Doctor of Philosophy in Health and Behavioral Sciences

The PhD in Health & Behavioral Sciences (HBS) prepares students to be leaders in the interdisciplinary field of population health. Our program draws on theories and methods from the social, behavioral, and health sciences, to understand health, health behaviors, and health care. A few recent research topics in our program include the AIDS epidemic, the social contexts of medical care, the diffusion of health behaviors through social networks, the ethics of health care, biases that shape decision making, the mechanisms that link social conditions to biological health, and the determinants of health disparities. Graduates from our program are leaders in analyzing the conditions that give rise to the inequitable distribution of health within and across populations.
Students are admitted for the fall semester, whereupon they spend two years taking required courses within a cohort of fellow students. The coursework focuses on social and behavioral theory, research design, statistics, qualitative methods, and the social determinants of population health. After coursework, students usually spend one to two years preparing a proposal for their dissertation research with mentorship from their dissertation committees. After successfully defending a prospectus, students typically take one to two years to finish their dissertations, also with mentorship from their committees. Students who work full-time on their studies usually finish the program in four to six years. Throughout the program we encourage students to pursue mentored research with faculty, and independent research on their dissertations and other projects.

A master’s or equivalent graduate degree, or substantial research experience, is recommended for admission to the PhD program. Students applying without prerequisites may be admitted but will be required to complete appropriate courses before being permitted to complete the core curriculum.

In addition to the general admission requirements of the Graduate School, the specific admission requirements for the PhD in health and behavioral sciences are as follows:

Knowledge from prior course work or vocational experience in Epidemiology (3 semester hours or the equivalent work experience). The applicant should have an understanding of the basic concepts and methods of epidemiology, including measures of risk, mortality, the distribution of disease, the role of bias and confounders, and study design.

Demonstrated academic excellence as evidenced by strong undergraduate and graduate GPAs, and a strong score on the GRE. Admission to the program is highly competitive.

English language requirements: Applicants must have a minimum score of TOEFL paper based test is 537, 75 IBT, Minimum IELTS Score Accepted: 6.5, the minimum score of Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic is 51.