The
doctor of public health (Dr.P.H.) degree program requires a minimum of 72 credit hours for completion. Candidates
are required to complete comprehensive written and oral examinations in major
and minor areas (if applicable), as well as complete and defend original
dissertation research. In addition,
pursuing the Dr.P.H. requires students to take Fieldwork I and II and complete
a master of public health (M.P.H.) degree unless one has already been earned. Through doctoral-level research, the students
will develop expertise on a single topic, design and implement a research
project, integrate and interpret complex data, and complete a comprehensive
dissertation. Students must plan this carefully. Although the students will
work closely with faculty advisers, students bear responsibility for developing
research of publishable quality. The curriculum and academic progress of all
doctoral students is monitored by a single doctoral program committee.
Dr.P.H.
students are accepted in the departments of Biostatistics, Environmental and
Occupational Health, Epidemiology, and Health Education and Behavioral Science, in New Brunswick.The Dr.P.H. degree is also available in
Newark through the Department of Epidemiology with collaboration of faculty in
the Department of Quantitative Methods: Epidemiology and Biostatistics.The program is designed to be flexible and
responsive to the needs of individual students. A specific course of study will
be selected by the student in consultation with his or her major faculty adviser
and then must be approved by the doctoral committee.Typical programs are detailed within the
departments offering doctoral degrees, although individual students may make
substitutions with the written approval of the doctoral committee.
PROGRAM
REQUIREMENTS
Each student, in consultation with his or her adviser, must develop a proposed
course of study, or curriculum, meet a residency requirement, fulfill a
teaching experience, pass a qualifying exam, and defend a dissertation. The curriculum must total a minimum of 72
credits including a minimum of 24 credits of doctoral research. The curriculum must include specification of
both a major area of study and the option to select a minor area of study. Each
area of concentration may develop its own set of required and elective courses.
Once developed, the student's curriculum is presented to the doctoral
committee. The committee makes a
recommendation to the chair who must approve the curriculum in writing prior to
appointment of a qualifying examination committee. A student's entire course of study, including
thesis research and defense, must be completed within nine years of
admission to the doctoral program.
PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION (FOR DEPARTMENT OF BIOSTATISTICS ONLY)
The preliminary examination is an in-class written exam. The
purpose of the preliminary examination for Dr.P.H. and Ph.D. students within
the Department of Biostatistics is to determine a student's readiness
to pursue the advanced level of biostatistics theory and methods. This
examination (given once a year, usually in May) will be
administered to all students in the doctoral program regardless of
their prior statistical training. Students who have not yet attained a
master's degree in statistics or equivalent upon enrollment in the
program will take the exam after they have completed the required
preliminary courses during the first semester year. The preliminary exam
is a precondition for a student to formally enter the doctoral
curriculum.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
All doctoral students must serve as a teaching assistant for at least one
semester. If a student can document
sufficient teaching experience at the graduate school level, the chair of the doctoral committee may waive this requirement.
RESIDENCY
Please consult each department's residency requirement.
QUALIFYING
EXAMINATION
The adviser, together with the chair of the doctoral committee, is responsible
for proposing a qualifying examination committee and providing guidance for the
student's preparation for that exam. The
campus office staff will schedule the qualifying examination. As a student nears completion of his or her
approved curriculum, the adviser shall propose to the chair of the doctoral
program a committee to administer the qualifying examination to the
student. This committee will be made up
of at least four members of the Rutgers School of Public Health and will
include: the adviser, who has primary responsibility for the student's major; a
faculty member responsible for the student's minor (if applicable); a faculty
member responsible for questions on general public health; and the chair of the
doctoral program or his or her designee. The associate dean for the New Brunswick Campus may serve as an ad hoc
member of the examining committee. Each
of the three parts of the exam (i.e., major, minor, general public health) will
be graded on a pass/fail basis and may be passed with up to one dissenting
vote.
PUBLICATION
OF DISSERTATION AND ACADEMIC DATA
After the granting of the doctorate, the Rutgers University Graduate School-New
Brunswick will have the dissertation microfilmed. The dissertation must, therefore, be prepared
with the same care as if it were to appear in printed form. The abstract that must accompany the
dissertation will be published in Dissertation Abstracts and, therefore, must
be ready for publication when it is submitted to the dean. University
Microfilms of Ann Arbor, Michigan, will microfilm the dissertation and publish
the abstract. Information concerning the preparation of the dissertation and
abstract and the agreement with University Microfilms that the candidate is to
sign are available in the Office of the Graduate School, Rutgers University–New Brunswick.
Dr.P.H.
CURRICULUM SUMMARY
Students seeking the Dr.P.H. degree must complete a minimum of 72 credits and
must defend a dissertation.
-
15 credits in
core areas of public health: Students in all departments must take the following five courses:
Health Education and Behavioral Science in Public Health, Health Systems
and Policy, Introduction to Biostatistics, Introduction to Environmental
Health, and Principles and Methods of Epidemiology.
-
Approximately 33 credits of courses dependent on approved curriculum: these courses are
listed in each department's webpage
-
24 credits of doctoral research
-
6 credits of fieldwork: required if student has not earned a prior M.P.H. degree
DEPARTMENTS
OFFERING THE DR.P.H. DEGREE
-
Biostatistics
- Environmental and Occupational Health
- Epidemiology
- Health
Education and Behavioral Science
