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School of Public Health

DOCTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH (DrPH) ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS

The entering DrPH student must have completed an MPH degree or equivalent degree that includes coursework in the five core disciplines of public health: epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health sciences, social and behavioral health sciences, and health policy and management. Previous experience in public health is desirable. Completion of the DrPH Program requires a total of 45 credits: 30 credits of required course work, a 3 credit field experience and 12 credits of dissertation, which would include public health research and/or practice. The DrPH Program maintains the MPH Program focus on urban and immigrant health while greatly expanding the opportunities of students to develop broad and deep competence as public health practitioners.

DRPH Trajectory

  • Graduates will complete thirty (30) credits of course work, a 3 credit field experience, plus twelve (12) credits for the dissertation, for a total of 45 credits.
  • The required course work is:
    • Twelve (12) credits of DrPH core courses completed by the end of the second semester.
    • Twelve (12) credits of the track core courses taken early in the course of the program.
    • Six (6) credits of electives.
    • Three (3) credits of a field experience.
    • Twelve (12) credits of dissertation.

The specific requirements for the course work are delineated below.

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Academic Advising.

Each DrPH student will be assigned a faculty advisor who will be available to the student throughout the program. The advisor and student will meet at least once a semester to discuss the student's course work, status, and plans throughout the degree completion. This faculty advisor will have expertise in the Track chosen by the student: Epidemiology, Environmental Health, or Community Health. That faculty advisor will also work with the student in considering doctoral dissertation topics and guiding the student to select other appropriate faculty to serve on the committee.

  • DrPH Core Courses:
    • 4 courses at 3 credits each for a total of 12 credits
      • Quantitative Research Methods for Public Health Practice
      • Study Design in Public Health Practice 
      • Public Health Management and Ethics
      • Public Health Policy and Politics Seminar 
  • Track Core Courses:
    • 4 courses at 3 credits each in one of the following disciplines for a total of 12 credits:
      • Community Health Sciences
      • Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences
      • Epidemiology
      • Health Policy and Management
  • DrPH Elective Courses, by Track:
    • 2 elective courses, at 3 credits each, for a total of 6 credits
    • While electives are usually taken within the selected discipline, the student may, with faculty approval, take at least one elective outside of his/her discipline. Students will also have the option of developing individualized courses of independent study to enhance competencies for their intended career.
  • Field Experience in one of the Track Core
    • 3 credits of field experience.
  • Dissertation
    • 12 credits of dissertation.
  • Dissertation Credits: A student cannot enroll for dissertation credits until the student has passed his/her Oral Defense.Twelve (12) credits are required to complete the dissertation. The 12 credits can be allocated in several ways, but must be done with the approval of the student’s advisor.
    · The preferred method is for the student to take a minimum of three (3) credits per semester upon successful completion of his/her oral defense.
    · If the student has finished all 12 credits and still has not completed the dissertation, then the student must continue to sign up for Independent Study credits until the dissertation study has been completed.
    · In exceptional circumstances, and with the approval of the student’s advisor, a student can sign for up for all 12 credits in one semester.
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Advancement to Candidacy/Dissertation

Several steps are required to complete the DrPH degree: 

1) the qualifying examination,
2) the dissertation proposal and defense,
3) completion of the dissertation, and
4) the dissertation defense.  These items and associated tasks are delineated below.

QUALIFYING EXAMINATION (QE) FORMAT:

2 day exam (the two days are separated by 1 week)

  • Day 1:
    • Student will choose to answer 4 out of 6 short essay questions that originate from the core courses within her/his department; in each question the student is asked to apply core content to a specific real-world situation.  The student will have approximately 6 hours to complete the exam questions; Laptops with no internet access will be provided to the students; Students will not be allowed to refer to notes/texts from coursework.

