Public Health (PPH)
with a Concentration in Epidemiology (EPY)

Program Director or Coordinator:
Kamala Dontamsetti
Phone: 813-974-6505
Email: cophinfo@health.usf.edu

Website: http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/index.htm

Faculty Search: Public Health Faculty List

Major Information

The base of knowledge for public health comes from a variety of disciplines, ranging from social sciences to biological sciences and business, brought together by a commitment to improve the public's health. Thus, the field of public health is broad and is open to students from diverse academic disciplines including Health Sciences, Education, Engineering, Business, Communications, Mathematics, Social and Natural Sciences. Graduates are prepared for interdisciplinary focused public health professional careers as administrators, managers, educators, researchers, and direct service providers.

The Colleges five departments are: Community and Family Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Global Health, and Health Policy and Management. Core content is directly related to addressing and meeting public health issues.

The College accommodates the working professional as well as the full-time student by offering late afternoon and evening classes, online course delivery, partnerships with international schools to expand options, a variety of graduate certificate programs, and a professional M.P.H. for experienced Health Care professionals.

Major Research Areas:
Faculty major research areas are listed at: http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/index.htm

Accreditation Information:

The College is fully accredited by the Council on Education in Public Health.

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Admissions Information

Admission Deadlines

Major Priority Deadline

Fall: February 15
Spring: June 15
Summer: November 15

Admission Requirements

You must comply with general University policies and meet general University Admission requirements in addition to those listed below.

Must meet University requirements (see Graduate Admissions) as well as requirements listed below.

Applicants to the doctoral program in Public Health must meet the following minimum criteria in order to be considered for admission. However, the meeting of these criteria per se, shall not be the only basis for admission.

• Applicants to the Ph.D. program are required to complete both a SOPHAS application and a USF Graduate Studies Application (applicants will receive a request for the $30 fee once the SOPHAS application enters the USF system).
• USF Graduate School application fee
• Required Documentation (all items are required regardless of GPA or GRE scores):
• Completed SOPHAS application (requires the following):
• GRE Scores. All applicants must take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) or have taken an equivalent admissions examination within the five years preceding application. Equivalent exams include the GMAT, MCAT, DAT or PCAT.
  LSAT is not accepted in lieu of the GRE.
  Although there are no required minimum scores, the applicants GRE score will be compared to the applicant pool and the national GRE norms.
  Applicants who have a terminal degrees such as the PhD, ScD or EdD, and those with advanced professional degrees (MD, DDS, DO, DVM, JD, PharmD, DPT) from accredited institutions and who are individually licensed in the United States in their profession may request to waive the GRE. The GRE waiver is not automatic and must be approved by the College of Public Health.
• Grade point average of 3.0
• Transcripts
• Resume or curriculum vitae
• Each applicant must submit at least two formal Letters of Recommendation.
• Each applicant must submit evidence of written/analytical skills to the College of Public Health which will take two-forms:
• A graduate level term paper, thesis, or research paper of which the student is the sole author, publication on which the student is the first author; and
• A detailed personal statement of less than five pages that describes why the applicant wishes to obtain a Ph.D. degree in Public Health.

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Major Requirements

Total minimum hours 55

Core: 13 credit hours
Concentration: 6-12 credit hours minimum
Electives: 12-18 credit hours minimum
Dissertation: 18 credit hours minimum

Prerequisites
The doctoral committee or the department may require prerequisites. These courses are not included in the minimum number of hours a student needs to complete the Ph.D. and are expected to be completed early in the course of study.

Total Minimum Program Hours: 55 hours post-masters

Public Health Core Courses - 13 credit hours
PHC 7935/PHC 7116 Introduction to Public Health Doctoral Training (1)
PHC 7154 Evidence-Informed Public Health I (3)
PHC 7103 Transforming Public Health Practice (3)
PHC 7149 Practical Applications II: Public Health Leadership (1)
PHC 7934 Writing for Scholarly Publications in Health Sciences (3)
HSC 7268 Professional Foundations III: Joining the Academy (2)

Concentration Options (students select one of the following concentrations):
Biostatistics - 12 credit hours
PHC 6061 Biostatistics Case and Collaboration II (3)
PHC 7098 Generalized Linear Models (3)
PHC 7059 Advanced Survival Data Analysis (3)
PHC 7056 Longitudinal Data Analysis (3)

Community and Family Health - 12 credit hours
PHC 7405 Theoretical Application to Public Health Issues (3)
PHC 7702 Advanced Public Health Research and Evaluation Methods (3)
PHC 7704 Applied Research Methods in Community and Family Health (3)
PHC 7152 Policy and Practice in Community and Family Health Programs (3)

Environmental and Occupational Health - 12 credit hours
PHC 6356 Industrial Hygiene (2)
PHC 6310 Environmental & Occupational Toxicology (3)
PHC 6303 Community Air Pollution (3)
PHC 7317 Risk Communication in Public Health (2)
PHC 6423 Occupational Health Law (2)

Epidemiology - 12 credit hours
PHC 6011 Epidemiology Methods II (3)
PHC 7042 Practical Issues in Epidemiology (3)
PHC 6081 Intermediate SAS in Epidemiology (3)
PHC 6934 Selected Topics: Foundations of Clinical Trials (3)

