The Schools of Community Health Sciences at UNR and UNLV are pleased to offer a collaborative doctoral program (Ph.D.) in Public Health. The collaboration between the two schools represents a unique, statewide approach to public health training and research, drawing on complementary expertise and opportunities at both universities to create a high-quality academic program that maximizes resources and flexibility.
About the Program
The Ph.D. in Public Health is designed to prepare students for careers in which advanced analytical and conceptual capabilities are required, such as university teaching, research, consulting, policy development or other high-level positions.
Students in the program can be admitted to either UNR or UNLV and will follow a common curriculum of required classes. Elective courses may be taken at either institution, and the dissertation is supervised by a chair at the admitting institution and a doctoral committee with members from either or both institutions.
The curriculum was developed jointly by faculty from the Schools of Public Health at the University of Nevada, Reno, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with input from representatives of academia and the public health community. The curriculum provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of topics and experiences necessary to produce graduates who are ready to secure employment in the public health arena.
For more information about the University of Nevada Las Vegas Ph.D. in Public Health, click here.
For information about the University of Nevada Reno and course offerings and requirements:
| Program Curriculum | |
| Program Completion Requirements | |
| Admission Requirements | |
| Begin the Application Process |
Program Curriculum
Students in the Public Health doctoral program will be afforded an array of research opportunities in which to complete their dissertation and contribute to the field of public health. Completion of the Ph.D. demonstrates that the graduate has the advanced research skills and competencies necessary to succeed in high level research careers.
All students are required to successfully complete coursework that provides a public health perspective, as well as an Area of Emphasis in a public health discipline. Students must complete 54 credits beyond a Master of Public Health (MPH), or 63 credits beyond a Master's degree in a related field for a minimum of 72 credits. Up to a maximum of 24 credits may be transferred in from a masters degree, subject to faculty approval. Approved courses will include those taught in other disciplines and must relate to the student's area of research.
Upon admission each student will be assigned an academic (not dissertation) advisor who will help the student plan a program of study for submission to the doctoral curriculum committee for approval.
Required Core Courses For All Doctoral Students (27 credits): All students are required to take the following 27 credit hours or their approved equivalent:
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UNLV Courses
|
|
UNR Courses
|
CR
|
| EOH 740 Environmental Health |
OR
|
CHS 725 Helath and the Environment |
3
|
| EAB 703 Statistics for Public Health |
OR
|
CHS 780 Biostatistics in Public Health |
3
|
| HED 705 Theoretical Foundations in Health Promo |
OR
|
CHS 701 Social and Behavioral Health |
3
|
| EOH 747 Transmission of Infectious Disease |
OR
|
CHS 620 Biolgical Basis of Health & Disease |
3
|
| EAB 701 Fundamentals of Epidemology |
OR |
CHS 712 Epidemology in Public Health |
3
|
| HCA 701 Survey of US Health Care |
OR
|
CHS 755 Policy and Health Administration |
3
|
| EOH (TBA) Ethics in Public Health |
OR
|
CHS 785 Public Health Ethics |
3
|
| EOH (TBA) Doctoral Student Seminar |
OR
|
CHS (TBA) Doctoral Student Seminar |
3
|
Students without key prerequisites (i.e., coursework equivalent to expectations for the MPH) must complete them within their first year after matriculation into the program.
Areas of Emphasis
In addition to the core courses, students will select 27 credits from the list of focus courses in an identified emphasis area in accordance with the advising plan developed with their academic advisor. The 27 credit requirement includes 6 hours of seminar, taken over the course of the program. Seminars range from 1 to 3 credits, are offered every semester, and cover a variety of topics in the field.
Areas of Emphasis include:
Environmental and Occupational Health - available
Social/Behavioral Health - coming soon
Epidemiology and Biostatistics - under development
Health Administration and Policy - under development
Environmental and Occupational Health Area of Emphasis Course Options:
EOH 709 Scientific Writing |
3 |
HE 695 Toxic Communities and Public Health |
3 |
EAB 733 Survey Sampling |
3 |
NRES 612 Environmental Law |
3 |
EAB 783 Multivariate Methods |
3 |
NRES 633 Env Chemicals: Exp, Trans & Fate |
3 |
EAB 763 Linear Models |
3 |
NRES 672 Environmental Health and Safety |
3 |
EAB 753 Nonparametric Statistics |
3 |
PSC 603D Global Environmental Policy |
3 |
EAB 773 Survival Analysis |
3 |
CHS 777 Fundamentals of Indust. Hygiene |
3 |
EAB 715 Chronic Disease Epidemiology |
3 |
CHS 730 Biomarkers of Human Disease |
3 |
EAB 725 Infectious Disease Epidemiology |
3 |
CHS 695 Biochem & Molec Mech of Toxicity |
3 |
ENV 711/712 Risk Assessment |
3 |
CHS 753 Health Informatics |
3 |
EOH 717 Food Safety |
3 |
CHS 735 Intro to Expos Assess & Control |
3 |
EOH 777 Emerging Infectious Disease |
3 |
CHS 776 Essentials of Occupational Health |
3 |
EOH 767 Bioaerosols |
6 |
CHS 728 Food & Nutritional Toxicology |
3 |
EOH 769 Pollution Ecology |
3 |
CHS 781 Env-Occup Health Risk Assess |
3 |
EOH 757 Parasitology and Public Health |
3 |
ATMS 612 Introduction to Air Pollution |
3 |
EOH 737 Public Health Microbiology |
3 |
CEE 653 Environmental Microbiology |
3 |
EOH 765 Environmental Justice |
3 |
CEE 617 Intro to Env Quality and Analysis |
3 |
HSP 680/ 781 Industrial Hygiene I&II |
3 |
CEE 658 Fundamentals of Env Chemistry |
3 |
EAB 715 Qualitative Methods |
3 |
CEE 653 Environmental Microbiology |
3 |
EOH 765 Environmental Justice |
3 |
CEE 617 Intro to Env Quality and Analysis |
3 |
EOH 775 Injury Epidemiology |
3 |
CHS 782 Analysis of Categorical Data |
3 |
EOH 705 Social Epidemiology |
3 |
(TBA: other advisor approved courses not listed here) |
3 |
EOH 732 Children, Health & the Environ |
3 |
||
EOH 765 Health Disparities |
3 |
||
EOH (TBA) Occupational Health |
3 |
||
EAB 700 Research Methods |
3 |
||
EOH 711 Historical Perspect in Public Health |
3 |
||
EAB (TBA) Experimental Design |
3 |
Dissertation Additionally, all candidates will complete not less then 21 dissertation credit hours, as specified in the student's advising plan.
