (SCC)
Course Waivers
HPM Student Endowment Awards
Satisfactory Academic Progress
Withdrawals
BSPH Academic Policies
University Academic Policies

Advising

All students are assigned a faculty adviser at the time of admission to the program. Advisers play an important role in the student's academic life. The adviser is expected to keep abreast of school and departmental degree requirements so that they can counsel advisees on courses and the proper progression towards the degree. Registration, add/drop, pass/fail agreements and many other School forms require the signature of the student's adviser. In addition, any special requests or petitions that a student submits to any of the administrative offices of the School will require the endorsement of the student's adviser as well as that of the Department chair.

In an effort to promote clear expectations for both faculty and students, the following guidelines have been developed.

Expectations, Rights, and Responsibilities

Students can expect their adviser to work with them in defining educational goals, coursework, and independent studies that will assist in achieving their goals. In addition, the adviser periodically will review academic progress with the student, including assessing the student's strengths and weaknesses. Advisers provide advice while students must make the final choices consistent with the guidelines and policies of the Department, School, and University.

Students are responsible for scheduling regular meetings with their advisers, in-person or by phone/Zoom/Teams, to discuss goals, progress, problems, and next steps. If an adviser does not know the answer to specific questions or issues, the adviser will refer the student to knowledgeable sources. Advisers are expected to make a regular time available for student-adviser meetings or have a clearly stated process by which students can schedule a time to meet individually. Students have the right to change advisers and individual faculty members have the right to accept or not to accept any specific student as an advisee. The first step in the process of changing advisers is to consult the program director.

Minimum Expectations for Student-Adviser Meetings

The following are minimum expectations for scheduled meetings between a faculty adviser and advisee. In general, meetings should be scheduled so students can prepare for the meeting, should be at least a half-hour or more in duration, and should be conducted in an appropriate location, desirably without interruptions.

Degree	Year in Program	Minimum Meeting Frequency
Master of Health Administration	Year 1	One in-person meeting in each academic term
	Year 2	Zoom or in-person meeting in each academic term
Master of Science in Public Health in Health Policy	Year 1	One in-person meeting in each academic term
	Year 2	Check-in each academic term (either in-person or by Zoom)
Master of Health Science in Health Economics and Outcomes Research	Year 1 Year 2	One in-person or Zoom meeting in each academic term For online program, one Zoom meeting each academic term
PhD in Health Policy and Management	Year 1	One in-person or Zoom meeting in each academic term
	Years 2-3	One in-person or Zoom meeting every 3-4 weeks
	During Thesis Research	One in-person or Zoom meeting in each academic term; written comments on thesis drafts within 4 weeks of receipt.

Email Signature Lines

If a student in the Department chooses to indicate an affiliation with the University in an email signature line, the line must contain information on the student’s candidacy status.

Teaching Assistantships

All TA’s who serve in HPM courses, regardless of their department or program, are required to take the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) TA training course designed to guide teaching assistants in their roles and responsibilities prior to beginning any work.

CTL’s TA Training has been approved by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Teaching Excellence & Innovation (CTEI) to fulfill the Teaching Academy – Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program – Phase I requirement. Students interested in obtaining a Teaching Academy certification can finish CTL's TA training and continue their path with the Teaching Academy. For more information on the Teaching Academy Program please follow this link.

Student Conflict Mediator

Are you stressed about a challenging relationship with a faculty mentor, supervisor or staff member? Are you unsure about how to proceed with your concern? Do you feel unfairly treated?

The Health Policy and Management Conflict Mediator can help with all of these types of concerns. The HPM Conflict Mediator provides a confidential, impartial, informal, and independent place to discuss Departmental student concerns, access information, clarify policies and procedures, discuss response options, and get problem-solving assistance. Those using the Conflict Mediator’s services can remain anonymous, if they choose, and in control over what, if any, actions are taken (unless information disclosed is legally required to be reported). The Conflict Mediator will not take sides in a dispute and does not serve as an office of record or keep any personally identifiable records. The Conflict Mediator does not take part in any formal process but can talk with you about your formal and informal options.

The HPM Student Conflict Mediator is Professor Jon Vernick.