Global Communicable Diseases 6 credit hours minimum
Select at least six credits of the following courses. Course choices should be approved following consultation with the student's committee. Course substitutions will be permitted with the student committee's approval.
ANG 6701 Contemporary Applied Anthropology (3)
ANG 6732 Global Health from an Anthropological Perspective (3)
ANG 6469 Selected Topics in Medical Anthropology (3)
BCH 6889 Bioinformatics II (3)
BSC 6932 Selected Topics: Proteomics (3)
GIS 6306 Environmental Applications GIS (3)
GIS 6038C Remote Sensing (3)
GMS 6101 Molecular and Cellular Immunology (3)
GMS 6110 Microbial Pathogens and Host-Parasite Interactions (2)
GMS 6200C Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology (5)
GMS 7930 Selected Topics: Medical Parasitology & Mycology (2)
PCB 6525 Molecular Genetics (3)
PHC 6010 Epidemiology Methods I (3)
PHC 6106 Global Health Program Development and Administration (3)
PHC 6190 Public Health Database Management (3)
PHC 6251 Disease Surveillance and Monitoring (3)
PHC 6373 Protecting Public Health: Bioterrorism/Biodefense (3)
PHC 6442 Global Health Applications in the Field (3)
PHC 6511 Public Health Immunology (3)
PHC 6512 Vectors of Human Disease (3)
PHC 6513 Public Health Parasitology (3)
PHC 6761 Global Health Assessment Strategies (3)
PHC 6764 Global Health Principles and Contemporary Issues (3)
PHC 6934 Selected Topics: Public Health GIS (3)
PHC 7908 Specialized Study in Public Health (3)
PHC 7122 Vaccinology (3)
PHC 7935 Special Topics in Public Health: Field Methods I: EcoHealth & Ecology (3)
PHC 7935 Special Topics in Public Health: Infection Control in Developing Countries (3)

Health Services Research 12 credit hours
QMB 7565 Introduction to Research Methods (3)
QMB 7566 Applied Multivariate Statistical Methods (3)
PHC 7936 Seminar in Health Care Outcomes Measurement (3)
PHC 7437 Applications in Health Economics (3)

Electives - 12 credit hours minimum

Dissertation - 18 credit hours
PHC 7980 Dissertation: Doctorate

Teaching
All doctoral students will demonstrate or document proficiency in teaching academic courses at the university level.

Qualifying Exam
When all required coursework is satisfactorily completed (including tools of research and prerequisites), the student must pass a comprehensive qualifying examination covering the subject matter in the major and related fields. The Department will set the specific criteria.

The qualifying exam will comprise of a written portion and may include an oral component. The exam will cover at least three major areas including: a) Broad area of public health; b) Focus area of study; c) Research methods. The student may have no longer than 10 weeks to complete the exam upon receipt of the exam from the Doctoral Supervisory Committee. The format and duration of the qualifying exam is the responsibility of the Doctoral Supervisory Committee following consultation with the student and consistent with departmental, college and university guidelines. The Doctoral Supervisory Committee will have up to three weeks to review the exam and determine the outcome of either Pass or Fail. No more than two attempts will be allowed for the student to take the qualifying exam and earn a Pass. If the student reeives a Fail on the qualifying exam on the first attempt and the Doctoral Supervisory Committee recommends that the student complete remedial work, the second attempt at the qualifying exam must be initation within three- months of completion of remedial work. If the student earns a Fail on the first attempt, and the Commttee dtermines that no remedial work is needed, the student will have a second attempt to pass which must be initiated within three-months. If the student does not earn a Pass on the qualifying exam on his/her second attempt, the student will not be admitted into doctoral candidacy. After successful completion of the qualfying exam and appropraite paperwork is submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies, the student is admitted to candidacy and may register for dissertation hours.

Dissertation
All students must follow the University's "Guidelines for Dissertations and Theses" found at http://www.grad.usf.edu/ETD-res-main.php. The Dissertation must conform to one of the following two available options per USF degree requirements. For details, consult the USF Graduate Catalog Degree Requirements Section.

Option 1: Traditional format inclusive of Part 1 Perliminary Pages, Part II Text, Part III References/Appendices, Part IV About the Author.

Option 2: Collection of articles/papers instead of chapters inclusive of Part I Preliminary Pages, Part II Collection of Articles/Papers, Part III References/Appendices.

After the Doctoral Dissertation Committee has determined that the final draft of the Dissertation is suitable for presentation, the Committee will request the scheduling and announcement of the Dissertation Defense. Consistent with USF Graduate Degree Requirements, a copy of the announcement should be sent to the USF Office of Graduate Studies and posted in a public forum preferably two weeks in advance of the defense date.

In addition, the Concentration in Biostatistics and the Concentration in Epidemiology have additional format requirements. Consult the Department for information on the format options and requirements for these two concentrations.

Guidelines for student progress:
Each Ph.D. student will undergo an annual review consistent with departmental guidelines. A summary of the annual review will be provided to the student and placed in the students advising file.

OTHER INFORMATION

Certificate Programs: (for information click on the graduate certificates at http://www.usf.edu/innovative-education/programs/graduate-certificates/)

College Degree Requirements

Refer to the College Section of theGraduate Catalog for College requirements and information.

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USF Degree Requirements

See USF Degree Requirements —
http://www.grad.usf.edu/policies.php

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Financial Assistance

Financial Aid

Fellowships & Scholarships

Graduate Assistantships

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Registration Process

First, contact your graduate advisor for guidance courses to register for. Obtain any electronic course permit if necessary. Register for the new student orientation online at http://www.grad.usf.edu/orientation.php. Then go to http://oasis.usf.edu/ the link to OASIS, USF's on-line registration system to register for your classes. Follow the directions given on-line.

To access online course materials, students must have a USF NetID (e-mail account). Please visit: https://netid.usf.edu/una/ to obtain your NetID.

New students, including those studying online, may obtain a USFCard. Please visit: http://www.usf.edu/it/class-prep/usf-card.aspx to obtain your USFCard.

Tuition and fees: Fees are determined by the level of the course. Please visit Cash Accounting, Controller's Office, for information on tuition and fees.

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Graduate Course Information

Lookup graduate courses in the USF Course Inventory at http://ugs.usf.edu/course-inventory/