PhD in Epidemiology
Admission Requirements
In addition to the Graduate College minimum requirements, applicants must meet the following program requirements:
- Baccalaureate Field A major in the biological, physical, or social sciences is preferred.
- Grade Point Average At least 3.00/4.00.
- Tests Required GRE General. For GRE General Tests, the combined verbal and quantitative scores must be at least 300.
- Minimum English Competency Test Score
- TOEFL iBT 80, with subscores of Reading 19, Listening 17, Speaking 20, and Writing 21, OR,
- IELTS Academic 6.5, with 6.0 in each of the four subscores, OR,
- PTE-Academic 54, with subscores of Reading 51, Listening 47, Speaking 53, and Writing 56.
- Letters of Recommendation Three required.
- Personal Statement Required; the statement should address the applicant’s intended research, career goals, and reason for pursuing the PhD degree in the chosen area.
- Other Requirements Applicants may submit their master's thesis as evidence of their ability to plan and complete significant health-related research.
Degree Requirements
- Minimum Semester Hours Required: varies by concentration. 96 from the baccalaureate. Students in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology concentration may be required to take 114 to 116 hours, depending on prior coursework taken.
- Coursework: At least 9 hours must be in 500-level didactic courses in the student’s major area. If a collateral area is required by the major, at least 6 hours must be in the collateral area at the 500 level.
- In addition to school-wide standards, no grade below B is acceptable in any Epidemiology or Biostatistics required course. If a grade below B is achieved in such a course, it may be repeated once. Failure to maintain this standard will be grounds for dismissal from the Epidemiology Program.
School-Wide Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| School of Public Health Core Requirements | ||
| Biostatistics I | ||
| Biostatistics II | ||
| Introduction to Epidemiology: Principles and Methods | ||
| Foundations and Determinants of Public Health | ||
| Required Non-Credit Training | ||
Human Subjects Research (HSR) | ||
Title IX Training | ||
SPH Academic Integrity Tutorial | ||
Divisional Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Epidemiology Divisional Core Requirements | ||
| Logistic Regression and Survival Analysis | ||
| Design of Clinical Trials | ||
| Intermediate Epidemiologic Methods | ||
| Epidemiologic Computing | ||
| Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases | ||
| Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases | ||
| Applied Methods for the Analysis of Epidemiologic Data | ||
| Advanced Quantitative Methods in Epidemiology | ||
| Current Epidemiologic Literature | ||
| Epidemiology Research Seminar | ||
| Electives | ||
| Two 500-level substantive Epidemiology classes, in different areas, to prepare for substantive sections of preliminary examination (e.g. Cardiovascular, Cancer, Aging, Infectious, Pediatrics, Genetics) (4-6 hours) | ||
| At least one biological sciences class relevant to student’s research area is required if no prior biological sciences background (4 hours). Students may enroll in an undergraduate biological sciences courses; however these hours will not count towards graduation credits for the PhD. | ||
| Additional coursework in relevant area outside of Epidemiology and approved by the advisor (e.g. Biostatistics, Nutrition, Maternal and Child Health, Environmental Sciences, Sociology) (6 hours) | ||
| Remaining electives (13-15 hours) | ||
| Note: Students with a master’s degree in public health or a related area may receive up to 32 hours of credit towards the 96-hour total. | ||
Other Requirements
- Dissertation Proposal : Required.
- Dissertation: Required. Students must register for IPHS 599 for at least 32 semester hours.
- Preliminary Exam: Required.
- Other Requirements: Each PhD student is required to obtain experience in classroom teaching. The teaching experience for doctoral candidates should at minimum consist of planning, leading and evaluating a minimum of two classroom sessions, which may be online or in-class sessions. If students are clear that they will be pursuing a career in academe, they should be encouraged by their advisors to go beyond this minimum. All PhD students’ efforts should be supervised and evaluated by appropriate faculty. Documentation should accompany this evaluation so that PhD students are clearly rated on their efforts at planning, teaching, and evaluating the students in their classes. Efforts of students who are laboratory or teaching assistants should be considered vital teaching experiences as long as there is appropriate evaluation of such efforts by faculty and students. It is the responsibility of the student and his or her faculty advisor to make sure the student's instructional experience is properly evaluated.