Program Completion Requirements
1. Credit Hours and Grade point Average
A minimum of 72 graduate coursework in public health is required. Up to a maximum of 24 credits may be transferred in from a masters degree, subject to faculty approval. Approved courses will include those taught in other disciplines and must relate to the student's area of research.
A grade point average of at least a 3.0 must be maintained in all courses required for the degree; no grade less than a B in any course is acceptable for curricular completion of the program.
2. Qualifying Examination: Test of Subject Matter of Program
All students are required to complete a written/oral Qualifying Examination upon completion of the core courses of the program. The examination is designed to assess the student's ability to synthesize knowledge, as demonstrated by the selection and integration of information from several doctoral courses, and is evaluated by written discussion in response to examination questions. The Qualifying Examination may only be repeated once and must be repeated within a year of the initial attempt. Students unable to pass the Qualifying Examination after a second attempt will be separated from the program.
After successful completion of the Qualifying Exam the student will identify a Dissertation committee. The committee will include (at minimum) a Chairperson with expertise in the student's Area of Emphasis, two additional committee members from the School of Community Health Sciences, and an approved external committee member with expertise in the student's selected area of emphasis.
3. Comprehensive Examination
Upon completion of all required course work other than dissertation credits, each student must take a written/oral Comprehensive Examination that will focus on those areas of knowledge most relevant to the student's dissertation topic. Comprehensive examinations may only be repeated once and must be repeated within a year of the initial attempt. If a student fails a second attempt, the student will be separated from the program.
4. Dissertation Prospectus
Upon successful completion of the comprehensive examination, the student will submit a dissertation prospectus to his/her committee for approval. The student then advances to candidacy and can register for dissertation credits in order to begin their independent research.
5. Final Oral Examination
Upon completion of the dissertation, the student must pass a final oral examination which involves the successful defense of their dissertation study. All advisory committee members must be present for this examination and may question the student following presentation of the study. The defense will be scheduled and conducted in accordance with the Graduate School's policies for thesis and dissertation completion. It is the student's responsibility to file the required "Notification of Oral or Written Examination" form with the Graduate School in a timely manner.
Admission Requirements - UNR
Admission into the Public Health PhD Program through UNR will require applicants to meet the standards and criteria of the UNR Graduate School, applicable to all graduate students, both domestic and international, and contingent upon the qualifications of the applicant and the availability of positions. Students will be admitted once a year, for the fall semester. Applicants must have submitted all required materials by the June 1 deadline for admission in the following fall semester. Students will be admitted directly into the doctoral program and all admissions will require the final approval of the Dean of the UNR Graduate School. In addition to the generic requirements of the UNR Graduate School applicants will be expected to meet the following criteria:
1. Bachelor's and master's degrees in appropriate fields from an accredited university. Applicants educated outside of the United States will need to demonstrate proof of equivalent education and advanced degrees. Outstanding candidates without masters' degrees may be provisionally admitted at the discretion of the selection committee with the understanding that they will complete the masters' degree prior to advancement to the Ph.D. program.
2. A minimum grade point average of 3.0 (4.0=A) earned in a masters' program of study.
3. Applicants must present competitive Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores on verbal, quantitative and analytical measures. GRE scores will be assessed relative to other applicants in the pool, as well as relative to other graduate programs at UNR. The exam must have been taken with the institutions' graduate school/college requirements.
4. Language Competency-Applicants from countries where English is not the native language, or who do not receive a degree from an institution where English is the language of instruction must show competency in English, meeting the Graduate School requirements: "a minimum score of 500 on the written or 173 on the computerized Test of English as a Foreign Language" (TOEFL ; UNR Graduate Catalog, 2007).
5. Letters of Recommendation- Three (3) letters of recommendation are required from individuals who can evaluate the applicant's motivation, academic capability, scholarship potential, and personal goals for doctoral study.
6. Written Self-Presentation- Applicants must submit for review a written statement of personal career, educational and scholarship goals including identification of research interests.
7. Interview-Applicants will participate in an interview with members(s) of the Admissions Committee, either in person or by telephone.