Complete the DrPH requirements

COPH FORM: DrPH Applied Practice Experience Form

Purpose & Setting: All DrPH students will engage in one or more practice-based experiences. The applied practice experiences should develop the student’s advanced practice and leadership skills and knowledge through completion of meaningful projects for public health organizations, including government, non-government, non-profit, industrial, and for-profit settings. These can include the student’s own work setting, or another setting that the student selects, and the student must identify a mentor in the organization who will guide the student during these experiences. Please see the section on Practice-Based Mentors.

Process: While attending each DrPH Institute, the student will start a proposal for an applied practice experience. The student will then work with their faculty advisor and an identified mentor to develop a complete proposal for the competencies, learning objectives, activities, and deliverables required for each applied practice experience. The final proposal must be approved by the student, the faculty advisor, the mentor, and the DrPH Director.

Competencies: The student is expected to achieve demonstrated growth in at least five of the DrPH competencies throughout the series of practice experiences, and at least one competency must relate to leadership or management. The student will identify the targeted competencies for each applied practice experience in their proposal, drawn from the competencies specified in the list of DrPH Courses and Competencies for their concentration. The experiences proposed to meet these competencies can be done in a single large project, or several smaller projects, and can be spread across multiple semesters; this depends on the objectives, activities, and deliverables of each practice experience.

Learning Objectives: In consultation with the faculty advisor and mentor, the student will identify the learning goals for the applied practice experiences based on the competencies targeted. The student will honestly assess their experience and build upon any limitations to enhance the skills and knowledge needed as an advanced professional, or to inform the doctoral project the student would like to pursue. Carefully considering the additional experiences needed to round out the student’s skills and practical knowledge is primary, along with ensuring that opportunities are included to enhance leadership skills.

Activities: Details of the practice activities are developed and agreed to jointly by the student, mentor, and faculty advisor. This represents the heart of the three-way agreement that is integral to developing practice experience. It is necessary to describe the specific actions, projects, processes, and tasks that will allow the student to meet the chosen competencies and objectives. Activities should take the form of statements that begin with action verbs, that are specific, measurable, and time-limited. The student should also state the expected dates for involvement in and completion of the activities, including a temporal view of the entire lifetime of each proposed activity.

Deliverables: The proposal must include deliverables that both meet the needs of the organization, and demonstrate reflection on development of the stated competencies and fulfillment of the learning objectives. This may require more than one deliverable (e.g., the completed project for the organization plus a reflection on competencies and learning objectives achieved). The student should consider what type of deliverables are appropriate for the organization, whether a report on activities performed, a summary of data collected and analyzed, tests from training sessions, etc.

Evaluation: The practice site mentor provides guidance on an ongoing basis, and assists the student with the project deliverables as needed. The student will submit the final deliverables to the faculty advisor, who will provide a final evaluation of the quality and achievement of the deliverables, and whether the student met the stated learning objectives. The deliverables and signed evaluation must also be submitted to Academic and Student Affairs at cophpermits@health.usf.edu, and the student must upload a copy into their student Box folder at this link: https://usfhealth.account.box.com/login.

Here is the table of courses and competencies for each concentration in the DrPH. You must use the competency list that applies to your concentration for your APE requirement. At present there is only one concentration: Advanced Practice Leadership in Public Health, that is effective in Fall 2017. We are also developing a second concentration: Public Health Laboratory Science and Practice, which will be submitted for Fall 2018 approval. We will post those documents as they become available. Students who are admitted to a particular catalog year can select a different catalog year later on, and may request to change their concentration as concentrations become available. The mechanism to make this change can be found here: Archivum Change of Concentration.

Please look at the descriptor that applies to the catalog you will graduate under.

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 student should begin working with their Major Professor early in the program to develop ideas for their doctoral project.  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.
• The Rubric for the written Doctoral Project Plan can be found here.

• 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.

Format of Qualifying Exam Presentation

• The Chair of the Doctoral Committee introduces the student.
  • Oral presentation of the proposed Doctoral Project by student not to exceed 35 minutes.
  • First round of questions by committee members.
  • Second round of questions by committee members.
  • Final round of questions by committee if desired.

  Following the qualifying exam, the committee members convene to make final determination of the appropriateness of the doctoral project being proposed and to deliberate recommendations for changes.  The rubric for the oral exam can be found here.

  When the student passes the Qualifying Exam the committee may still require modifications to the Doctoral Project Plan at a later date. The committee must approve changes to the Doctoral Project if they are initiated by the student.

• 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.

Institutional Review Board Approval (IRB)

IRB Step by Step

All research investigators at USF are responsible for submitting human subject research for review by the USF IRB (and additional IRBs if required) prior to starting a research study. If it is not clear what type of human subjects (exempt, expedited, full board), approval is required; students should consult the USF Office of Research Integrity & Compliance in collaboration with their advisor. Only the IRB can determine if the research being conducted falls under the exempt category. Research investigators must prepare a protocol giving a complete description of the proposed research, a detailed application and, when appropriate, a sample of the proposed informed consent form. All protocols and related forms must be submitted electronically to the IRB via eIRB, which can be accessed online at http://www.research.usf.edu/dric/education-program/.

As a part of the application process, the investigator’s IRB application will be electronically routed to his/her Department Chair or designee, or Department Chair of their Advisor, who certifies that adequate scientific review of the research study has been performed. All students who serve as a Principal Investigator are required to have a faculty advisor listed on their IRB application.  The major professor must review the initial application and any subsequent modifications.  All doctoral students must complete the IRB credentialing process and HIPAA training during their first semester following admission. IRB training courses are available online at http://www.research.usf.edu/dric/education-program/.

The letter from the IRB indicating approval or designation of non research should be submitted as an appendix in their final document for the Doctoral Project and uploaded into box.

***IRB approval from another institution does NOT fulfill this requirement.  As a USF student, you must have a designation regarding human subjects research from the USF IRB.