Degree: Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health
USF Department code: DEA
Program (Major/College): PPH PH
Concentrations: Global Communicable Diseases (TCD)
COPH Department: Global Health
Ph.D. in Public Health with a Concentration in Global Communicable Diseases
The Department of Global Health's Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program is offered through the Global Communicable Disease track. Graduates of the doctoral program will be qualified to conduct fundamental and applied research in identification, evaluation and prevention of tropical and communicable diseases. The Department offers a distinguished teaching and research program which provides a sound basis for doctoral study. Please review individual faculty web pages for an overview of faculty research interests.
Student Background
Students seeking entrance into the Doctoral Program in the Department of Global Health must have a clear career focus. They should have the educational training of sufficient breadth, a record of excellent achievement, and an indication of potential (typically GPA of 3.0 and GRE minimum scores: Verbal 152 and Quantitative 149. Ideally the student should present a background of sufficient depth that he or she can function as a mature and self-directed professional in the area of public health. In addition to USF Graduate Studies and College Doctoral Admission Requirements, Departmental Requirements are described below:
Education: Student should have a master's degree or higher, in public health or a related discipline, such as: health sciences, biological sciences, physical sciences or engineering. Prior research experience is desirable. Students with a bachelor's degree with excellent academic background and research experience may be considered. Students who do not have a prior degree in Public Health must take Epidemiology, Biostatistics and one other core as prerequisites to their doctoral coursework.
Faculty Sponsorship and Financial Resources: The match between student and faculty is considered to be as important as the background of the student alone. There must be a faculty member willing to take the responsibility to provide guidance and supervision for the student before a student can be fully admitted. In addition, there must be financial resources available to support the student's doctoral research. Because of this, not all students who meet the basic criteria for admission will necessarily be admitted.
Student Competencies
In addition to the overall Doctor of Philosophy degree competencies, a graduate with a concentration in Global Communicable Diseases will be able to:
- Define and formulate a research hypothesis that will provide information aimed at improving the health of individuals and communities with a focus on, but not confined to tropical infectious disease research;
- Develop and apply laboratory and field methodologies to test a research hypothesis, including quality assurance/quality control techniques and statistical methods that test the validity and significance of research data;
- Demonstrate the oral and writing skills, and experimental design, worthy of defending a dissertation and publication in academic and professional journals;
- Work as a productive member of a research team and collaborative in writing research proposals to obtain extramural funding to support research projects; and
- Demonstrate ethical considerations in the practice, management and publication of research results
Degree Details
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Students applying for the Ph.D. in Public Health must follow the admission process detailed on the COPH Application Procedures web page. Applicants to the Global Health doctoral program must meet the following minimum criteria in order to be considered for admission. However, the meeting of these criteria, per se, shall not be the only basis for admission.
The completed application package will include:
Review by the Department Admissions Committee:
The final decision is based on:
Upon acceptance to the Doctoral Program Each student shall sign a letter of understanding regarding the five stages in the doctoral degree process:
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Upon a student's admission, the department chairperson will appoint the faculty sponsor as advisor. The student and Faculty advisor shall meet prior to the beginning of the first semester to identify courses taken during the first semester of study. By the end of the first semester, the doctoral committee must be formed. The Doctoral Committee will advise and approve the student's course of study administer and grade the written and oral qualifying examinations. The Doctoral Committee will consist of at least four members including the adviser, three of whom must come from the Department of Global Health. After passing the qualifying examination, the Dissertation Committee will be formed. The Doctoral Committee may continue to serve as Dissertation Committee. The Dissertation Committee will approve the student's plan of research, supervise the research, read and approve the dissertation, and conduct the dissertation defense. The Dissertation Committee will consist of at four least members including the advisor, three of whom must come from the academic area in which the major work for the degree will be done, with at least one member from outside the Department of Global Health. All the members must be credentialed, by USF Graduate Studies. |
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Note: You may choose a plan of study that corresponds to the academic year of your admission or any year thereafter. Please see the guidelines below.
The student's plan of study will include the following components: Prerequisites: The doctoral committee or the department may require prerequisites. A student who has a master's degree may be required to take those public health courses which have not been included in previous master's study. These courses are not included in the minimum number of hours a student needs to complete the Ph.D. and are expected to be completed early in the course of study. Doctoral student will be required to take a more advanced biostatistics course than PHC 6050. Tools of Research: Before a student becomes eligible to take the doctoral comprehensive qualifying examination, two of the "Tools of Research" selected and approved by the student's Doctoral Committee must be completed. Courses taken to fulfill "Tools of Research" requirements may not be credited toward the 90 SH requirement for the Ph.D. degree. The "Tools of Research" requirement is interpreted broadly to allow the inclusion of a wide range of skills competencies relevant to the candidate's area of study. Suggested topics include foreign language, advanced courses in Computer Science, (Bio) Statistics, special practical training complimentary to the student's area of research and other appropriate courses. The Doctoral Committee will state clearly what is required, how it will be met, in what way it is appropriate for the student's course of study, as well as how proficiency/competency will be evaluated. Seminars: Doctoral students will be expected to participate in the department's Interdisciplinary Conferences and shall present at least twice during their course of study. All doctoral students take a minimum of three semester (one credit per semester) of a college wide Advanced Interdisciplinary Seminar in Public Health (PHC 7931). Required Course Work: The courses and number of credit hours required are defined by the doctoral committee and may include course work from another department or college. There must be a minimum of 13 credits beyond at the 7000 level. Generally, the doctoral degree requires a minimum of 90 credits beyond the bachelor's degree. "Tools of Research" and Public Health Core Courses are not included in this 90 credit requirement. The doctoral committee shall delineate in the plan of study the number of credits accepted from previous master(s) degree which will not exceed a maximum of 30.
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Qualifying Examination The comprehensive qualifying examination is a means of:
The qualifying examination is administered by the Doctoral Committee when the student has met the following minimum conditions:
The content of the qualifying examination will be drawn from two broad areas:
The comprehensive qualifying examination will have an oral component in addition to the written portion of the examination. The student must successfully complete the written portion of the qualifying examination prior to undertaking the oral portion of the exam. A student who is unsuccessful in the first attempt of the written portion will be given one opportunity to retest the written portion of the examination. A second failure of the written examination or of the oral examination will result in the student's dismissal from the doctoral program. Qualifying Examination The comprehensive qualifying examination is a means of:
The qualifying examination is administered by the Doctoral Committee when the student has met the following minimum conditions:
The content of the qualifying examination will be drawn from two broad areas:
The comprehensive qualifying examination will have an oral component in addition to the written portion of the examination. The student must successfully complete the written portion of the qualifying examination prior to undertaking the oral portion of the exam. A student who is unsuccessful in the first attempt of the written portion will be given one opportunity to retest the written portion of the examination. A second failure of the written examination or of the oral examination will result in the student's dismissal from the doctoral program. |
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Teaching All Ph.D. candidates are required to teach as part of their training. The teaching experiences should include, but not be limited to:
Students entering the doctoral program with significant teaching experience at the University level may have all or part of this requirement waived or substituted by their committee. Assistantships The Department has a limited number of assistantships for Ph.D. students. Students should apply to the Global Health Department's Academic Coordinator. |
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Students are expected to be familiar with the Graduate Catalog, Department and College Academic and Student Affairs and pertinent documents and forms that guide doctoral studies. The student is responsible for assuring appropriate forms are submitted on time. Restriction on Release of Publication: See Graduate Studies for details |