Doctor of Public Health (in Public Health Managment)

The Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program in Public Health Management (PHM) prepares current and future public health leaders and research faculty to apply critical thinking and rigorous research methods to complex problems facing public health practitioners and policy makers.  The Department of Health Care Organization and Policy DrPH program focuses on public health management, organization, and leadership issues and allows students to specialize in preparedness management and policy or any of the other public health disciplines: biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology health behavior or maternal and child health.

Note that students may enroll in the DrPH program on a part-time basis; however, the School of Public Health allows for a maximum of seven years from initial matriculation to complete a DrPH degree.

Admission Requirements

• An MPH or equivalent degree in public health;
• Applicants with advanced non-public health degrees can be admitted directly into the DrPH program, but must successfully complete the MPH and HCO advanced core courses.
• Applicants with an MPH or equivalent degree not in HCO will take the advanced HCO core.
• Applicants with only a bachelor's degree but with exceptional academic records or rich professional experience will be considered.  They must be admitted into the MPH program prior to applying to the DrPH program and complete the MPH and HCO core courses before being accepted into the DrPH program.
• Experience in public health. Preference to applicants with experience in public health leadership and administration.
• Applicants must submit GRE scores taken within five years.  Both the score and the percentile on each of the verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing sections of the examination will be evaluated. A minimum score of 1100 (550 on each of the verbal and quantitative sections) is required.
• International applicants whose native language is not English or who did not complete a degree at an English-speaking institution must submit a TOEFL with TWE test score.  The minimum acceptable score is: (Paper Based) 550, (Computer Based) 213 and (Internet-Based) 79-80.
• Other aspects of an applicant’s record, such as educational achievement, professional experience and clarity of career goals are helpful in determining admissibility.

Curriculum: General Outline

MPH Core (19 hours):  Students with an MPH or related degree or significant public health experience may waive all or part of this requirement. If student must meet this requirement the credit hours will not apply to the overall credit hour requirement for the degree.
HCO Competencies (12 hours): Students with an administrative master’s degree (MPH, MBA, MPA, MSHA) may waive this requirement.
Research Methods Core (at least 15 hours)
Management Core (15 hours)
Specialization (12 hours at the 700 level): Student may specialize in preparedness management and policy or any other public health discipline
Doctoral Seminar (1 hour each semester): Credit hours do not apply to the overall credit hour requirement for the degree
Directed Readings for DrPH Comprehensive Exam (minimum 3 hours): Credit hours do not apply to the overall credit hour requirement for the degree
Dissertation Research (minimum of 9 hours): Credit hours do not apply to the overall credit hour requirement for the degree

* Electives, at the 700 level may be selected from other School of public health courses or from anywhere within the university with advisor approval.

** In addition to the 42 credit hours, students must take the doctoral seminar, directed readings for DrPH Comprehensive Exam and Dissertation Research as outlined above.