Pre-Doctoral Training in
Mental Health Services Research

Washington University and the George Warren Brown School of Social Work offer multi-disciplinary doctoral and post-doctoral training in mental health services research. The program is financed through a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.  Students receive an annual stipend and full tuition.  The fellowship provides three years’ support, contingent on satisfactory performance. The purpose of this program is to prepare researchers to investigate such issues as the access, organizations, and effectiveness of mental health services, particularly for clients in social service sectors of care.

Program Structure
The Ph.D. program is interdisciplinary.  The program is administered by faculty of Washington University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the George Warren Brown School of Social Work. Faculty from the Washington University School of Medicine are also involved in the administration of the Mental Health Services Research Training Program.

Curriculum
Each student will work with the director to formulate an individualized course of research and study.  Training will incorporate six elements.

• Required Ph.D. courses in the fundamentals of social welfare theory; research methodology; and quantitative methods of data analysis.
• Specialized courses in health and mental health services.  A minimum of 15 credits must be taken outside social work, in psychiatry, economics, health administration psychology or other disciplines.
• A core research seminar in mental health services research.
• Three semesters of supervised research practicums dealing with a specific mental health services issue.
• Preparation of research papers suitable for publication in a professional peer review journal.
• Preparation of a research proposal to address a mental health services topic.

• The Ph.D. Program's weekly doctoral and faculty research seminar.
• Research methodology seminars of the Center for Mental Health Services Research.
• Seminars offered at the Center by nationally renowned mental health services researchers.
• Mental health research work groups and project team meetings.
• Support to attend national conferences and research meetings on mental health services.
• Consultation from nationally renowned experts.

Students will work with program faculty in areas of research, such as:
• Access to mental health services through social service systems such as health, education, child welfare, or the justice systems of care.
• Routes to mental health care.
• Enhancing the ability of providers to detect and respond effectively to mental health problems.
• Relationships among multiple providers of care.
• Effectiveness of services in specialized mental health settings.
• Costs and reimbursement of services for persons with severe mental illness.
• The service needs of special populations of mentally ill patients (e.g., minorities, children, adolescents, the elderly).
• The impact of capitation and changes in health insurance on the delivery of mental health services.

Application Process
Applicants must complete both an application to the Ph.D. Program in Social Work and to the Training Program in Mental Health Services Research.  Selection Criteria include demonstrated specialized interest in mental health services research; strong aptitude for research; and U.S. citizenship or permanent residence.

Please direct any questions about the Pre-doctoral Training Program in Mental Health Services Research, and requests for applications to:

• For general information on the Ph.D. program at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, please contact: Lucinda Cobb, Coordinator of the Brown School's doctoral program.

• Link here for an excerpt of the citizenship requirements for NIH institutional training grants from the NIH Grants Policy Statement (revised December 2003).

• Information on Brown School's NIDA funded Pre- and Postdoctoral Training Program, "Social Work Training in Addictions Research (STAR) (T32 DA15035), offered through Brown School's Comorbidity and Addictions Center is available at the above link.