PhD in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research
The PhD in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research is offered through the Department of Health Promotion, Social & Behavioral Health in the College of Public Health. The mission of the PhD program is to provide students with the training necessary to become skilled research scientists who will have a significant impact on the health of the population by thinking critically and integratively about complex public health problems and applying scientific rigor to the design and evaluation of health promotion and disease prevention research and programs.
Research in the Department involves epidemiological, intervention, evaluation, and dissemination studies, using qualitative, quantitative, and/or systems tools. The faculty of the Department perform health promotion research and training in a broad spectrum of public health issues including adolescent risk behaviors, community-oriented primary care, cross-cultural health and health inequities, environmental sustainability and health, inter-professionalism, maternal and child health, nutrition, obesity prevention and control, physical activity and inactivity, health care ethics and law, school health, sexual health, social marketing, socio-behavioral economics, substance use and abuse, systems science and public health, tobacco control, and aesthetic and humanistic influences on health.
Graduates of the program will be prepared for careers as scientists in government and private research agencies, as faculty in colleges and universities, and as leaders in public health agencies in Nebraska, nationally, and internationally.
- Admission Requirements
- Degree Requirements
- Members of the Graduate Program Committee
- For more information
Admission Requirements
Any applicant desiring admission into the Ph.D. in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research at UNMC must submit a fully completed application. Below is a complete list of all documents required for application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to request an official copy of the academic record be sent to the graduate office from each college or university that the applicant has attended. A minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00/4.00 on all graduate course work attempted at a regionally accredited institution of higher education is required for admission. Although most students admitted will have a Masters or other advanced degrees, exceptional students with a Bachelors degree will also be considered. A minimum combined score of 1000 on the verbal and quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is required. The official results from the GRE must be submitted to the graduate office. The GRE must have been taken no more than five years prior to the application date. All international applicants whose native language is not English and who do not have a Masters or other advanced degree from an accredited institution in an English speaking country are required to submit a TOEFL of 550 (paper), 213 (Computer), or 80 (Internet). TOEFL must have been taken no more than two years prior to the application date. Each applicant must submit a written statement of career goals and how a PhD in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research would aid in achieving these goals. This writing sample of 750-1000 words will be used to assess writing competence as well as career objectives. Three letters of recommendation are required for admission. At least one of these letters must be a letter from a faculty member in the applicant’s previous program who can attest to the applicant’s ability to pursue successfully a PhD program. The remaining two letters may be academic or professional references.
Complete list of documents and scores required of applicants:
- Fully completed application form
- Official copy of academic records sent to the graduate office; minimum of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale GPA for all graduate course work
- Masters or other advanced degrees, although exceptional students with Bachelors degree will also be considered
- Minimum GRE score of 1,000 on combined verbal and quantitative sections
- International applicants: TOEFL of 550 (paper), 213 (Computer), or 80 (internet)
- Written statement of career goals, 750-1000 words
- Three letters of recommendation
- At least one letter from a faculty member in the applicant’s previous program
- Remaining two letters from academic and/or professional reference
Please note: Under no circumstances will applications be accepted for any Program beyond these dates:
Fall Semester
US Applicants: June 1
International Applicants: April 1
Apply online to UNMC Graduate Studies.
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Degree Requirements
Students enrolled in the Health Promotion Disease Prevention Research PhD Program are required to complete 90 credit hours in the following areas: health promotion, research, writing, ethics, directed research, elective courses, and dissertation work. The courses or categories to meet the credit hours required are specified below. It is possible that some of the courses needed to meet the credit hours for this PhD Program will be completed as part of a masters or other professional degree program and up to 50% of coursework could be transferred. In order for graduate credits to be considered for transfer, they must have been earned at an institution fully accredited to offer graduate work and the Graduate Committee must evaluate their quality and suitability. At least 50% of the coursework for the doctoral degree must be completed at the University of Nebraska.
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Advisor and Supervisory Committee
At admission, students will be assigned a temporary advisor. No later than the end of the second semester of coursework, students should choose a permanent advisor. After admission to the Graduate College and prior to completing half of the total hours for the degree, a doctoral student must work with an advisor and form a Supervisory Committee. The Supervisory Committee must consist of at least four members (including the student’s advisor) who are University of Nebraska Graduate Faculty Members. It is urged that one or more members of the Supervisory Committee be from a field or fields of study different from the major area of interest, whenever such representation will contribute to the student's program and/or the overall effectiveness of the graduate program. The Dean of Graduate Studies, upon recommendation of the department Graduate Committee, will appoint the committee. This committee will approve a proposed program of study for the degree. Additional members may be added to the committee for the purpose of the dissertation. The committee also approves the dissertation and final oral examination.
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Program of Study
Within four weeks of its appointment, the Supervisory Committee shall meet to designate and subsequently to file with the Graduate Studies Office a proposed program of study, including designation of all required courses and the general area of research for the dissertation. Any subsequent changes in the program or in the dissertation topic shall be approved by the Supervisory Committee and the action reported to the Graduate Studies Office.
