Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree Program in
the Department of Health Studies at
the University of Chicago

INTRODUCTION

The PhD program in the Department of Health Studies at the University of Chicago offers advanced courses of study in biostatistics, epidemiology, and health services research, supported by a core methodological curriculum in population-based research on human health. Students completing the program will be prepared to design and conduct methodological and substantive research on fundamental questions about human health and biomedical science from a population perspective. They will also be prepared to collaborate with colleagues from different disciplines to carry out such research.

The program is organized around a common quantitative core curriculum designed to prepare students methodologically for more in-depth study in their chosen field and for dissertation research. Beyond the core curriculum, each student will choose a major disciplinary area of concentration, take a sequence of advanced courses in that area, and prepare a dissertation of independent, original, and rigorous research in that area. Opportunities for such concentrated study are available in the three broad areas represented by Department faculty: biostatistics, epidemiology and health services research.

In addition to the concentration, each student will choose a minor program of study in another area either represented by Department faculty or offered elsewhere at the University. An overarching goal of the program is to train scholars who will be capable both of conducting independent research in their chosen field and of collaborating with researchers from other disciplines. The combination of the major concentration and minor program is intended to yield a curriculum with both disciplinary depth and an interdisciplinary perspective on problems in population health and biomedical science.

To earn the Doctor of Philosophy degree from the Department of Health Studies, students must fulfill the following requirements:

(i) Complete 19 graduate level courses, including

(a) a core curriculum of up to six courses needed to prepare for the qualifying examination; and
(b) a major concentration program approved by the faculty consisting of at least 7 additional courses in a disciplinary domain (such as biostatistics); and
(c) a minor program approved by the faculty consisting of at least 3 additional courses in a second disciplinary area; and
(d) a course in scientific integrity and the ethical conduct of research (BSDG 55000), usually in the first year of study (divisional ethics requirement).

(ii) Pass a multi-part qualifying examination demonstrating mastery of the core curriculum and of foundational knowledge in the chosen area of concentration;

(iii) Teach two quarters for credit in pre-approved teaching assistant positions in the biological sciences (divisional teaching requirement);

(iv) Establish a doctoral dissertation committee, present proposed dissertation research to members of that committee and other interested faculty, and obtain written approval from the committee for the proposed dissertation research;

(v) Prepare and defend a doctoral dissertation of independent, original, and rigorous research in the chosen area of concentration; and

(vi) Participate in the departmental seminar, in faculty/student workshops, and in research workshops that overlap with the chosen area of concentration.

For the typical student, it is expected that the majority of coursework will be completed in the first two years of the program, that qualifying examinations will be taken in the summer following the second year in the program, and that the program will be completed in 5 years. Students able to complete the core curriculum in one year may take the qualifying examination in the summer following the first year in the program.

Note additionally that the Division of Biological Sciences requires a minimum grade of B in all required courses, as well as an overall minimum average grade of B.

The purpose of the core curriculum is to prepare students methodologically for population-based research on human health. As such, it is primarily quantitative and analytical, designed to ensure that all students in the program attain foundational proficiency in the Department's core subjects of biostatistics, epidemiology and health services research, as well as a working knowledge of the structure and functioning of the U.S. health care system.

The core curriculum will be covered in a sequence of six courses (see list below), five of which - those with asterisks - will be the subject of Part I of the Qualifying Examination. Some students will take all six of these courses, while others with appropriate background will pass over some and/or take alternatives offered at higher methodological levels. Subjects covered in these courses include: exploratory data analysis and basic biostatistical techniques, multiple linear regression models, applied generalized linear models (logistic regression, log-linear regression, proportional hazards regression), epidemiologic methods, econometric selection models, design of qualitative, observational, quasi-experimental and experimental studies, measurement validity and reliability, survey design and analysis, and methods for measuring quality and costs in health care. The six courses are:

*HSTD30900 - Principles of Epidemiology
*HSTD31001 - Epidemiologic Methods
*HSTD32400 - Applied Regression Analysis
*HSTD32700 - Biostatistical Methods
*HSTD35100 - Health Services Research Methods
  PPHA 47500-Health Services System OR HSTD38000 - Health Status Assessment: Measurement and Inference

Each student will choose a major area of concentration among those offered by the Department. The concentration provides for in-depth study in at least one disciplinary domain in population-based health research. The student will take a total of 10 - 12 courses in that area (including up to 3 core courses), of which 2 may be reading courses. These courses will constitute a coherent program of study developed in consultation with the student's academic advisor and approved in advance by Department faculty. Because of the diversity in students' backgrounds, each program will be tailored to the student's needs based on experience and interest, and on available faculty and courses. This course of study may draw on courses offered by the Department, as well as elsewhere in the Biological Sciences Division and across campus, including those in Statistics, Economics, Public Policy, Sociology, Demography, Ecology and Evolution, Human Genetics, Social Service Administration, and Human Development. In addition, the student will regularly participate in research workshops on campus that overlap with his/her chosen concentration area.