HPM Student Coordinating Committee (SCC)

The Department has an active and organized student group, the Student Coordinating Committee (SCC). The SCC works to facilitate communication and interaction between the Department (faculty and administrators) and the students. The SCC works each year to plan and develop different opportunities aimed at achieving this goal. Participation by all HPM students is welcomed and encouraged.

Course Waivers

In rare cases, students may request a waiver or substitution of a required program course. Any request must be submitted in writing according to the guidelines outlined below at least one week prior to the start of the academic term and be approved in writing by the student's Program Director.

Examples of when a substitution might be appropriate:

A student has successfully completed a graduate level course with a grade of "A" or "B" that covered the same content areas as the required course. (The completed graduate-level course syllabus must be submitted with the request.)
A course or series of courses fulfills a general area of the required curriculum, such as biostatistics or epidemiology, but the student wishes to take a different course or series that is equally or more advanced than the normal requirement and that better aligns with their overall academic and career goals.

Course substitutions must abide by the following principles:

A strong rationale must be made for how the substitution will benefit the student's overall academic and career goals.
The resulting curriculum meets the requirements of the learning competencies of the student's program.

Procedure for making a substitution request:

The request for substitution must be submitted to the student's Program Director in writing at least one week before the substituted course is to be offered.
A brief rationale for the substitution must be provided in writing.
A completed course-by-course curriculum plan for the degree must accompany the request.
Approval or denial will be provided by the Program Director within one week of being received. Decisions on course substitutions may not be appealed. As such, students should be prepared to complete the required curriculum if the request is denied.
Waiver or substitution decisions are communicated to the HPM Office of Academic Affairs for documentation.

Waivers for CEPH Competency Courses:

Students who have graduated with a degree from an accredited School of Public Health since 2020 have fulfilled the CEPH Learning Objectives. There is a waiver process in place and students will not be required to repeat these objectives through the Cells to Society offerings. Students should contact the HPM Office of Academic Affairs prior to matriculation for further information on the waiver process.

HPM Student Endowment Awards

The Department has a number of Student Endowment Awards that provide competitive opportunities for students to obtain additional funding. These awards are limited to enrolled students only. Recipients are selected based on the match to the spirit of the funder's wishes. HPM students will be notified in late fall of each calendar year about available endowments that they can apply for that are competitively awarded.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Students must meet minimum standards to remain enrolled in the degree programs in the Department. A student's failure to meet the criteria is grounds for being placed on academic warning and/or being dismissed from the program.

Satisfactory academic progress is measured by the following as they relate to one another:

To maintain satisfactory academic performance and good academic standing, all master's and certificate students must maintain a minimum grade point average of 2.75, and all doctoral students must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.00 and grades of A, B, or P (pass) in all courses required by the School or by the student’s department
Written documentation of successful completion of all Bloomberg School and departmental degree requirements within the established time limitations
Confirmation of satisfactory performance by the student’s department and/or adviser as required. Each term, the progress of students is reviewed, and those students not making satisfactory progress in terms of the cumulative grade point average and completion of requirements within established deadlines are identified for all academic departments. Students may not graduate unless in good academic standing. Additional policies regarding continuation in a program while not in good academic standing are left to individual programs. Whether a D is considered acceptable to serve as a prerequisite will be determined by the course’s sponsoring department

IMPORTANT: Students receiving federal loans and federal work-study funding must adhere to the Federal Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy posted on the Financial Aid Office website.

Note, students enrolled in the 2-year Master of Health Administration (MHA) and Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) programs who do not achieve the minimum GPA by the end of the 4th term in the first year, or have not successfully complete all year 1 required coursework, may be prevented from initiating their 2nd year placement or residency. Program Directors, in consultation with the HPM Student Matters Committee, will determine the appropriate course of action.

Withdrawals

Failure to register for a term results in an automatic withdrawal. A withdrawn student must be formally readmitted before resuming a program of study. Students requesting to be readmitted must submit the most current transcript prior to the withdrawal and a cover letter explaining the reasons for the withdrawal and why the student wants to be readmitted to the program director who will recommend to the HPM Student Matters committee approval or rejection of the request.

BSPH Academic Policies

Academic Leave of Absence (LOA) Policy
Academic Ethics Code
Student Grievance Policy

University Academic Policies

Higher Education Act Disclosures
Office of Institutional Equity
Veterans Affairs