The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) supports training opportunities to help individuals prepare for a career in health services research. AHRQ is particularly interested in fostering the professional development of minority health services researchers.
Health services research affects a wide-range of issues, including consumer education; patient outcomes and effectiveness of care; health care quality; health care for minority, elderly, and other special populations; health care costs and financing; information for health care policymakers; and access to care and health care delivery.
What is health services research?
Is a career in health services research right
for you?
What kinds of training are available?
Who may apply for a NRSA institutional
training grant?
What are the requirements for a NRSA
individual fellowship?
Who is eligible for a dissertation grant?
How can I get more information and
application materials?
Where can I get more information about
AHRQ's Minority Health Program?
About AHRQ
Health services researchers focus on some of the most complex and challenging issues currently affecting health care in the United States. Findings from health services research inform the health care policymaking process, lead to improvements in clinical practice, and help shape the manner in which health care will be delivered and paid for in the future.
Health services researchers examine health care quality and effectiveness, patient outcomes, access to care, health care costs and financing, primary and managed care, new technologies, and other critical topics. Health services researchers are pursuing careers in many settings, including academia, professional organizations, health policy groups, clinical settings, and in Federal, State, and local agencies.
If you are interested in research on the questions and problems that are in the forefront of today's health care arena, a career in health services research may be right for you. AHRQ is seeking qualified applicants, particularly minority applicants, who are interested in training opportunities to prepare them for a career in health services research.
AHRQ supports both predoctoral and postdoctoral training through the National Research Service Award (NRSA) program. AHRQ awards NRSA training grants to institutions for predoctoral and postdoctoral training and individual NRSA fellowships to applicants who have completed their doctoral degrees. In addition, AHRQ supports dissertation grants for doctoral candidates. Minority candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for these fellowships and grants.
NRSA institutional training grants assist domestic institutions in supporting predoctoral and postdoctoral academic training of qualified individuals who have demonstrated an interest in health services research. These training grants are awarded by AHRQ to institutions, not individuals. The awards allow trainees to gain 1 or more years of full-time, supervised experience in applying research methods to the evaluation of health services in preparation for a career in health services research.
Candidates for predoctoral training grants must have a baccalaureate degree and be enrolled in a Ph.D. program or a program leading to an equivalent degree. NRSA grants may not be used to support studies leading to an M.D. Candidates for postdoctoral training grants must have a Ph.D., M.D., D.D.S., Dr.P.H., Sc.D., D.N.Sc., or other doctoral degree. Tuition benefits are provided, as well as stipends to help trainees defray living expenses during the research training experience. For a brief description of all programs and appropriate points of contact for each, select AHRQ Institutional Training Programs.
NRSA fellowships are awarded to individuals and monitored by AHRQ. These postdoctoral fellowships provide for 1 or more years of academic training and supervised experience in applying quantitative research methods to the systematic analysis and evaluation of health services. Applicants must have a Ph.D., M.D., D.D.S., Sc.D., Dr.P.H., or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited domestic or foreign institution. This is an ongoing AHRQ program announcement, and applications are accepted throughout the year.
Recipients of AHRQ-supported NRSA fellowships receive stipends to help defray living expenses. Sponsoring non-Federal, nonprofit institutions receive an allowance to cover some of the awardee's expenses. Prior to making formal application for this program, you must be accepted by an appropriate institution and a sponsor who will supervise your training and research experience.
AHRQ supports, through its small grant program, research undertaken as part of an academic program to qualify for a doctorate. To be eligible for a dissertation grant, you must be enrolled in a doctoral program which requires a dissertation based on original research in disciplines relevant to health services research. All requirements for the doctoral degree—other than the dissertation—must be completed by the time of the award.
Dissertation grant application receipt dates are May 1 and November 15, annually. If you think you may be interested in an AHRQ-supported dissertation grant, you are strongly encouraged to discuss your project with the AHRQ coordinator listed below before applying.
To find out more about the NRSA individual fellowships and
training grants sponsored by AHRQ, obtain a list of institutions
participating in the training grant program, or get more
information about the Agency's dissertation grant program,
contact:
Debbie Rothstein, Ph.D.
Office of Extramural Research, Education and Priority Populations
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
540 Gaither Road, Suite 2000
Rockville, MD 20850
Telephone: (301) 427-1525
Training information online includes: Research Training and Career Development, National Research Service Award: Individual Postdoctoral Fellowships, and AHRQ Institutional Training Programs. You can also access information on Funding Opportunities.
You can request a print copy of the AHRQ Funding Opportunities Fact Sheet from AHRQ InstantFAX. For instructions on using AHRQ InstantFAX, use the telephone handset from your fax machine to call (301) 594-2800. Use the key pad on the receiver when responding to prompts. AHRQ Instant FAX operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
AHRQ's Minority Health Program focuses on both health services research issues and problems that are important to minority individuals and populations and on increasing the participation of minority researchers in health services research. To find out more about AHRQ's minority research portfolio, contact:
Kaytura Felix-Aaron, M.D.
Senior Advisor for Minority Health
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
540 Gaither Road, Suite 2000
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone: (301) 427-1395
KFaaron@ahrq.gov
AHRQ is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It was established in 1989 as the Federal focal point for health services research and to continue and build upon the work of the former National Center for Health Services Research and Health Care Technology Assessment, which had been in existence since 1968.
AHRQ's mission is to support research designed to improve the quality of health care, reduce its cost, and broaden access to essential services. AHRQ develops and disseminates research-based information to increase the scientific knowledge needed to enhance consumer decisionmaking, improve health care quality, and promote efficiency in the organization of public and private systems of health care delivery.
AHRQ is based in Rockville, MD, and has a staff of about 250 professional, technical, and support personnel, including many health services researchers.
If you would like to know more about AHRQ and want to keep abreast of its activities, call the agency's Publications Clearinghouse at 800-358-9295 to subscribe to Research Activities (select to access issues online). Research Activities is AHRQ's free monthly digest of recent research findings, funding opportunities, upcoming conferences, and other timely and important information for the health services research community.
AHRQ is committed to increasing the number of minority health services researchers through enhancing awareness of the training opportunities available to minority applicants
AHCPR Publication No. 97-0040
Current as of November 1998
Internet Citation:
Preparing for a Career in Health Services Research: Opportunities for Minority Students. November 1998. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/fund/minortrg.htm
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