jackcat

I'm looking into econ PhD programs and came across a few health econ programs (Harvard Health Policy PhD / Health Econ, Wharton Healthcare Management PhD, Stanford Health Policy PhD / Health Econ). The courses seem pretty similar to the applied micro courses in pure econ (albeit more targetted), and they have more lenient admissions. So what's the catch? Do health policy PhDs fare well in the job market compared to pure econ PhDs? Are they restricted in any way? From job market reports, it seems like the vast majority of pure econ students in top PhD programs (including Harvard Econ, MIT Econ, Stanford Econ, etc) who are interested in health end up in health care policy departments in medical / public health schools anyways. Is the trajectory really that different? If you're into health, why choose pure econ over one of these programs?

What are the best pre-doc RA positions in terms of getting into a top PhD program: NBER, SIEPR, Stanford GSB Research Fellows, specific labs/profs, a particular university? Secondary question: what are the most important considerations for choosing an RA position? What matters most: tenured professor, high-profile professor, high-profile department, work in your specific subfield, professors' only RA vs. working in team, etc.?