The Policy @ Healthforce program was established in 2024, and seeks a post-doctoral scholar to join our team.
Our work is guided by values of social justice to move from structures of exclusion and disparity to a future state marked by structures of inclusion and equity. Healthforce Center's three decades in workforce and health equity issues, research expertise, community engagement, and commitment to equity uniquely position us to perform this work. This opportunity is to join a vibrant health workforce research community with a long-standing focus on health workforce research and policy in California that is well-documented with examples that span the entire health workforce.
In close collaboration with communities across California, the scholar will contribute to research projects that advance a health workforce policy agenda that prioritizes system changes to generate better economic opportunity, and, ultimately, better health for communities of color, statewide public health, and individual health equity.
Such research to advance these aspects of the healthcare workforce may include:
- Diversity: backgrounds, life experiences, language skills, and identities
- Capacity: skills development, maximizing scope, and reduced supervision
- Flexibility: overlapping scopes and flexing as settings and teams need
- Policy: regulatory and institutional frameworks for enhancing the health workforce
Affiliation: The post-doctoral scholars training and appointment will be based at the Institute for Health Policy Studies which has 50 years of providing health policy research. The post-doctoral scholar will work on projects primarily at Healthforce Center with a vibrant group of faculty and staff doing health workforce studies across many domains. These efforts encompass short and long-term qualitative and quantitative studies.
Site: San Francisco Bay Area (preferred) or remote (negotiated); on-site presence is required for some program work approximately 5-7 times/year.
Effort: 100% Full-time
Start Date: September 2025
Duration: Two-year with a potential for extension
Equal Employment Opportunity: The University of California San Francisco is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.
The post doctoral scholar will be supported by one or more extramurally-funded grants and contracts.
The principal project(s) will be the Policy at Healthforce that is funded by The California Endowment. This new area of work focus on addressing local health workforce needs through equitable career pathways. Current research projects include a) understanding the health workforce data landscape in California, 2) the Impact of AI on the health care workforce, 3) summaries of current hot topics in health workforce, 4) development of a conceptual framework to assess structure racism and equity in health workforce policy making, among others. Specific research and implementation projects will be developed collaboratively. You will have numerous other potential projects in which to become involved around other health workforce-related topics. We also will provide opportunities for you to meet and collaborate with other faculty at IHPS and the Healthforce Center at UCSF.
It is our intention that you have opportunities to be first author for journal articles, and that you have approximately 25-30% time for your own research agenda. You also will be invited to participate in the many post-doctoral professional development activities of IHPS and UCSF.
The Faculty Mentor’s information is as follows:
- Elizabeth (Beth) Mertz, PhD MA
- [email protected]
- 490 Illinois Street, 11th floor San Francisco, CA 94158
- Healthforce Center
Qualifications
- Applicants must have a PhD in public health, public policy, social science, epidemiology, health services research, or a clinical doctorate
- Applicants with expertise in health equity and the healthcare workforce will be prioritized.
- Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States
Send a cover letter, CV, and list 2 Referees to Beth Mertz ([email protected]).
No applications will be accepted after May 31, 2025.
All offers are contingent upon, among other things, evidence of a doctoral degree and documentation of employment eligibility in compliance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.