In a typical year, we receive about 60 applications and admit four to eight new students.

Previously, our application asked for a comma-separated list of research interest areas. This prompt was replaced by the training grant prompt, which asks, “Are your research areas aligned with any of our training grants? If so, which and how?”

There is a non-refundable $90 application fee for each program you apply to and the UW Graduate School offers application fee waivers to eligible applicants.

Submit application fee waiver requests to the UW Graduate School by December 3rd. The Graduate School requires that fee waivers be requested at least seven days before program application deadlines to allow for processing time.

• Eligibility is determined based on financial need or by participation in the McNair Scholars or PPIA Fellows program. 
• If you have already paid the application fee, your waiver request will be denied.
• Unfortunately, applicants studying on F or J visas are not eligible for application fee waivers. This is due to federal requirements tied to eligibility for these visas. All other applicants, including other visa holders and undocumented immigrants are encouraged to apply.

This is the only way to obtain fee waivers for this program. Please do not email our program fee waiver requests as we cannot grant them.

Most students in our doctoral program have a master’s degree of some kind when they enter the program. Although we have admitted some students with a bachelor’s as their highest degree in the past, it is far less common. Successful applicants whose highest degree is a bachelor’s generally have exceptionally strong applications, including significant research experience.

We urge you to do this as early as possible, at least several weeks before the deadline to allow for processing time.

Letters of recommendation: Our deadline is shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday and right before the end of an academic quarter. Many recommenders will be incredibly busy in the late fall. So please give them ample time to respond.

English language test scores: Proficiency in English is required for graduate study at the University of Washington. Therefore, every applicant whose first language is not English, must demonstrate English proficiency. No waivers of this requirement may be given. Check your testing center for their approximate time to send scores. See Graduate School Policy 3.2.

Our program is also on a tight timeline after the deadline and cannot hold the admissions process to wait for recommendations or English test scores.

No, our program does not offer admission deferrals. If applicants receive an offer of admission and are unable to attend, they will need to reapply for a future term.

Please Note: Receiving an offer of admission for one year does not guarantee admission in a later year. We therefore encourage applicants to think carefully about their timing before submitting an application and/or before deciding whether to accept or decline an offer of admission.

Please review our admissions page for details.

At the time of applying, we only require unofficial transcripts to be uploaded in PDF format. See the UW Grad School’s official transcript requirements for information on submitting transcripts after an offer of admission is made.

Our admissions committee cannot review transcripts written in another language or transcripts translated directly by applicants.

It is the responsibility of applicants to supply all required academic records. If you are requesting records from a country or institution where you may have difficulty with timeliness or issuance, please make certain you request your documents allowing enough time for them to be received for your application. We require the document in the original language when the issuing institution cannot issue in English. If it is issued in a language other than English, we also require an English translation. All transcripts written in any language other than English must be accompanied by a certified literal English translation in the same format as the originals.

To be considered official, the translator must be certified by the American Translators Association or corresponding body in the originating country, or should have a Master’s degree in Translation or Interpretation, or be completed by the issuing institution.

There is no official GNM/NM status for the Health Services PhD program, though some of the PhD program’s required courses are available to GNM/NM students. To take HSERV courses as a GNM/NM student, apply under the Health Systems and Population Health MPH – General program.

See HSPop’s GNM/NM page for detailed requirements.

Most students graduate in about four and a half years.

Students who have completed the core courses at entry may be able to graduate in three years. The time it takes a student to graduate is also dependent on the type of dissertation project the student pursues.

This program is full-time and in-person. We do not have part-time or remote options. It is particularly important for students to live in the greater Seattle area during the first two or three years of the program so they can complete required courses. Circumstances occasionally arise where students need to take time off or reduce their courseload to part-time. We work individually with students to help them succeed and meet their needs. After students complete the required, in-person classes, they do have some flexibility to move farther away, although this can be challenging to their progress and may slow down the dissertation phase.

Any UW medical student can seek to do a Health Services PhD concurrently at UW.

The applicant would need to apply to the Health Services PhD program and be competitive in all the usual ways. The Admissions Committee does not give preference for being enrolled at UW.

It is recommended that an advisor or mentor in the students’ MD program who supports their career goal helps them combine the two degrees concurrently. Students ultimately need approval of the MD program’s academic dean to pursue concurrent degrees if they are found competitive.

Students should talk about their plans with relevant PhD faculty before applying.

It is not easy to pursue an M.D. and PhD concurrently, so the Admissions Committee is usually only enthusiastic about admitting very strong candidates who are likely to do excellent research under the direction and support of our PhD mentors.

The content of our Health Services PhD program focuses on the organization, financing, and delivery of health care in the U.S. Coursework includes epidemiology, biostatistics, and advanced methods in health systems research within the U.S. There is relatively little content about health care in other countries. The program strives to produce graduates who are capable of independent research in the U.S., generally in academic, research, or federal institutions.

The required courses do not contain in-depth content on health care delivery in other countries. Most, if not all, of the financial support that we have for students come with the requirement that students focus their doctoral work on topics in the United States. We have admitted some students with global health interests into the program in the past, but finding financial support has always been challenging and this has limited our ability to admit students in this area.

The UW Department of Global Health offers a PhD program.