The Department of Socials Sciences focuses on population based research, aimed at studying the determinants of health, such as lifestyles, health behavior and sociocultural patterns of health services utilization, as well as the variables mediating the relations between behavior and health.
The Department also specializes in health services research, studying how health policy, financing systems, organizational structures and processes, and medical technology affect access to health care, the quality and cost of health care, and quantity and quality of life. The primary goal is to identify the most effective ways to organize, manage, finance, and deliver high quality care; reduce medical errors; and improve patient outcomes.