Epidemiology

For detailed information about our DrPH program, including advising, program requirements, and dissertation, please consult the Department of Epidemiology Doctoral Guidelines.

Overview

The DrPH in Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health is a research degree program designed to provide clinicians and public health professionals with advanced knowledge and skills in epidemiologic research methods. Students who complete the degree are prepared to lead population research in research or practice settings.

The degree is open to public health practitioners and clinicians with an MPH and three or more years of work experience. The degree requires students to acquire core competencies in Epidemiology methods but allows them to tailor the remainder of their course work to best further their individual career goals as public health leaders or clinical epidemiologists.

Degree Requirements

There are four core components to the DrPH:

• Research methods: The research methods sequence has as prerequisites the foundation of courses required in an MPH with a concentration in Epidemiology.  DrPH students enroll in four required courses: Critical Thinking in Epidemiology, Concepts in Causal Inference, Advanced Topics in Epidemiological Methods, and Advanced Applied Regression. DrPH candidates may take other methods courses if it fits their training program needs.
• Individual program of work: Candidates will work with their advisor to create a comprehensive program of additional coursework drawn from Epidemiology and any other department in the school to futher their career goals as public health leaders or clinical epidemiologists. The program will include a mentored practicum designed to meet individual learning objectives, which will be chosen to advance one or more of the candidate’s career goals. Mentors will be chosen to reflect the particular competencies required for the practicum.
• DrPH seminar: Attendance is required at a monthly DrPH seminar that will address a range of essential topics such as leadership, management, grantsmanship, budgets, advocacy, policy, and communication.
• Dissertation: Following the coursework and comprehensive exams, candidates will work with their sponsor and committee to design their research and incorporate it into a dissertation proposal that they will defend in a public seminar. The dissertation itself will take the format of 3 publishable research papers.  

Competencies

In addition to the school-wide competencies, there are several departmental-specific competencies. Upon graduation, DrPH students in Epidemiology will be able to:

• Develop skills to evaluate epidemiologic research, from study design through field implementation to analysis and interpretation.
• Understand the use of contemporary analytic methods to address issues such as validity, confounding, effect measure modification, and mediation.
• Conduct and interpret the synthesis of evidence-based knowledge including systematic reviews and meta-analysis.
• Demonstrate knowledge of data resources essential to epidemiology and their advantages and limitations.
• Understand key public health and epidemiologic approaches to population level prevention, control and management of infectious and/or non-infectious diseases, including epidemics.