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titleContent, Process, and Evaluation of Exam

DrPH Qualifying Exam Completion Form: DrPH Qual Exam Completion Form

  • When the majority of the student’s coursework is satisfactorily completed, the student must pass a qualifying examination. The student is required to submit a concept paper describing the proposed doctoral project, followed by an oral examination that relates the content, approach, and deliverables of the project to the DrPH curriculum domains in the student’s concentration. The examination will be administered and evaluated by the student’s doctoral project committee. The student must enroll in at least two credits in the semester the exam is completed. In order to qualify for submission of this form, the student must meet the following requirements:
    • Attainment of an overall and degree program Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.00 at USF at the time of the exam.
    • All “I” and “M” grades, including “IF” and “MF”, must be cleared.
    • Registration in a minimum of two credits in the semester the form is submitted.
  • The field-based doctoral project should be designed to influence programs, policies, or systems addressing public health practice. The doctoral project must include a minimum of three high-quality, evidence-based deliverables, with at least one written product. The doctoral project must also demonstrate synthesis of competencies across all of the DrPH curriculum domains in the student's concentration, as follows:
    • Advanced Practice Leadership in Public Health:
      • Community Engagement
      • Leadership and Management
      • Communication and Education
      • Evidence-Informed Public Health
  • The concept paper will be initially developed in the Evidence-Informed Public Health 2 course. The student should then work with the Major Professor and other committee members as needed on completing the concept paper prior to submission for evaluation.
  • Once approved by the Major Professor, the student will notify the committee members of intention to be examined on the concept paper, and will schedule the oral examination with the committee members at a mutually agreeable time. The oral examination can take place via electronic means of communication if the student is unable to be physically present at the Tampa campus. The student must submit the final draft of the concept paper to the committee members a minimum of two weeks prior to the scheduled oral examination.
  • The oral examination will consist of questions and clarification on the content, approach, and deliverables of the proposal, as well as questions on how the proposal demonstrates synthesis of competencies across the domains in the student's concentration. Typical questions for the concentration in Advanced Practice Leadership in Public Health could include:
    • How does the proposed project engage the community? Explain how your content, approach, and deliverables are grounded in your knowledge of community engagement.
    • How does the proposed project develop the leadership skills or management goals of yourself or others connected to your project? Explain how your content, approach, and deliverables are grounded in your knowledge of the development of leadership skills, and how organizations and systems are managed.
    • How does the proposed project provide for the communication and education needed for transforming public health practice? Explain how your content, approach, and deliverables are grounded in your knowledge of communication and education in public health practice.
    • How are the approach, procedures, and deliverables of your project evidence-based? Explain how your content, approach, and deliverables are grounded in research evidence and methodology, and/or in evidence-based program or policy evaluation or program delivery methods.
  • The committee members will verify satisfactory completion of the qualifying examination by providing their signature on the DrPH Qualifying Exam Completion Form, within one week of completion of the qualifying examination. The signed form must be submitted to Academic and Student Affairs at cophpermits@health.usf.edu. The student must also upload the signed form to their students document folder in Box: https://usfhealth.account.box.com/login.
  • If the student's research involves human subjects, the student is responsible for applying for review by the appropriate IRB review board before proceeding with the proposed work.
  • Prior to approval of the doctoral project, the committee will agree on the final deliverables of the project.
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titleUse of "c" in Degree Acronyms

The College of Public Health does not permit students who are pursuing masters or doctoral degrees to use the degree acronym after their names and a small “c” for candidate. In other words, students are not permitted to use MPHc, MSPHc, MHA, PhDc, or DrPHc. If students, after successfully completing the qualifying exam for the doctoral degree wish to put after their name the words “master degree candidate” or “doctoral degree candidate*” – we allow this. The use of the degree acronym and small “c” creates confusion for faculty, employers, and other individuals who are reviewing students’ CVs and other materials. It creates a situation wherein a student appears to have earned a degree when such is not the case. As a degree‐granting College, we do not allow this.

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titleDoctoral Project Final Submission
  • This version of the doctoral project is formatted in sections. Section 1 is the introduction that includes the statement of the problem and theoretical framework. The Introduction should describe the nature and purpose of the project, and explain the significance of and justification for conducting the project. This section should also present the specific hypotheses or research questions to be addressed by the doctoral project, clearly relating these gaps in the field or current literature. Terms likely to be used throughout the proposal should be defined in this section. A thorough review of the conceptual/theoretical framework(s) or models to be used is expected.
  • In preparation for the doctoral project defense, deliverables will be labeled as Sections 2, 3, and 4. Each deliverable will include the introduction and statement of the problem, literature review, methods, results and conclusion. It is recognized that due to the wide range of deliverables for the doctoral project, the format may be slightly different.  This format should be agreed upon by the Doctoral Committee.
  • The final doctoral project will include Section 1 (introduction and framework), a section for each completed deliverable, final conclusion and recommendation section, references, and appendices. The last section focuses on conclusions and implications of the entire doctoral project. Additionally, it is necessary for this section to cover the items below if not covered in the deliverables.
  • Implications for public health practice may include:
    1. Interpretation of the doctoral project findings and in terms of the objectives or questions that guided the project.  It also should include a critical, retrospective examination of the framework presented in Section 1 considering the doctoral project’s findings.
    2. New insights derived from the doctoral project to solve real and significant public health problems.
    3. Future continuation of the work based on the project’s actual findings and the project’s limitations.  Generally, future work could look at different settings, interventions with new protocols or dependent measures, or new theoretical issues that emerged from the project.  It is appropriate to suggest which of these possibilities are likely to be most fruitful.
    4. A "take home message," the enduring ideas or conclusions that readers need to keep when they are done. This should be presented in the simplest possible form, being sure to preserve the conditional nature of the insights.
    5. An evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the work, and the degree to which conclusions are credible given the methods used.
  • There may be situations in which the original plan for deliverables is not well suited to the doctoral project findings. In those cases, students can work with their Major Professor or Co-Major Professor to modify the deliverables prior to the doctoral project defense.
  • If a manuscript is one of the deliverables, the acceptance of any of the manuscripts for publication is not a requirement for graduation although it is strongly encouraged that the manuscripts be submitted for publication before graduation. The student and committee should agree to authorship of the publications before the defense of the doctoral project and reconfirm prior to the doctoral project defense.
  • In the unlikely situation that a manuscript needs to be published before the doctoral project is submitted (e.g., there is a submission deadline for a special issue), the committee must review and approve in writing that the manuscript is ready for publication.
  • Students are required to submit all doctoral project deliverables electronically, emailed to the committee members, emailed to the Office of Academic and Student Affairs at cophpermits@health.usf.edu, and uploaded to the students documents folder in Box: https://usfhealth.account.box.com/login. This must be completed prior to graduation.
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titleUse of DrPH in Credentials and Publication

Students may only use the credential of “DrPH” after degree conferral is granted. It is inappropriate to use the credential until it is officially and formally granted.  

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