The PhD in Behavioral Sciences and Health Promotion is a minimum 48 semester credit hours and focuses on behavioral and socioecological aspects of public health and the development and evaluation of health promotion interventions. It primarily prepares scholars to integrate and develop state-of-the-art social and behavioral science theory, design, and analytic approaches to examine current problems in public health while working alongside communities. The emphasis in this degree program is preparation for independent research and teaching, and an important component of this degree program is the ability to contribute to scientific literature.
Special Entrance Requirements
Applicants to the PhD program should hold an earned master’s degree in a social or behavioral sciences or an earned master’s degree in public health with research experiences, thesis experience, and/or coursework related to social and behavioral sciences or an earned master’s degree in another field and at least 12 hours of upper-division undergraduate or graduate coursework in social or behavioral sciences. In exceptional cases, applicants without this experience may be accepted on the condition of completing additional graduate work in the behavioral or social sciences. Applicants are asked to submit a writing sample that demonstrates competence in written communication for academic work. Theses, publications, or other academic work are preferred. For more information, see the Admissions section.
Course of Study
The following courses are required for a PhD in Behavioral Sciences and Health Promotion:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required for all School of Public Health Students | ||
| PH 101 | Foundations of Public Health 1 | 0 |
| Before Preliminary Exam and Other Required Courses | ||
| PHD 1113L | Advanced Methods for Planning and Implementing Health Promotion Programs (Intervention Mapping) | 3 |
| PHD 1122L | Health Promotion Theories for Individuals and Groups: Part I | 3 |
| PHD 1227L | Health Promotion Theories for Individuals and Groups: Part II | 3 |
| PHD 1420L | Quantitative Research Design for Behavioral Sciences | 3 |
| PHD 1421L | Quantitative Analysis for Behavioral Sciences | 3 |
| PH 1433 | Research Seminar in Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences | 1 |
| PHM 2612L | Epidemiology I | 3 |
| After Preliminary Exam | ||
| PHD 1118L | Qualitative Methods | 3 |
| PHD 1435 | Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences Doctoral/Post-Doctoral Research Seminar | 2 |
| PHD 1440 | Proposal Writing for Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences | 3 |
| Minor 2 | 9 | |
| Public Health Methods Breadth | ||
| PHD 1130L | Applied Measurement Theory | 3 |
| Select 6 credits of additional methods coursework | 6 | |
| Dissertation | ||
| PHD 9999 | Dissertation Research | 3 |
| Total Hours | 48 | |
- 1
Online, not-for-credit course
- 2
Students are required to select a minor outside of their department.
For a sample course of study, see the PhD in Behavioral Sciences and Health Promotion degree planner.