Degree Requirements

Thesis-based MSc

Comprising 3.0 Full Course Equivalents (FCE) and a thesis


Thesis Requirements:

Completion of a research thesis of acceptable quality and its oral defense.


Program Requirements:

Students meet annually with their supervisor and the Program Director to review the students’ progress and to plan course work and other activities for the next year.


Course Requirements: 

  • A minimum of 6 half-year courses (3.0 FCEs)
  • Two courses (1.0 FCE) must be in research methods or statistics
  • To be eligible for the minimum program, students must have knowledge of the Canadian health care system and basic research and statistics skills. Students whose preparation is insufficient in these areas will be required to take additional courses.
  • Transfer of maximum 1 FCE credits (two half-courses) will  be allowed only to those students who have successfully completed graduate level courses at accredited universities, and if no degree was awarded for completion of those courses.

Required (2.5 FCE):

HAD5730H

Economic Evaluation Methods for Health Services Research

Participation in:

One elective (0.5 FCE) course from:

Students may enrol in elective courses offered through IHPME, or other departments within the University. Please discuss with your Emphasis Lead. If approved, contact the course instructor. If given permission to enrol in the course, complete an Add/Drop form and submit to the HSR Program Assistant.

Required (1.5 FCE):

Three elective courses (1.5 FCE) from:

HAD5747H

Cognitive, Social & Information Science Theory in Health Informatics Research

Students may enrol in elective courses offered through IHPME, or other departments within the University. Please discuss with your Emphasis Lead. If approved, contact the course instructor. If given permission to enrol in the course, complete an Add/Drop form and submit to the HSR Program Assistant.

Required (1.0 FCE):

Three courses (1.5 FCE) from:

CHL5624H

Historical, Ethical and Philosophical Foundations of Public Health

Or other health policy research courses as appropriate, for example:

One elective course (0.5 FCE) from: 

Students may enrol in elective courses offered through IHPME, or other departments within the University. Please discuss with your Emphasis Lead. If approved, contact the course instructor. If given permission to enrol in the course, complete an Add/Drop form and submit to the HSR Program Assistant.

Required (1.5 FCE):

HAD5773H

Introduction to Theories of Organizational Behaviour and Applications to the Health Care Sector

Three courses (1.5 FCE) from:

HAD5727H

Knowledge Transfer and Exchange: The Art and Science of Making Research Relevant and Increasing Utilization

HAD5740H

Intermediate Level Qualitative Research for Health Services and Policy Research

Required (1.0 FCE):

One course (0.5 FCE) from:

One course (0.5 FCE) from:

HAD5316H

Biostatistics II: Advanced Techniques in Applied Regression Methods

HAD5772H

Intermediate Statistics for Health Services Researchers

Two elective courses (1.0 FCE) from:

Students may enrol in elective courses offered through IHPME, or other departments within the University. Please discuss with your Emphasis Lead. If approved, contact the course instructor. If given permission to enrol in the course, complete an Add/Drop form and submit to the HSR Program Assistant.

Required (2.0 FCE):

MHI2002H

Emergent Topics in Health Informatics: Intelligent Medicine, Machine Learning and Knowledge Representation

One of the courses below:

HAD5751H

Artificial Intelligence: Development & Implementation in Healthcare

One elective course (0.5 FCE)  from:

Students may enrol in elective courses offered through IHPME, or other departments within the University. Please discuss with your Emphasis Lead. If approved, contact the course instructor. If given permission to enrol in the course, complete an Add/Drop form and submit to the HSR Program Assistant.

Required (2.0 FCE):

HAD5301H

Introduction to Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research

One course (0.5 FCE) from:

HAD5730H

Economic Evaluation Methods for Health Services Research

HAD5779H

Evidence Synthesis for Health Services, Systems and Policy Research

HAD5308H

Evidence Synthesis: Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis

One elective course (0.5 FCE)  from:

Students may enrol in elective courses offered through IHPME, or other departments within the University. Please discuss with your Emphasis Lead. If approved, contact the course instructor. If given permission to enrol in the course, complete an Add/Drop form and submit to the HSR Program Assistant.

To gain an understanding of knowledge translation students can take two courses from the Knowledge Translation offerings using their electives or additional courses.


Course-based MSc

Comprising 5.0 Full Course Equivalents (FCE)


Program Requirements:

Students meet annually with the course-based MSc lead (Xiaolin Wei) to review the students’ progress and to plan coursework and other activities for the next year.


Course Requirements:

A minimum of 10 half-year courses (5.0 FCEs). Two of the courses must be in health systems research and two must be in research methodology. The remaining six are elective courses.

To be eligible for the minimum program, students must have knowledge of the Canadian health care system and basic research and statistics skills. Students whose preparation is insufficient in these areas will be required to take additional courses. Course exemptions will only be offered to those students who have successfully completed graduate level courses at accredited universities, but no degree was awarded for completion of those courses.

Students must choose 2 half-courses (1.0 FCE) from:

HAD5727H

Knowledge Transfer and Exchange: The Art and Science of Making Research Relevant and Increasing Utilization

HAD5773H

Introduction to Theories of Organizational Behaviour and Applications to the Health Care Sector

Students must choose 2 half-courses (1.0 FCE) from:

Students may pick 6 courses (3.0 FCE) from the following:

HAD5728H

Performance Measurements in Healthcare: Theory and Application

HAD5730H

Economic Evaluation Methods for Health Services Research

Students wishing to acquire the Knowledge Translation area of study must take two KT courses from 2 courses:

*Students may choose other courses with the approval of the HSR Program Director.

Institute of Health Policy,
Management and Evaluation

155 College Street, Suite 425, Toronto, ON, M5T 3M6

©University of Toronto, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation

Institute of Health Policy,
Management and Evaluation

155 College Street, Suite 425, Toronto, ON, M5T 3M6

©University of Toronto, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation

Finance Your Degree

At IHPME, we offer a variety of financial supports to help you succeed in our graduate programs.

Learn More About this Program


HSR Program Co-Director

Emily Seto
Email Address: emily.seto@​utoronto.ca

Co-leads the management of the HSR Program.

HSR Program Co-Director

Katie N. Dainty
Email Address: katie.dainty@​utoronto.ca

Co-leads the management of the HSR Program.

Graduate Administrator

Zoe Downie-Ross
Phone Number: (416) 946-3486
Email Address: ihpme.grad.admin@​utoronto.ca

Coordinates student records, graduate funding, and student-related awards.

Graduate Admissions

Christina Lopez
Email Address: ihpme.admissions@​utoronto.ca

Manages admissions and responds to all related inquiries.

Graduate Assistant

Anita Morehouse
Phone Number: (416) 946-3922
Email Address: ihpme.grad.assist@​utoronto.ca

Coordinates various graduate initiatives including defences, student events, and graduation.

HSR Program Assistant

Anita Morehouse
Phone Number: 416-946-3922
Email Address: ihpme.hsr.courses@​utoronto.ca

Manages the HSR courses including enrolment, grades, and access to Quercus.