 

  • Day 2:
    • Part 1: Student will choose to answer 2 out of 4 short essay questions that cover breadth topics stemming from the 4 DrPH core courses; by answering these questions the student is expected to demonstrate the ability to work with a range of issues as public health leaders. The student will have approximately 3 hours to complete those questions; Laptops with no internet access will be provided to the students; Students will not be allowed to refer to notes/texts from coursework.
    • Part 2: Student will be given an empirical research article to critique; The student will need to respond to approximately 10 questions regarding the article; The questions will focus on core DrPH competencies and will not be specific to a content area; in answering this set of questions the student can demonstrate the ability to use professional literature in a meaningful and practical way to address public health problems. The student will have approximately 3 hours to complete this; Laptops with no internet access will be provided to the students; Students will not be allowed to refer to notes/texts from coursework

Sitting for exam:

The exam will be scheduled for two days (separated by 1 week) at the end of each semester, as needed. For a student to be eligible to take the exam, s/he needs to have completed all course work. The Program of Study Form needs to be completed with all the courses, the semesters in which they were taken and the corresponding grades filled in. The student can get an updated copy of the form from the Director of Student Affairs. The student needs to have his/her department chair and advisor sign off on the form and then the form needs to be submitted to the Director of Student Affairs. The student needs to present the form and give the chairperson (and the resulting qualifying exam committee) at least 8 weeks notice (prior to the end of the semester), so that there is time for the exam questions to be generated. If the student does not feel that s/he is ready, then the student will need to wait until the two dates at the end of the following semester to take the exam.

Qualifying exam committee:

The committee will consist of three members: 2 from the student’s home department and 1 from an outside department; The chairperson of the home department will choose the two faculty from her/his department and will designate 1 as the chair of that student’s QE committee. The department chair will also contact a chair from another department to choose 1 faculty member as the outside department QE committee member.

The two members from the home department will generate the six exam questions from the home department with input from the faculty in their department who taught the departmental core courses for the particular student/s. These two members will also generate a set of bullet points of content that needs to be covered in the student’s responses to the questions. They will ultimately be responsible for deciding whether the answers to each of the home department questions warrants a pass or a fail. The QE committee member from the outside department will be responsible for generating the four questions derived from the core DrPH courses and their answers with the assistance of others in their department as well as the instructors of the student’s core courses. This person (with oversight from the rest of the QE committee) will decide whether the answers to the two (out of four) questions warrant a pass or a fail. If there is more than one student from the same cohort taking the exam (i.e., students who took the same courses at the same time with the same professors), then the “outside” faculty members from all the QE committees can work together to generate the four exam questions so that the students receive the same questions.

The article critique will be given to all students as it will likely be an article from AJPH or a similar journal that is not specific to any one department. The chair of the QE committee/s (depending on how many students are taking the exam), will meet to generate the questions and criteria for passing the article critique portion of the exam.

If a student fails only one part of the exam (Day 1 or Day 2), s/he is only required to retake that part of the exam. The student should retake the exam the next time the exam is given (either the following Dec or May). If a student fails both parts of the exam, s/he is required to take the entire exam over. A student is only allowed one opportunity to retake the exam.

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DrPH Dissertation: 12 credits

DISSERTATION

Purpose: The purpose of the DrPH dissertation is to demonstrate that the student:

  1. understands the diverse aspects of the field of study and his or her particular area of focus (study) within that field;
  2. is able to appropriately frame his or her study question(s) and related tasks to answer the question(s);
  3. demonstrates that he or she can carry out the tasks necessary to complete the study;
  4. produces a final paper that is worthy of publication.

The DrPH dissertation must be (1) based on an original public health project, (2) worthy of publication, and (3) acceptable to the sponsoring Department and to a committee of dissertation readers.

The dissertation process consists of two (2) major stages:

  • The dissertation proposal and oral examination, and
  • The dissertation and dissertation defense.


Dissertation Proposal: The dissertation proposal should contain a literature review and a conceptual/methodological framework and follow the format of a grant proposal in the Department of interest.  The proposal will include:

  1. a literature review, statement of the research question and research objectives,
  2. methodological approach to be utilized,
  3. anticipated results and limitations, 
  4. the overall significance of the proposed research and,
  5. a timeline for completion of the dissertation.

Oral Defense: If the student’s advisor (the Chair of the Dissertation Proposal Committee) and the other members of the Committee find the proposal to be acceptable, an oral defense of the proposal will be scheduled. If the student successfully completes the oral defense, he or she will proceed to the actual research and writing of the dissertation.

Dissertation Proposal Committee: The dissertation proposal committee will consist of a minimum of 3 people—2 from the full time faculty in the student’s department at SPH and 1 from outside SPH. Outside members must hold a doctoral degree in a relevant subject. The Chair of the Dissertation proposal committee will not be a member of the QE Committee.

