The doctor of public health (Dr.P.H.) degree prepares mid- to senior-career public health professionals to gain knowledge and skills in leadership, practice, and research that will
assist them in assuming positions of greater responsibility and helping to achieve public health impact at local, state, national and
international levels.
DR.P.H. FORMAT
The Dr.P.H. in Leadership, Practice, and Research degree is a part-time hybrid program. Most courses are completed remotely online and are supplemented with executive format face-to-face meetings on campus in New Jersey. Students are required to attend executive sessions a maximum of five times during their first two years of study. Coursework is completed as a cohort. Students enroll in a minimum of six credits (two courses) each semester: fall; spring; and summer for the first two years. (Full-time study is not permitted.) During the spring and summer semesters of their second year, students complete an additional one to two credits to fulfill an applied practice experience. Students also complete a comprehensive qualifying exam (written and oral), as well as a dissertation.
DR.P.H. CURRICULUM SUMMARY
Students seeking the Dr.P.H. in Leadership, Practice and Research degree must complete a minimum of 48 credits of academic work with a minimum GPA of least 3.2 overall; earn no more than nine (9) credits bearing grades less than B; and complete the degree requirements within seven years. The coursework is distributed as follows:
- Leadership Courses (9 credits)
- Quantitative and Qualitative Methods Courses (15 credits)
- Policy and Practice Courses (12 credits)
- DrPH Applied Practice Experience (3 credits)
- DrPH Doctoral Research (9 credits)
Total: 48 credits*
*A student who does not have a Master of Public Health degree from a Council on Education for Public Health-accredited school or program of public health, will be required to complete the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Population Health coursework. The 15-credit Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Population Health must be taken before starting the DrPH coursework. Transfer credits are not permitted.
QUALIFYING EXAMINATION
The qualifying examination evaluates the student's competence in public health leadership, practice, and research as it relates to the Dr.P.H. at the Rutgers School of Public Health and assesses the student¿s readiness to undertake a dissertation.
Once the student has completed their coursework (typically by the end of the second year), the student will sit for the qualifying examination (at the beginning of their third year). The qualifying examination comprises a written component and an oral component and will be assessed by the Dr.P.H. Qualifying Exam Committee. The Dr.P.H. Qualifying Exam Committee comprises three faculty members from the School of Public Health: the student's advisor and two additional faculty members established by the Dr.P.H. Program. Both the written and oral portions of the qualifying examination will focus on a specific topic in public health chosen by the student and approved by the academic advisor and the Executive Director for Doctoral Studies, as well as on the application of the knowledge and skills the student has gained from their Dr.P.H. coursework. Each of the parts of the
exam are graded on a pass/fail basis.
DISSERTATION & DEFENSE
To complete the Dr.P.H., the candidate must pursue appropriate dissertation research (PRAC 0740) and present the results in a dissertation. The Dr.P.H. dissertation is completed under the direction of a thesis advisor, and must be approved by a Dissertation Committee of (at least) three faculty members, one of which is an ''outside member." The candidate must submit a written dissertation proposal that presents the projected content of the dissertation within one year of passing the Qualifying Examination.
PUBLICATION OF DISSERTATION AND ACADEMIC DATA
To complete the Dr.P.H., the candidate must have their dissertation archived. 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. Rutgers University Libraries and ProQuest LLC, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, will archive the dissertation and publish the abstract. Information concerning the preparation of the dissertation and abstract and the online publishing agreement details that the doctoral candidate must provide to ProQuest are available in the Office of Student Experiences and Alumni Affairs, Rutgers School of Public Health.
Degree Requirements 
