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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.

A minimum of 90 semester hours beyond the bachelor's degree are required. During the first year of study, the student and the Doctoral committee will agree upon a planned program of courses suitable to the student's research interest and which will provide the student the required competencies in the area of specialization. This Plan of Study and any subsequent revisions must be approved by the doctoral advisory committee and must be filed with the College's Academic and Student Affairs Office promptly. Applicants must register as full time students (a minimum of 9 credits per semester of substantive course work) for at least two consecutive semesters during their program). Courses offered by other colleges may be used when appropriate.

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 semesters (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.

2 Graduate Degrees Offered > reader_sm.jpg" class="confluence-embedded-image" src="https://documents.health.usf.edu/download/attachments/5374415/reader_sm.jpg?version=1&modificationDate=1366131568773&api=v2" data-image-src="/download/attachments/5374415/reader_sm.jpg?version=1&modificationDate=1366131568773&api=v2" data-base-url="https://documents.health.usf.edu" data-linked-resource-default-alias="reader_sm.jpg" data-linked-resource-type="attachment" data-linked-resource-id="7176236" data-linked-resource-container-id="5374415" data-mce-src="https://documents.health.usf.edu/download/attachments/5374415/reader_sm.jpg?version=1&modificationDate=1366131568773&api=v2" data-location="COPH > 2 Graduate Degrees Offered > reader_sm.jpg"> Download the PH.D. Plan of Study Form