Master of Science in Health Services and Outcomes Research
Center for Education in Health Sciences
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Updated February 2022
INDEPENDENT STUDY POLICY
1. Students may take one independent study course (0.5 or 1.0 credit) as an elective during their degree
program. In CAESAR, the courses are listed as HSR 498 (0.5 credit) and HSR 499 (1.0 credit).
• The Student must identify a faculty member who is willing to sponsor and oversee the independent
study course.
• The faculty member who agrees to sponsor the independent study course is expected to meet with
the student several times during the quarter, provide guidance for the student's independent work,
evaluate the student's work, and assign a grade. The faculty member is not expected to meet with
the student every week.
2. The student should develop the structure and content of the independent study course under the
direction of the sponsoring faculty member well in advance of the start of the quarter. Note that an
independent study is not simply “protected time” for a student to write a paper. The student must
provide specific information below about the structure and content of the course (e.g., readings,
homework, learning objectives, overarching course objectives, course evaluation, weekly timeline that
specifies activities to be completed) in the attached form.
• An independent study course must be comparable to other graduate courses:
o A typical 1.0-credit course involves 30 hours of class time plus approximately 60-90 hours
of homework.
o A 0.5-credit course will require approximately half that time.
3. If the independent study course involves attending a workshop or online course, the student must
cover the cost of the workshop or course.
4. An independent study course must be approved by the Program’s Director, Megan McHugh. Request
forms should be submitted for approval to Megan (megan-mchugh@northwestern.edu) at least 4
weeks before the start of the quarter. Failure to get approval for the Independent Study will result in
the student NOT BEING ALLOWED to register for the course work.
INDEPENDENT STUDY REQUEST FORM
Student Name
Student E-mail Address:
Quarter and Year of Independent Study
Faculty Member Name
Faculty Member E-mail Address
Provide a brief summary of the topics that the independent study will cover, including their relevance and
importance to conducting health services and outcomes research.
State the specific learning objectives.
Describe the instructor’s role and responsibilities in the independent study.
Describe the work plan week by week. Include the frequency and duration of face-to-face contact with the
instructor.
Specify the total hours of effort by major task (e.g., 20 hours conducting a literature review, 15 hours taking
an online course, 5 hours of discussion with faculty, 20 hours analyzing secondary data, 40 hours
developing a manuscript).
Describe specifically how the instructor will evaluate the student’s performance.
Depending on the nature of the independent study, it will be necessary for the student and faculty member
to verify that IRB approval has been obtained if there are human subjects involved (refer to the Office for
the Protection of Research Subjects) and provide proper documentation.
Does this independent study involve human subjects? If YES, provide a brief explanation and attach proper
documentation of IRB approval.
SIGNATURES
This request form MUST be SIGNED by the student and instructor. Applications without appropriate
signatures will be returned without review.
Student’s Date:
signature:
Instructor’s Date:
signature:
Request forms should be submitted for approval to Megan McHugh (megan-mchugh@northwestern.edu)
Failure to get approval for the Independent Study will result in the student NOT BEING ALLOWED to register
for the course work.