The three most common areas of concentration will be biostatistics, epidemiology and health services research, areas represented by Department faculty. In epidemiology and health services research, the student will further sub-specialize within his/her concentration in order to attain adequate depth of study appropriate for a PhD degree.

Concentration in Biostatistics. Students completing a concentration in biostatistics will be prepared to develop state-of-the-art quantitative reasoning and techniques of statistical science, mathematics, and computing, and to apply these to current and future research problems in biomedical science and population health. In addition, these students will complete a minor program of study in a substantive area of application. As such, they will be particularly well prepared to engage in collaborative population-based health research.

Concentration in Epidemiology. Students completing a concentration in epidemiology will be prepared to design epidemiologic studies and apply state-of-the-art quantitative methods to epidemiologic data analysis. They will have a strong background in epidemiologic methods and at least one substantive area of sub-specialization. Possible sub-specializations include genetic epidemiology, social epidemiology, psychiatric epidemiology, cancer epidemiology and aging research. Their program of study will include appropriate courses in the biological sciences related to the disease processes for the substantive area. Whether or not their minor program is biostatistics, their course of study will include advanced biostatistical methods in sampling, categorical data analysis, survival analysis and longitudinal analysis.

Concentration in Health Services Research. Students completing a concentration in health services research will be prepared to apply theories and methods adapted from sociology or economics to the study of individual, neighborhood, and population health, the delivery and financing of health care, and the structure and functioning of the U.S. health care system. The focus of this concentration will be on experimental, quasi-experimental, and survey-based studies and appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods for analyzing whether, how, by whom and to whom health care is delivered. Students may choose to sub-specialize in health economics or in organizational behavior, social network/social capital theory, or demography, each with applications to problems in human health. In addition, students will have strong training in biostatistics and epidemiology via the core curriculum and minor program.

In consultation with his/her academic advisor, each student will develop a minor program of study to complement his/her major area of concentration. The student will take 3 additional courses in that area which are neither core nor concentration courses. The program may comprise courses from any Division or School on campus.

Tailored to each individual student, the minor will vary in its degree of specificity from student to student. It may be one of the three broad areas represented by the Department faculty, or it may be a more specialized, emerging or synthetic area; examples within the DHS include psychiatric or cancer epidemiology, health economics, economics of aging, and clinical trials design. Outside the DHS, minors may conceivably be designed in areas such as statistical genetics, cancer biology, genetic or molecular epidemiology, bioinformatics, medical decision theory or survey research methods. In many cases, the combination of portions of the core curriculum and the minor program will approximate traditional Master's level training in a given area. For example, a student with a minor in biostatistics or epidemiology will accrue 5 or more courses in that area from the core curriculum and minor curriculum over the course of the program.

The main purpose of the PhD program is to train scholars who are prepared to be independent researchers and who are capable of collaborating with researchers from other disciplines. This purpose will be furthered by seminars and workshops and by extensive faculty-student and student-student interaction. The PhD Program is by design relatively small, affording students the opportunity for regular and intensive interaction with Health Studies faculty and other Health Studies students throughout their residency in the program. Additionally, interactions with other graduate students across campus arise regularly in the classroom; many of our courses regularly include graduate students in the Divisions of Biological, Physical and Social Sciences, and in the Schools of Business, Public Policy, and Social Service Administration. Typical course enrollment is between 10 and 20 students which is an ideal size to foster vigorous classroom interactions.

At admission to the program, each student will be assigned an academic advisor who is a Health Studies faculty member. The faculty, in consultation with the academic advisor, will periodically evaluate each student's progress with respect to coursework, examinations and dissertation development. Upon a student's selection of a dissertation topic and a dissertation committee chair, the chair will typically become the student's academic advisor for the remainder of his or her time in the program.

Faculty-Student Workshop. All PhD students participate in a regular joint faculty-student workshop where they present their own work and discuss and critique material presented by others. See “Seminars and Workshops.”