Dissertation: Once the Dissertation Proposal Committee has found the dissertation proposal to be acceptable, the student will then proceed to the research and dissertation writing utilizing committee and advisor guidance appropriately.  It will be incumbent on the student to ensure that the dissertation format meets the standards and requirements of SUNY Downstate Medical Center. When the student and advisors believe that the process has been completed, the student will submit the draft dissertation to the Committee.

Dissertation Defense: The draft dissertation will be submitted to the Committee at least one month prior to the scheduled date of defense. The defense of the dissertation will be announced and open to the public. 

Dissertation Committee: The same people will be on the Dissertation Committee as on the Dissertation Proposal Committee. Changes to the committee are allowed only with the approval of the Dean.

Time Limits: The student will have a total of 7 years in which to defend his or her dissertation measured from the date of entry into the doctoral program. Students who take longer than that amount of time will be required to prepare an explanation of the delay to their Chair and the Dean who will decide, on an individual basis if the student may be allowed to remain in the program or have to retake courses and demonstrate competency.

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DrPH Core Requirements
All DrPH students must complete 12 credits of core requirements, which provide the basic knowledge in major areas of public health.

Course Number
 Course Title
 Credits
BIOS 7200 Quantitative Research Methods for Public Health Practice 3
PUBH #### Study Design in Public Health Practice  3
HPMG 7200 Public Health Management and Ethics 3
PUBH 7200 Public Health Policy and Politics Seminar  3
Total
12

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DrPH in Community Health Sciences
This program prepares students to be leaders in the area of health promotion and risk reduction by developing the knowledge, values, and skills needed to effectively plan, design, implement, and evaluate social and behavior change programs. Graduates will be prepared to serve in a leadership capacity in health promotion organizations, will be able to effectively conduct program planning and evaluation, and will be able to teach and conduct health promotion research in academic and practice settings.

Upon graduation, students will be able to:

  • Identify key public health issues within a community and assess the social ecological context in which these issues take place;
  • Utilize major concepts, methods, and theories in the social and behavioral sciences to improve understanding of public health issues and to design behavioral interventions to ameliorate public health problems;
  • Lead efforts to design, implement, and manage an intervention aimed at an identified public health problem/issue;
  • Design a program evaluation, analyze the results, and synthesize the findings;
  • Effectively communicate to diverse audiences issues related to program planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Community Health Sciences Core Courses
All students enrolled in the Community Health Sciences track must complete the track core requirements listed below.

Course Number
 Course Title
 Credits
CHSC 7201 Qualitative Research Methods for Public Health Practice 3
CHSC 7202 Methods of Community Intervention & Research 3
CHSC 7203 Program Evaluation: Theory, Practice, and Research 3
CHSC 7204 Health Promotion Seminar 3
Total
12

Community Health Sciences Field Experience

Course Number
 Course Title
 Credits
PUBH 7000 Community Health Sciences Field Experience
Examples of potential sites are:
  • New York State Department of Health Division of Family Health
  • New York City Departmental of Health Bureau of Maternity, Infant, and Reproductive Health
  • The Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health
  • Local foundations focusing on health
  • Local community-based health organizations
 3

Course Number
 Course Title
 Credits
PUBH 8001 DrPH Dissertation 12


Community Health Sciences Elective Requirements
Students must complete 6 elective credits to satisfy the requirements for a DrPH degree. Two courses may be chosen from the list below.

Course Number
 Course Title
 Credits
CHSC 7300 Theories of Health Behavior 3
CHSC 7301 Psychosocial and Behavioral Epidemiology 3
CHSC 7302 Health Communication Theory and Practice 3
CHSC 7303 Survey Research Methods 3
CHSC 7304 Culture, Class, and Ethnicity in Health Promotion 3
CHSC 7305 International Case Studies in Community Health 3
CHSC 7320 Independent Study 1-3

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DrPH in Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Overview. Environmental health science is concerned with the study of the adverse impacts of physical, chemical, and biological agents in the environment on human health. To characterize the interface between human health and the environment, it is necessary to utilize a set of tools and methods to quantify or categorize exposure.

