Students will gain practical skills they can use at work the next morning. The program is designed to help mid-career professionals jump into a leadership role or transition to a new area. And it will help new graduates gain a strategic advantage over other young professionals. All graduates will gain the technical skills and insights required for advancement into new and emerging levels of leadership responsibility as payers place a far greater emphasis on value, data validation and patient outcomes.
The Division of Healthcare and Biopharmaceutical Business offers specialized graduate education programs that directly prepare you to start or advance an exciting business career in health and life sciences, biopharmaceuticals, consulting, insurance, and medical technology.
The division is a dedicated team within the top-ranked USC School of Pharmacy and collaborates with the nationally renowned USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics.
High Demand, Real Impact
A partnership between USC Mann and the Price School of Public Policy, the Schaeffer Center brings together health policy experts, seasoned pharmacoeconomics specialists and faculty across USC and other leading institutions to solve pressing challenges in healthcare.
Programs
All program courses emphasize project-based learning allowing active exploration of real-world healthcare business challenges. Lectures from leading industry executives offered across all program courses provide unique access to critical insights from experts in the respective fields.
The Master of Science in Healthcare Decision Analysis is a certified STEM degree program by the USC Office of International Services (OIS), qualifying eligible graduates on student visas for an optional practical training (OPT) extension.
The Master of Science in Biopharmaceutical Marketing is a specialized graduate program in precision marketing.
The Graduate Certificate program offers three pathways to either level-up existing skill sets for career advancement or learn foundational industry knowledge – without leaving your existing day-job – to pivot into the competitive Health and Life Sciences, Biotech, and Pharmaceuticals Industries.
For current USC students, considering multiple degrees to enhance learning and skill sets:
- Undergraduate students may participate in the Progressive Degree Program to earn either of the above offered masters degree in as little as 1 additional academic year.
- PharmD Students may pursue either a dual degree, with no impact on their planned academic timeline, or a concurrent degree with one additional academic year.
Please visit the respective program webpages for detailed admission and degree completion requirement information. For personalized support, please email Michelle Ton, Program Administrator – Admissions, at tonm@usc.edu.
Meet the Faculty
Ken S. Wong, PharmD, MPH
- Director, Division of Healthcare and Biopharmaceutical Business & Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics
Ken Wong is an expert in innovations in market access and drug pricing.
Daniel Tomaszewski, PharmD, PhD
- Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics
An expert in drug pricing/policy, managed care, pharmacy benefit management, opioid use in pediatrics, and medication adherence.
Approach to Learning
- Learn-by-doing through team collaborations and scenario-based learning problem solving representing current real-world situations and critical decision pathways
- Lecure from Industry executives offered across pharmaceutical marketing course, offering unique access to insights and critical skills from experts in the respective fields
- Career and Professional development through dedicated resources and support from program staff and networking opportunities
Hybrid Course Format
Courses are offered in a hybrid format which combines in-classroom instruction on the beautiful USC campus on weekends and online webinars on select weeknights. The hybrid format allows full-time students, dual-degree students, and working professionals to individualize their learning experience while ensuring classroom success. All students have access to best-in-class campus facilities, innovative instructional technologies, as well as learning and networking opportunities with current healthcare industry executives and mentors.
Ken S. Wong
Director, Division of Healthcare and Biopharmaceutical Business &
Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics
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Corporate Partnerships
USC’s Division of Healthcare and Biopharmaceutical Business can provide commercial support to healthcare organizations, biopharmaceutical companies, consulting firms, and medtech companies in many ways.
The Enterprise Team Projects (ETPs) enable organizations to achieve more in a given period of time. Commercial teams with more projects than people to manage them can outsource a project to our DHBB graduate student teams. Projects can encompass a wide variety of topics – from pricing and reimbursement to strategy to competitive intelligence, HEOR, go-to-market, market access, product/portfolio strategy, and much more. Projects run a semester and the team of four-six students will contribute at least 1200 hours to the project. Plus, the ETP team can become a robust talent pipeline.
A sponsored internship enable organizations to solve a short-term talent need through direct placement. Internships last for a semester and can support under-resourced projects. The organization gains the flexibility of assessing potential hire through on-the-job performance. Additional partnership options include early career talent sourcing, faculty research, fellowship and more.
If you are interested in learning more about sponsoring an ETP, internship, or have questions, please contact Kristen Felthousen at felthous@usc.edu.
What makes the biopharmaceutical marketing program unique?
“Being a part-time student in the program while also working full-time has allowed me to translate what I have learned in my courses into the workforce. The program is centered around collaboration, offering scenario-based learning that is focused on enhancing students’ abilities to successfully market biopharmaceuticals and other innovative healthcare products. I recommend this program to anyone thinking of returning to school to either enhance their skills, pivot into something new, or be a leader in the ever-changing healthcare environment while having the flexibility to be a working professional.”
Shayan Langha
MS Biopharmaceutical Marketing ’23
Sr. Staff Regional Segment Marketing Manager, Oncology - Illumina
Do you have any advice to the students who are following in your footsteps?
“This is the best healthcare decision analysis program in the world. Upon graduation, you will receive offers from Johnson & Johnson, IQVIA, PwC, Deloitte, and many more, just as I did. Don’t hesitate to network with people, including but not limited to our alumni and industry leaders.”
Jing Chen
MS Healthcare Decision Analysis ’21
Health Economics Analyst at IQVIA Real-World Solutions
Location is Everything
In the Heart of Los Angeles
Our location on the main USC campus is in the heart of a vibrant city and offers extraordinary opportunities for internships, community engagement, networking and mentoring. With 140 countries represented and 224 languages spoken, Los Angeles is filled with diverse cuisine, cultural institutions and recreational offerings. L.A. is home to more theaters, music venues and museums than any other U.S. city, and you can ski, hike and surf in nearby beaches and mountains.