Doctoral students will be expected to teach a total of two one-quarter courses for credit in pre-approved teaching assistant positions in the Department of Health Studies, generally during their second and third years in the program. This is a teaching requirement for all doctoral students in the Division of Biological Sciences. Activities will include holding office hours and help sessions, grading, and preparing solutions to problem sets. As appropriate, a student may ask or be asked to present one or two lectures of the material for the course. Students should feel free to suggest courses for which they are particularly interested in acting as a TA.  Teaching assistantships are unpaid educational experiences.

Each student will be assigned to a research rotation with a Health Studies faculty member mid-way through their first quarter in the program (near the end of October) in order to initiate involvement in research being carried out in the Department of Health Studies. This assignment will last one or more academic quarters and will be formally re-evaluated by the student and faculty advisor throughout the year.  Depending on the student’s interest and progress, multiple research “rotations” might be assigned in sequence over the course of the first year, and a different assignment might be made for the Summer Quarter after the first year, or for Autumn Quarter of the second year.  Faculty expectations of student contributions will be flexible during this first year, as priority must go to coursework.

During the first weeks of coursework, advisors will discuss interests with the students, and bring those interests to the faculty, perhaps suggesting faculty match-ups for the first year.

Beginning in their second or third year, as coursework is nearing completion, most students will work as a formal research assistant for a year or more as a member of a collaborative research project with a faculty member in the Department of Health Studies. It is expected that work on such projects could inform the student's dissertation research. Research assistantships often form part of tuition and stipend fellowship awards from the Department of Health Studies.

Prior to embarking on dissertation research, each student will pass a multi-part qualifying examination testing his/her mastery of the quantitative and methodological skills of the core curriculum and ability to integrate material from the set of core courses. The exam consists of a closed book exam lasting one morning, followed by a take-home data analysis project due by the following evening, followed by an oral exam with a committee of at least three Health Studies faculty members, as well as other interested faculty, a few days later.

Students are expected to take the qualifying examination sometime in their first two years, at the latest by June 30 of their second year. They may take the exam at the end of any quarter in their first two years, subject to approval by their advisor and to having declared their intentions during or before the first week of that quarter.

Students may receive grades of “pass with commendation”, “pass”, “conditional pass” or “fail”.  “Conditional pass” will require a discrete follow-up learning activity to be determined by the examination committee, and to be completed within 3 months of the date of the oral examination. Students who fail the examination may in rare cases and at the discretion of the faculty, be allowed to retake the examination within one year. In most instances, however, failure on the qualifying examination will result in the student being asked to leave the program.

Note: Many students will not take all of their core courses in the first year because they will be pursuing courses for their major concentration. We therefore expect taking the qualifying examination late in or at the end of Year 2 to be the norm.

Dissertation Committee, Proposal and Proposal Hearing                             ^ top

Prior to beginning dissertation research, each PhD student will establish a doctoral dissertation committee, will prepare a written dissertation proposal, will present his or her proposal at an oral hearing by the committee and other interested Departmental faculty, and will obtain approval for that research by the committee and Departmental faculty.

Starting no later than the summer of the second year, each student shall work with his/her academic advisor and other interested faculty to select an area of dissertation research and a dissertation advisor.

Each student shall, after consultation with his/her dissertation advisor, ask at least two and not more than four additional University faculty members to serve on his/her dissertation committee. The committee should be constituted no later than the end of the third academic year of study (June 30). The committee must include the student's dissertation advisor, a committee chair, and at least two regular faculty members from the Department of Health Studies. The advisor need not be a member of Health Studies, but if s/he is, may count as one of the two Health Studies faculty members. The chair of the committee must be a member of Health Studies and counts towards the two required Health Studies faculty members, but need not be the dissertation advisor. The role of the advisor is to direct the day to day/week to week execution of the dissertation work. The role of the chair is to ensure that this work conforms to Health Studies requirements. Generally, if the dissertation advisor is a Health Studies faculty member, he or she will also serve as committee chair. Within these parameters, the composition of the committee may be changed at any time if the student or faculty so choose.

The dissertation proposal should identify, describe and justify the significance of question(s) to be addressed in the course of dissertation research. It should contain a literature review targeted to those research questions, summarize current knowledge in that area, identify gaps in that knowledge, and propose approaches or studies that could be developed to address those gaps. It should then describe a specific study or set of studies designed to further knowledge in this area which will, when completed, constitute the student’s dissertation.  Finally, the proposal should convincingly demonstrate the feasibility of conducting such studies during the course of dissertation research.