The DrPH, with a specialization in Environmental Health Sciences, prepares a practitioner with scientific knowledge and managerial skills to assess and resolve environmental issues through applied research, program management, policy guidance, and broad communication.

Track Objectives:

  • Achieve proficiency in the broad public health foundations as well as specifically in the environmental health sciences to understand how agents in the environment affect health.
  • Integrate public health skills and environmental health knowledge in the analysis, policy assessment, and management of environmental health issues to improve public health and welfare.
  • Communicate with a broad array of audiences and stakeholders and implement participatory research methods to identify and solve these environmental health problems.

Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences Core Courses
All students enrolled in the Environmental Health Sciences track must complete the track core requirements listed below.

Course Number
 Course Title
 Credits
EOHS 7202 Advanced Topics in Risk Assessment and Management 3
EOHS 7203 Environmental Health Policy and Management Systems 3
EOHS 7204 Organization of Work, Occupational Stress, and Health 3
EOHS 7205 (Formerly: EOHS 7305: Food Safety Issues) Safety of the Food Supply 3
Total
12

Environmental Health Sciences Core Courses
The field experience provides depth to the DrPH by reinforcing the didactic coursework, and it also acts as a bridge to the dissertation research.

Course Number
 Course Title
 Credits
PUBH 7000 Community Health Sciences Field Experience
Examples of potential sites are:
  • United States Environmental Protection Agency, NY Regional Office, Estuary Program
  • New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Bureau of Air Quality Surveillance
  • New York City Department of Emergency Management
  • New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
  • New York City Department of Environmental Protection
  • Major industrial employers
 3

Course Number
 Course Title
 Credits
PUBH 8001 DrPH Dissertation 12

Environmental & Occupational Health Elective Requirements
Students must complete 6 elective credits to satisfy the requirements for a DrPH degree. Two courses may be chosen from the list below.

Course Number
 Course Title
 Credits
EOHS 7300 Advanced Topics in Occupational Health 3
EOHS 7301 Emerging Issues in Local, National and Global Environmental Health 3
EOHS 7320 Independent Study 1-3

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DrPH in Epidemiology

Overview. The DrPH in Epidemiology is intended to prepare students for advanced leadership positions as epidemiologists. Students will gain the skills and knowledge essential to plan and conduct applied epidemiologic research as independent investigators.

Track Objectives: In addition to satisfying the objectives of the MPH degree, graduates with a DrPH in Epidemiology will be able to:

  • Design and conduct independent epidemiologic research on problems that are relevant to public health and to train others to do so
  • Provide epidemiologic consultation to other public health professionals conducting research
  • Plan and evaluate public health programs using epidemiologic methods
  • Communicate effectively to members of the general public, the media and political groups

Epidemiology Core Courses
All students enrolled in the Epidemiology track must complete the track core requirements listed below.

Course Number
 Course Title
 Credits
 Prerequisites
EPID 7201 Advanced Epidemiological Research Methods I 3
  
EPID 7202 Advanced Epidemiological Research Methods II 3  
BIOS 7201 Probability Theory 3  
BIOS 7202 Statistical Inference 3  
Total
12		  

Epidemiology Field Experience

Course Number
 Course Title
 Credits
PUBH 7000 Epidemiology Field Experience
Examples of potential sites are:
  • Hospital Department of Infection Control
  • Hospital Tumor Registry
  • New York State Department of Health Zoonoses Program
  • New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene HIV Epidemiology Program
 3

Course Number
 Course Title
 Credits
PUBH 8001 DrPH Dissertation 12

Epidemiology Elective Requirements
Students must complete 6 elective credits to satisfy the requirements for a DrPH degree. Two courses may be chosen from the list below.

Course Number
 Course Title
 Credits
 Prerequisites
BIOS 7301 Applied Statistics and Data Mining         
3  
EPID 7203 Principles of Surveillance and Disease Control 3 EPID 5200, BIOS 5200, EPID 7202
EPID 7300 Epidemiology of Communicable Disease 3
 BIOS 5200, EPID 5200, EPID 7204
EPID 7301 Molecular Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Toxicology 3 EPID 7201, EPID 7202
EPID 7302 Cancer Epidemiology 3  
EPID 7303 Chronic Disease Epidemiology 3  
EPID 7320 Independent Study 1-3  


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