ATLANTA–Mercer University College of Pharmacy is launching a new master of science degree in health outcomes that will accept students for Fall 2021.
The Master of Science in Health Outcomes is a 30 credit, fully online degree program that offers two tracks, pharmacoeconomics or health outcomes research. Students will take courses covering topics including biostatistics, epidemiology, qualitative and quantitative research methods, health economics and health care delivery systems and will gain experience in using R statistical software for meta-analyses and cost-effectiveness analyses.
Students also will complete a capstone project, either as non-thesis or thesis option that ties together curricular outcomes from the entire program. The capstone project can be completed by students from their location—at no time are they required to come to campus.
Health economics and outcomes research is increasingly important to the health care industry and aims to optimize patient care delivery and clinical decision-making, as well as influence policy discussions related to health care reimbursements and priorities.
This degree program will prepare students for careers in health care administration, medical affairs, market access and research and will provide graduates with concrete skills and competencies that make them competitive for jobs in diverse public and private health systems, the pharmaceutical industry, health insurance companies, government and academia.
The program is led by Lorenzo Villa Zapata, Pharm.D., Ph.D., who joined Mercer University in August 2020 as a clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice. He was an assistant professor at the College of Pharmacy at the Universidad de Concepción in Chile for 10 years, focusing on health outcomes and economics research, and most recently he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy. He earned his Pharm.D. at Universidad de Concepción College of Pharmacy and his Ph.D. at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy.
Other teaching faculty include Jill Augustine, MPH, Pharm.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacy practice and pharmaceutical sciences and director of assessment; Jennifer Nguyen, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacy practice, and Mohsen Yaghoubi, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacy practice.
Applications are open in PharmGrad. More information about the program can be found here.