Students are expected to present their proposal at an oral hearing of their committee and interested Departmental faculty no later than June 30 of their third year. A final draft of the dissertation proposal will be made available to the student's dissertation committee and to the faculty as a whole four weeks before the oral hearing. Students who fail their oral hearing may, at the discretion of their committee and Departmental faculty, revise their proposal and present the revision at a second hearing up to three months later. In cases where the faculty deem the proposal to be irremediable, however, failure on the oral proposal hearing will result in the student being asked to leave the program. Final approval for dissertation work must be obtained by the beginning of Fall Quarter of the student’s fourth year of study.

Notes: The recommended timeline for completion and approval of the dissertation proposal during the third year of study is as follows: Fall Quarter: Select dissertation advisor and broad area of dissertation research. Winter Quarter: Establish dissertation committee and present preliminary ideas to the committee and/or informally at a session of the Faculty-Student workshop. Spring Quarter: Complete proposal and present it at an oral hearing. Summer Quarter: Refine proposal as a function of feedback obtained from the committee and faculty, and obtain final approval before Fall Quarter.

Admission to Candidacy ^ top

Upon completion of all required coursework, the qualifying examination, divisional teaching assistantship and ethics requirements, and faculty approval of the dissertation proposal, students will be admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree. A candidacy form listing the committee members, with their signatures, must be filed in the Department office by this time.  At this stage of their program, students’ primary responsibilities consist of completing their dissertation research in accordance with the plan established in their proposal, and to continue to their research assistantship duties in support of Health Studies research projects to which they have been assigned.

After admission to candidacy, each student must meet with his/her dissertation committee at least twice a year. The committee chair will produce a summary report of the proceedings of the meeting which will be briefly given at a Departmental faculty or academic staff meeting.

Dissertation Format. Students may choose to prepare a dissertation following one of two formats.  In the traditional monograph format, the dissertation will present an integrated and in-depth study of independent, original and rigorous research addressing research questions outlined in the student’s dissertation proposal. Chapters may be broken down for example according to areas such as background, theory, methods and results. An alternative format is a dissertation constructed around two-to-three publishable manuscripts addressing the research questions in the proposal. Each manuscript will present different aspects of the student’s findings, and these will be supplemented in the dissertation with introductory, theoretical, methodological, technical and other supporting material to the published manuscripts sufficient to render the entire work an in-depth study of research questions outlined in the proposal.

 
Note: The alternative, two-to-three manuscript format is encouraged because it tends to result in accelerating the student’s work towards review and publication in the peer-reviewed literature.

Dissertation Defense. A final draft of the dissertation will be made available to the student's dissertation committee and to the faculty as a whole four weeks before the oral defense of that work. The defense will involve a public presentation of the work in a Departmental seminar, followed by a closed hearing of the work with the student's dissertation committee

Dissertation Evaluation Criteria. Dissertation research in the Department of Health Studies must be grounded in theory, be rigorously and independently executed, and make a substantial contribution to knowledge in the disciplinary area in which the student has elected to concentrate. In addition, where possible, the research should reflect important perspectives from the student's chosen minor program.

The PhD program offered by the Department of Health Studies is designed to accommodate students seeking a joint MD/PhD degree at the University of Chicago. For such students, program requirements are modified so as to dovetail with coursework and clinical activities taken as part of the MD program. Specifically, core course requirements will remain the same as those for non-MD students. However, major concentration course requirements are reduced, as there is expected synergy with medical school courses. Additionally, the minor program is waived, essentially being replaced by the student's preparation in clinical medicine. For the typical student, 3 to 4 years of residency in the PhD portion of the MD/PhD program are expected in addition to the 4 years of medical school.

Program requirements. To earn the Doctor of Philosophy degree from the Department of Health Studies as part of a joint MD/PhD program, students must fulfill the following requirements:

(i) Complete 15 graduate level courses , including

(a) a core curriculum of up to six courses needed to prepare for the qualifying examination; and
(b) a major concentration program approved by the faculty consisting of at least 7 additional courses in a disciplinary domain; and
(c) a course in scientific integrity and the ethical conduct of research (BSDG 55000), usually in the first year of study (divisional ethics requirement).

(ii) Pass a multi-part qualifying examination demonstrating mastery of the core curriculum and of foundational knowledge in the chosen area of concentration;

(iii) Teach two quarters for credit in pre-approved teaching assistant positions in the biological sciences (divisional teaching requirement) ;

(iv) Establish a doctoral dissertation committee, present proposed dissertation research to members of that committee and other interested faculty, and obtain written approval from the committee for the proposed dissertation research;

(v) Prepare and defend a doctoral dissertation of independent, original, and rigorous research in the chosen area of concentration; and

(vi) Participate in the departmental seminar, in faculty / student workshops, and in research workshops that overlap with the chosen area of concentration.