Summer Institute Courses
Session One: Monday, June 3 - Friday, June 7
Health Economics
Course Description
The purpose of this course is to provide an application of economic principles to
the health care sector. By recognizing the importance of scarcity and incentives,
this course will focus on the critical economic issues in producing, delivering and
financing health care. In particular, the course will analyze determinants of demand
for medical care, such as health status, income and insurance coverage; the unique
role of physicians in guiding and shaping the allocation of resources in medical care
markets; and competition in medical care markets, especially among hospitals. Special
emphasis will be placed on the evaluation of policy instruments such as government
regulation, antitrust laws, as well as market trends such as, services privatization,
vertical integration, and specialization.
Instructor
Guy David, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Health Care Management
Wharton School of Business
University of Pennsylvania
Session Two: Monday, June 10 - Thursday, June 13
Race, Ethnicity, and Health
Course Description
Considerable differences in health status exist across racial and ethnic populations
in the United States. Although these disparities are well established, their determinants
are potentially numerous and largely unclear. Fundamental to this course is the recognition
of race and ethnicity as primary social determinants of health in the United States.
Our primary aim then is to explore the myriad social and behavioral factors that might
underlie the associations among race, ethnicity, and health status outcomes.
Research on factors affecting racial and ethnic health disparities is an extraordinarily broad field. It touches on many areas of public health and other disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, medicine, demography, and biology, to name a few. It encompasses nearly all areas of health and social behavior, and also requires attention to issues such as gender and age, and how they interact with race and ethnicity. The complexity of the field precludes a detailed examination and exhaustive review. Thus, the course has been structured to provide students with an overview of selected issues being explored in contemporary research.
Instructor
David R. Williams, Ph.D.
Florence and Laura Norman Professor of Public Health
Professor of African and African American Studies
Professor of Sociology
Harvard University