Public Health, Dr.P.H. (Epidemiology Concentration)

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General Program Information

Graduate School Contact:

Mary Duncan; duncanm@etsu.edu; 423-439-4302

Deborah Slawson, Ph.D., R.D., L.D.N., Associate Professor, DrPH Coordinator

Department of Community and Behavioral Health
Phone: (423) 439-4592
Email:slawson@etsu.edu
Office Location: Room 310, Lamb Hall
Johnson City, TN 37614

Doctor of Public Health Degree

The Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.) program offers an advanced professional degree designed for those who wish to pursue or further their career in public health practice. It prepares practitioners with competence in administration, advocacy, problem solving, research, and communication. Graduates are qualified to serve in a variety of leadership capacities at state, national, and international levels, enhancing the public’s health in both rural and urban settings. Two areas of concentration currently exist within the degree - community health and epidemiology. For more information on admission and degree requirements see the Dr.P.H. entries under the Community and Behavioral Health Department or Biostatistics and Epidemiology Department, respectively.

Program Admission Requirements

(Target Date: February 1)

Admission to the Doctor of Public Health program is competitive and based on scholarship, letters of recommendation, and evidence of potential success, including:

Evidence of successful completion of an M.P.H. or equivalent degree in a related field from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning in the United States.
Application form and accompanying fee.
One official transcript of all previous undergraduate and graduate work (except previous coursework completed at ETSU).
A personal essay that includes a written statement of career and educational goals, professional experience, and prospective area of interest for the dissertation.
Official scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) taken within the past 5 years (except for those with a doctoral degree from a regionally accredited institution within the United States). If ETSU has GRE scores taken within the last 5 years already on file, the applicant does not need to resubmit these scores.
Three letters of recommendation from individuals who can attest to the applicant’s academic, professional, or personal achievement, competence, ethics, and potential.

Note:

Applications are accepted once a year only, for entry into the fall semester and must be received by March 1 for consideration. Applicants to this program are required to use the online Schools of Public Health Application Service (SOPHAS) which can be accessed at www.SOPHAS.org.

Epidemiology Concentration

Robert Pack, M.P.H., Ph.D., Interim Chair, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology
Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

College of Public Health
The Academic Health Sciences Center at East Tennessee State University
Box 70623
(423) 439-4243
e-mail:packr@etsu.edu
College website: www.etsu.edu/cph

Purpose

The Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology offers the Dr.P.H. degree with a concentration in epidemiology. Graduates will have advanced professional skills and knowledge in the identification of causes of health and illness in human populations and the application of this knowledge to disease prevention and control.

Admission Requirements

Note: Applications for all programs in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology are to be sent to the School of Graduate Studies. Please see the ETSU Graduate Studies web site for instructions, requirements, and application forms.

Degree Requirements

Core DrPH Courses

BSTA 5350 - Biostatistics II (3 credits)
EPID 5405 - Epidemiology II (3 credits)
ENVH 6100 - Environmental Concerns in Public Health (3 credits)
COBH 6110 - Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health and Disease (3 credits)
HSMP 6130 - Public Health Leadership, Policy Development, and Ethics (3 credits)
COBH 6150 - Evaluation Research in Public Health (3 credits)
COBH 6160 - Systems Approaches to Public Health Issues (3 credits)
BSTA 6170 - SAS Programming with Research Applications in Public Health (3 credits)
COBH 6195 - Seminar in Public Health (1 credit)

Total Core Hour Requirements: 25 Credit Hours

Epidemiology DrPH Concentration Courses

COBH 6210 - Health Assessment and Surveillance Research (3 credits)
EPID 6410 - Advanced Multivariate Epidemiologic Data Analysis (3 credits)
EPID 6420 - Applied Epidemiologic Analysis (3 credits)
EPID 6435 - Field Epidemiology (3 credits)

Total Concentration Hour Requirements: 12 Credit Hours

Epidemiology DrPH Electives

selected in consultation with program academic advisor

6 Credit Hours

Suggested Electives:

EPID 6440 - Cardiovascular Epidemiology (3 credits)
EPID 6450 - Cancer Epidemiology (3 credits)
EPID 6460 - Reproductive and Perinatal Epidemiology (3 credits)

Epidemiology Practicum Experience

EPID 6850 - Doctor of Public Health Practicum - Epidemiology (6 credits)

Total Practicum Hour Requirements: 6 Credit Hours

Culminating Experience for DrPH in Epidemiology Concentration

EPID 6960 - Doctor of Public Health Dissertation - Epidemiology (1-9 credits)

Total Culminating Experience Hour Requirements: 9 Credit Hours

Total Credit Hours Required for DrPH in Epidemiology: 58 Credit Hours

Graduation Requirements

Completion of the Dr.P.H. degree will require (1) a minimum of 58 semester credit hours of coursework beyond the master’s degree as described; (2) a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale; (3) passing doctoral comprehensive candidacy examination; (4) satisfactory completion of a practicum; (5) passing the preliminary oral examination; (6) completing a dissertation of publishable quality; and (7) passing the final dissertation defense. All students must pass Institutional Review Board certification sponsored by ETSU if working with human subjects, as well as HIPAA certification if their research/practicum falls under the requirements to secure the privacy and confidentiality of patient records.