Overview
The PhD in Prevention Science and Community Health will prepare students with the necessary expertise and interdisciplinary background to contribute to 21st century prevention and community health research. Students receive training in both traditional and innovative areas of prevention science including etiology, intervention design and evaluation, innovative data collection and analyses, community-based participatory research and implementation science.
The Prevention Science program offers students the unique opportunity to interact with faculty who specialize in all stages of the intervention development and evaluation process, as well as in various methodologies such as community-based participatory research and mixed-methods research. Program faculty are experts in cultural diversity and health disparities. They are focused on acculturation; cultural predictors of health disparities; and efficacious methods, strategies, and programs for reducing health disparities locally, nationally, and internationally. Key research areas include: substance use, HIV, cancer, diabetes, obesity, delinquency and depression.
Please visit our website for additional information.
Admission Requirements
- All applicants for the PhD in Prevention Science and Community Health program must submit the following items on SOPHAS:
- Application fee
- Curriculum Vitae/Resume
- Three letters of recommendation
- Statement of Purpose/Personal Statement
- Official transcripts from every post-secondary school attended
- This graduate degree program also requires submission of certain supplemental materials, including:
- TOEFL/IELTS score, as applicable
- Foreign evaluation on international transcripts, as applicable
For more detailed information, please visit our Public Health Sciences Graduate Studies Admission Website.
For further information, please contact:
Ginelle Solis, EdD, MPA
Director of Admissions and Recruitment
Department of Public Health Sciences
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Email: publichealthadmissions@miami.edu
Curriculum Requirements
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| PRE-REQUISITE: Students entering the PhD program without an earned MPH, MSPH, or equivalent public health degree are required to take these EPH 600 & EPH 621 courses: | ||
| Introduction to the Science Practice of Public Health (3 cr) | ||
| Fundamentals of Epidemiology (3 cr) | ||
| Core Courses | ||
| EPH 604 | Clinical Trials | 3 |
| EPH 617 | Disease Prevention and Health Promotion | 3 |
| EPS 622 | Community Well-being and Change: Theory and Practice | 3 |
| EPH 623 | Determinants of Health and Health Disparities Across the Life Course | 3 |
| EPH 647 | Community Based Participatory Research and Social Network Analysis | 3 |
| EPH 625 | Ethics in Public Health | 3 |
| EPH 703 | Advanced Statistical Methods I | 4 |
| EPH 705 | Advanced Statistical Methods II | 3 |
| EPH 717 | Integrating Behavior Health Theories and Models | 3 |
| EPH 731 | Developing, Adapting and Evaluating Interventions | 3 |
| EPH 732 | Introduction to Dissemination and Implementation Science | 3 |
| EPH 752 | Advanced Research Methods | 3 |
| PSY 633 | Structural Equation Modeling | 3 |
| EPH 656 | Qualitative Research Methods | 3 |
| PSY 634 | Multilevel Modeling | 3 |
| Professional Development Seminars 1 | 4 | |
| PhD Professional Development Seminar (Course must be taken 4 times at 1 credit each semester) | ||
| Innovations Seminars 2 | 4 | |
| Innovations in Prevention Science Methodology (Course must be taken 4 times at 1 credit each semester) | ||
| Electives | 9 | |
EPH-600, 700 level courses not already listed | ||
BST-600, 700 level courses not already listed | ||
| Dissertation | 12 | |
| Doctoral Dissertation | ||
| Doctoral Dissertation- Post Candidacy | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 75 | |
1 Students complete the Professional Development Seminar in Years 1 and 2.
2 Students complete the Innovation Seminar in Years 3 and 4.
Plan of Study
All PhD in Prevention Science students are required to complete 75 credit hours. These include course courses in intervention design, implementation science and statistics, elective coursework and the dissertation. Students are expected to complete their structured (core and elective) courses during their first two years of study. Students sit for comprehensive examinations their second summer semester in the program, and then with successful completion of the exams, advance to dissertation research for the remainder of the program (years 3-5), with seminar courses included in years 3-4.
Mission
The vision of the PhD program in Prevention Science and Community Health is to become an epicenter for scholarship on etiology, intervention development and evaluation, and intervention implementation. The mission of the program is to produce prevention science and community health scholars who promote health and prevent illness at the individual, family, community, national, and global levels.
Goals
Upon completion of the Doctorate in Prevention Science and Community Health (PhD), all graduates will be able to:
- Develop and implement data collection/management methods and tools needed for prevention science and community health research
- Apply epidemiological methods to the measurement and study of population health and the prevention of infectious and chronic disease
- Articulate research questions that advance scientific knowledge and develop a proposal for extramural research funding
- Design and adapt a preventive intervention based on available etiological research
- Master principles of designing, conducting, and analyzing data from a randomized clinical trial of a preventive intervention
- Master techniques for designing and carrying out procedures for translating evidence-based interventions to community practice
- Apply state of the science statistical methods and manage/manipulate datasets in statistical software such as SPSS, SAS, MPlus and R
- Conduct prevention science research, and be prepared to work collaboratively with scientists and practitioners in other fields
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will demonstrate a breadth of understanding of the general values, theories, concepts, research methodologies,
- Students will demonstrate a deep understanding and mastery of one specific area of focus within the fields of prevention science and community health and practices associated with prevention science and community health.
- Students will demonstrate their capacity to use the prevention science and community health principles to generate new knowledge.
