title: Preparing the health services research workforce.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the ways in which investigators are trained for careers in health services research and estimate their number.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sources describing health services research (HSR) training were consulted and published inventories of HSR training programs were reviewed and 124 training programs were contacted and interviewed to determine the numbers of students and the content of their HSR degree programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  HSR programs listed by AcademyHealth were surveyed and asked for details of enrollments; course content was captured from websites for the remaining programs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There are over 300 programs that train investigators in health services research in master's and doctoral programs. The number of graduates who become HSRs in any given year is unknown, but approximately 5,000 individuals graduate with skills that would allow them to function in or lead HSR projects and up to 200 fellows are annually trained as potential independent health services researchers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The training pipeline for HSR appears to match demand because there are no apparent shortages of skilled workers in the field. There are many forces that are pressuring the field to adapt to technology demands and the increasing need for "translation" of results from research into practice.
authors.affiliation: Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, 725 M. L. King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7590, USA. ricketts@schsr.unc.edu
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Ricketts
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D012108:Research Personnel / Q000193:education*; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce
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