This program is a joint undertaking of the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Public Health. It has been designed in such a manner as to allow maximum collaboration between the two colleges, at the same time that the expertise of each college and its contribution to the program is distinctly identifiable. To ensure effective health policy study training, the curriculum is based on a trilogy paradigm. The major components of this program include:

• the macro and micro-economic policy analysis component which will be tackled jointly

• the organizational policy analysis component which will draw heavily from the experiences of the College of Public Health with health organizations, and

• the political dynamics of policy analysis component which is appropriately handled by the College of Arts and Sciences

The University of the Philippines Manila is recognized as the premiere academic institution in the health sector and members of its community have played an active role in the formulation and implementation of health policy in the nation and the Asia-Pacific region. Given its mission of producing top caliber health practitioners who value integrity and nationalism oriented, it becomes imperative that it plays a lead role in policy studies. Such a program should address health issues within the context of a developing society where a large percentage of the population is poor. Health policies should promote the common good by ensuring that the health delivery systems address the concerns of the poor and the marginalized. There are two approaches or tracks to fulfill the requirements of this degree program, one of which is the Health Social Science Track. This track seeks to study the health policy process within the socio-cultural context and thus, makes use of and integrates the various disciplines in the social sciences such as history, political science, economics, anthropology, sociology and psychology to approach issues. The Health Science track makes use of the different fields of public health as basis for health policy development. The various fields in public health include biostatistics, epidemiology, health care organization management, health economics, health research, health service administration, etc.