Re-prioritizing doctoral education in health administration and policy.

Abstract

Among health administration programs, doctoral education has been a low priority for decades. Programs which are profitable from an economic perspective tend to be maintained or expanded while less profitable programs tend to be reduced. For a variety of reasons, doctoral programs tend to be viewed as less profitable than other programs. This paper analyses why doctoral programs are a low priority, the symptoms of this low priority, implications for the future of health administration education, and recommendations for enhancing that future.