Richard Thompson, Ph.D., played an integral role in so many aspects of our department. He co-founded our PhD in Administration-Health Services program in 1978. He taught classes for some of our early cohorts in the M.S. in Health Administration program. And he taught in our Health Services Administration Development program - which was the pre-curser to our Executive MSHA program.
Not only was he a visionary leader, but he inspired colleagues, students, administrators, and many others during his time at UAB, where his work stimulated new thinking and unique ideas.
“In the early days of this program we created a culture where the students were encouraged to work with one another on their academic papers and that wasn’t being done on a regular basis by many others,” said Myron Fottler, Ph.D., former director of the PhD in Administration-Health Services program.
Changing Health and Health Care
Today, all the programs Thompson touched are at peak performance. The MSHA program is #1 in the nation providing real-world education to each cohort in the Residential program and real-time education to seasoned directors in the Executive program. And the PhD program is improving health administration practice and policy through the generation and conduct of research in the management of health service organizations.
The students in each of these programs continue to develop an interdisciplinary foundation based on the active involvement of faculty members who are nationally recognized scholars in their field from a variety of industry disciplines.
Your Gift
Your generosity can help lighten a master’s or doctoral student’s financial burden and allow them to focus solely on their education. Make a difference in the lives of most deserving students by donating to the Dr. Richard Thompson Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund.
Give Today
There is not a more fitting tribute to the man who dedicated his professional life to teaching, researching, and advancing health care. To give today, simply click the "Give Now" button below. To see more giving options, click the "Pledge Form" button to download a PDF.
For more information, contact Tom Giffin, senior director of development, by email at
Application Deadline
Applicants are admitted to the program for the fall semester only. The priority admission deadline for those needing financial support is March 1. Applications received after the priority admission deadline will be considered on a space-available basis.
Admission Requirements
All applicants will be reviewed by the Admissions and Policy Committee. Admission will be determined by a consensus of the committee after examining the applicant's qualifications, previous academic records, prior research efforts, motivation for pursuing doctoral work, and potential contribution to the health services field.
Application Process
Official transcripts from each institution where college credit was received can be mailed to:
UAB Graduate School
LHL G03
1720 2nd Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35294-0013
- Complete and submit the online application via the UAB application system.
- Submit the application fee payment.
- Domestic Applicants - $50
- International Applicants - $60
- Submit transcripts from all post-secondary institutions previously attended, including those you did not earn a degree from. Unofficial transcripts can be uploaded into the application for the application review process. If admitted, applicants will still be required to submit official copies.
Other Required Items:
- Three recommendations from professional contacts. The online system will require you to enter the names and email addresses for all three recommenders. The system will send them an email with a link to the online recommendation form and letter upload.
- Updated resume/CV
- Personal Statement
- Recent scores from an English Proficiency Exam (international students only)
- Interviews will be scheduled by the Admissions Committee for selected applicants.
The program is designed as a full-time, residential program, and is typically completed in 3 to 6 years (average completion time is 4.9 years), including the dissertation phase. Students may be admitted on a part-time basis. Students spend two years completing core course work. The third year and beyond are spent preparing for comprehensive examinations, developing and defending a dissertation proposal, and writing and defending the dissertation. Students must pass comprehensive examinations in three areas (health services, research methods, and their area of specialization) before submitting a dissertation proposal.
Six Major Components
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Prerequisite
One graduate statistics course and one health care systems course. In addition, two other prerequisite health services courses may be required for those with no prior background or experience in health services (6-12 hours).
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Core Requirements
Areas of study will include the following: health economics, health insurance and managed care, growth and development of the U.S. health care system, health care finance, health policy, administrative theory, and doctoral seminars (24 hours).
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Research Methods
Areas of study will include philosophy of science, research methods, regression, multivariate statistics, and one additional research/statistics course (15 hours).
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Specialization
Students will select a specialization under the guidance of a curriculum committee and take seven additional courses (21 hours).
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Comprehensive Examinations
Students must successfully complete a comprehensive examination in each of the areas of health services, research/quantitative methods, and the specialization area during or after the completion of coursework.
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Dissertation
The final stage of the program is the preparation, submission, and defense of a doctoral dissertation representing a significant scholarly contribution to health services or health informatics research. Coursework includes dissertation research (9 hours).
Visit the Office of Student Financial Aid’s Graduate section for current tuition rates reported for both face-to-face and online courses. The majority of our program’s courses will fall under the Health Professions category. You can refer back to our program’s Curriculum page for suggested course schedules by semester (based on full-time status) for each of our offered tracks.
Possible fees incurred throughout the duration of the program may include the following:
- Parking Permit
- Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP)
- International Student Fee: $100 per term
- Other institutional fees (e.g. late payment, payment plan, parking citation, graduation) can be found on this webpage’s Institutional Fees tab
Financial Aid Opportunities
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Blazer Fellows
Highly qualified first-year doctoral students may be eligible for the UAB Graduate School’s Blazer Graduate Fellowships. These fellowships are for full-time students and provides financial support in the form of a monthly stipend, tuition, and health insurance for four consecutive academic terms. At the conclusion of the fellowship, the students will be supported as graduate research assistants by grant awards of the fellow’s mentor, institutional training grants, individual fellowship awards, or start-up packages in the case of new faculty. More information about the Blazer Fellows Program can be found on the Graduate School website.
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Research Assistantships
A limited number of research assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis and carry an obligation of 20 work hours per week. Research assistants are assigned to work with faculty members in the School of Business and/or the Department of Health Services Administration to support the teaching and research missions of the University. Assistantships are awarded to incoming students for a period of one year and may be renewed for an additional year based on satisfactory work performance and academic progress in the program. Research assistantships are available only to full-time students and restrict the student from holding other paid positions on or off campus.
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Graduate Student Funding Opportunities
Other forms of financial assistance include doctoral fellowships for minority students offered through the UAB Graduate School, paid teaching opportunities in selected undergraduate programs, and other various awards. For more information about these opportunities, please visit the website or contact the Graduate School at 205-934-8227.
Additional Information
UAB has created a website with more information about financial assistance opportunities offered by the University. To see all options, please visit the Office of Student Financial Aid website.
The PhD degree in Administration-Health Services is designed to cultivate research skills for the purposes of developing and implementing novel approaches for understanding the delivery of health care services and ways to improve these services.
Graduates of the program are typically employed as:
- Research and teaching faculty in academic settings, most often in Schools of Health Professions, Schools of Public Health, and Schools of Business
- Researchers in academic medical centers or other health care organizations
- Researchers in contract research organizations
- Researchers in government agencies
- Consultants