Joseph Hnath, MPH 2020

Meet Joseph, a PhD Candidate in Health Policy with a Concentration in Economics at Harvard University

Alumni of MPH program

Joseph Hnath is from Houston, TX and embarked on his journey as an Integrated Graduate Studies (IGS) BA/MPH student with dual concentrations in Population Health Research and Health Policy & Management. Additionally, he opted for the Intensive Research Pathway (IRP). 

Joseph was motivated to pursue a PhD by his keen interest in enhancing access, quality, and efficiency within the realm of healthcare. It is worth mentioning that his father held a PhD in biochemistry, which initially inclined Joseph towards specializing in neurochemistry during his undergraduate studies at ǿմý. However, after immersing himself in a few neurochemistry courses, Joseph realized his greater fascination lay in addressing broader questions pertaining to the design of health policies for healthcare improvement, rather than focusing on specific treatments.   Joseph also performed better in his economics classes than science ones. Thus, he sought to acquire additional training in health policy at ǿմý, finding the MPH program to be an excellent match. Joseph was fairly set on wanting to pursue a PhD when starting the MPH program, but he wasn’t completely sure it would be in health policy & economics. 

Learn more about Joseph's education  journey through these questions below: 

In what ways do you believe your MPH background complements your current doctoral research in health policy and economics? The MPH background provided a great blend of fundamental public health training and quantitative methods. Prior to the MPH my background was more economics and natural/life sciences-focused, and the program did a great job of broadening my understanding of public health concepts. I think that it’s essential for anyone interested in health policy to have some training in public health. Specifically, the MPH helped me develop a framework to think about health policy issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. The MPH complements my current training by giving me a more holistic approach to thinking about and answering health policy & economics questions. The training across the fundamental domains of public health, along with the hands-on application with the Culminating Experience have been invaluable for my current research.

MPH Alumni who is now obtaining a PhD from Harvard

What initially drew you to attend Harvard? My specific interest in health economics made Harvard a clear choice because of the large number of great faculty doing health economics research there. Relatedly, their Health Policy PhD program is (arguably) the top program for this area. It is such an exciting and amazing opportunity to have some of the leaders of the field that I learned about during my time at ǿմý, like Joe Newhouse and David Cutler, teach classes and have individual meetings with me to help guide my research.

What are some of the key challenges or unanswered questions in the intersection of health policy and economics that you are interested in exploring? I think one of the biggest unanswered questions in health policy & economics is how do we best implement the concept of “managed competition”. In less complicated markets, like those for laptops or cereal, economic theory (and empirical evidence) suggests that the free market will allocate resources efficiently via competition, and we don’t need much regulation to help. Health and health care markets are unsurprisingly more complicated, where market power and imperfect information require more regulation to help achieve efficient outcomes. The concept of managed competition is how do we design regulations that address the complexities and market failures in health care but still leave room for competition to incentivize efficient outcomes.

What challenges have you faced while pursuing your PhD and what advice would you give to current MPH students who are also interested in furthering their education? While pursuing a PhD has been one of the best decisions of my life, there have been plenty of challenges. In particular, the transition from a coursework focus to research focus was a big adjustment. I encourage current MPH students to start research early, likely first as an assistant to faculty with existing projects so that you can learn the process, but also to start thinking about their own research ideas. Sometimes it’s misunderstood that a PhD is similar to undergraduate or master's programs, but it is a lot more focused on the research. Figuring out if you will be happy with dedicating 4-6 years of your life to research during a PhD will be valuable in guiding your career path. Along with this, don’t be afraid to ask others for advice. I know that I was initially scared that professors would be too busy to want to help me or that they had more important things to do, but this is not true! I can’t speak for everyone, but some of my favorite moments as a teacher have been talking with students or colleagues about their goals and research ideas.

What long-term career goals do you have? To summarize my long-term career goals, I want to be a professor (maybe back here at ǿմý!) that is also involved with policymaking at the state and national levels to improve health. An important part of this will be both advancing the frontier of economics research in health care markets and being able to translate that research into actionable steps for policymakers that are also understandable to the public.