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Health Promotion Core
All students completing the PhD Program will have successfully completed 18 credit hours in the health promotion core including the following:
- Health Behavior: 3 hours
- Interventions in Health Education: 3 hours
- Community Health: 3 hours
- Health Promotion Program Development: 3 hours
- Health Care Systems/Policy/Analysis: 3 hours
- Foundations of Public Health: 3 hours
Research Core
It is expected that all students completing the PhD Program will have successfully completed 23 credit hours in the research core which includes the following courses:
- Biostatistics I: 3 hours
- Biostatistics II: 3 hours
- Introduction to SAS Programming: 2 hours
- Epidemiology I: 3 hours
- Epidemiology II: 3 hours
- Quantitative Research Methods: 3 hours
- Qualitative Research Methods: 3 hours
- Instrumentation and Evaluation: 3 hours
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Writing Core
It is expected that all students completing the PhD Program will have successfully completed 4 credit hours in the writing core which includes the following courses:
- Grant Proposal Writing: 2 hours
- Scientific Writing or Critical Writing or Publication Writing: 2 hours
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Ethics Core
All students completing the PhD Program will have successfully completed 3 credit hours in ethics.
Directed Research
All students completing the PhD program will have successfully completed at least 6 credit hours (i.e., two courses at 3 credit hours each, three courses at 2 credit hours each) of directed research. The intent of the directed research course is to allow students to acquire new research skills, expand their exposure to new research and increase publication opportunities. Each course involves hands-on research working closely with a faculty member and developing a publishable scholarly product (e.g., something that can be documented on a CV such as manuscript for peer-reviewed publication, national conference presentation, book chapter, policy brief, community report, technical report, or program manual). Under the supervision of the course instructor, the student is expected to develop and submit to the Graduate Program Director of HPSBH a course outline, timeline (including timeline for production of a scholarly product which may occur outside of the semester in which the credits are taken) and expected outcome(s) for each directed research course before the start of the semester. The instructor of the directed research course(s) does not have to be the student’s advisor.
All students completing the PhD Program will have successfully completed 27 credit hours of elective courses. Electives, which are selected by the doctoral student in concert with his/her Supervisory Committee, are used to strengthen and solidify the program of study.
All students must successfully complete a take-home comprehensive exam, which cannot be taken before the final semester of coursework. The exam consists of questions that will be selected by the Supervisory Committee and pertain to the student’s course of study and/or dissertation topic. Students will have five days to complete the exam and the responses must be defended orally.
The Supervisory Committee will evaluate the student’s written and oral components and determine when the student has successfully completed the comprehensive exam.
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Candidacy
The student is admitted to candidacy for the PhD after the report of successfully completing the comprehensive exam is filed in the Graduate Office. This must be done at least seven months prior to the final oral defense of the dissertation. The term of candidacy is limited to three years. The PhD degree must be completed within seven years from the date of the initial registration as a PhD-objective student.
After successfully completing the comprehensive exam, the student must register for 9 hours of dissertation research. Students must register for at least one credit hour of dissertation for each semester and summer session until the completion of the degree.
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Dissertation
Within one year of successfully completing the comprehensive exam, the doctoral student should propose his/her dissertation research to the Supervisory Committee in writing and orally defend the proposal.
Upon successful defense of the proposal, the Supervisory Committee will grant the student approval to begin his/her proposed research. Once the dissertation research is completed, the student will submit the dissertation in writing to the Supervisory Committee and orally defend the dissertation.
Before completion of the degree there must be evidence that the dissertation material has been submitted for publication in a peer review journal.
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Teaching Requirement
All students completing the PhD Program will be required to gain a semester-long teaching experience through one of the following supervised activities:
- Secure a Graduate Teaching Assistantship through the university,
- Arrange directly with a professor to assist in teaching a course,
- Secure a position as a part-time instructor at a college or university.
The COPH generally seeks funds to support students' teaching activities, but these are not guaranteed. Faculty may also secure external grant support that would pay for students to teach courses in their area. In all cases it is expected that the experience will be supervised, with support, feedback and evaluation provided to the student. Many PhDs work in an academic setting and are expected to teach undergraduate and/or graduate courses. Those PhDs involved in community interventions often use educationally based methods. In both cases having actual experience in teaching better prepares the candidate to understand the process.
All students completing the PhD Program are required to attend a monthly seminar during the fall and spring semesters. The goal of the doctoral seminar is to enhance the students’ knowledge in the COPH Doctoral Program Core Competencies. Each session will focus to improve the students’ knowledge of one or more of the Doctoral Program Core Competencies.
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Members of the Graduate Program Committee
Denise Britigan
Christopher Fisher
Mohammad Siahpush
Asia Sikora
Teresa Smith
Melissa Tibbits
Please contact the Graduate Program Director:
Mohammad Siahpush, PhD
Professor and Graduate Program Director
Department of Health Promotion, Social & Behavioral Health
College of Public Health
University of Nebraska Medical Center
402-559-3437
Contact HPSBH
Department of Health Promotion, Social & Behavioral Health
UNMC College of Public Health
986075 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-6075
Cathy Cassel, Office Associate
Phone: 402-559-4325
Fax: 402-559-3773
Email: Catherine.Cassel@unmc.edu
UNMC College of Public Health
986075 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-6075
Cathy Cassel, Office Associate
Phone: 402-559-4325
Fax: 402-559-3773
Email: Catherine.Cassel@unmc.edu
UNMC Graduate Studies Office
Phone Number: 402-559-6531
Email: unmcgraduatestudies@unmc.edu
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