Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Health Studies

Nickola Nelson, Director
4492 CHHS Bldg.
Telephone: 387-8058
Fax: 387-8044

The Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Health Studies is designed to meet the career advancement needs of working Health and Human Service professionals. Several recent national commissions, including the Pew Health Professions Commission and the National Commission on Allied Health, have challenged higher educational institutions to respond to the fundamental changes that occur in health care by designing more flexible curricula, removing disciplinary boundaries, and increasing research in allied health. The College of Health and Human Services has met this challenge by developing a unique student-centered curriculum, which focuses on an interdisciplinary core curriculum, strong research preparation, and the teaching of innovative pedagogy. In order to meet the needs of working professionals, the courses will be delivered through intensive weekend and summer on-campus sessions and distance learning modalities. Students will enter the program as a cohort once every two years and complete the didactic sequence in two years. Dissertation research should take a further one to two years.

Admission requirements

Applicants to the Program will be expected to meet the entrance requirements of The Graduate College. In addition to these, the Program applicants are required to have:

Minimum of two years of professional experience in the health and human service field.
Master’s degree with a minimum graduate grade point average of 3.25/4.00.
Completion of at least one graduate level course in statistics and research methods, with a minimum of a grade B within the last 10 years. If a student completed this course more than 10 years ago, s/he must retake it prior to beginning the Program or demonstrate current competency in the graduate level research and statistical methods.
Computer competency in the use of databases, word-processing, spreadsheets, and Internet use.

Application must be made both to the Office of Admissions and Orientation—Graduate Admissions and to the College of Health and Human Services. The application must include a 1,000 word essay outlining career goals and three letters of recommendation from academic or professional sources.

Program Requirements

Students will be admitted to the Program as a cohort once every two years. The courses will be presented in sequential order, so that the didactic portion of the curriculum can be completed in two years. A slower four-year sequence is also available. Courses will be delivered through: distance education, on-campus intensive weekend sessions held three times per semester, or on-campus three-week long intensive summer sessions. Students are required to:

1. Attend a week-long, on-campus Orientation session prior to beginning the Program.

This will familiarize the student with the Program, the learning expectations, and the university’s resources. The student will receive copies and instruction in required software for distance delivery courses and begin preliminary discussions on the topic for the group interdisciplinary research practicum.

2. Select an academic advisor during the Orientation session.

Prior to the supervised teaching practicum in the second year, the student must establish a teaching committee. The chair of this committee must be a specialist in the course content and act as the student’s mentor. A dissertation committee should be established by the beginning of the Spring semester of the second year of the Program and must conform to Graduate College policy.

3. Complete, with a 3.25 grade point average, a total of 63 semester hours of credit as follows:

a. Interdisciplinary core (15 hours)

b. Research and statistics module (12 hours)

c. Group interdisciplinary research practicum (6 hours)

d. Pedagogy module (9 hours)

e. Disciplinary cognate (9 hours)

The student may select a cognate to meet his/her own learning objectives, with the prior approval of the Program Director and the student’s advisor.

f. Dissertation research (12 hours)

Disciplinary cognates and some research courses (specifically IHS 626 and IHS 628) may be taken at other accredited, doctoral institutions with the prior approval of the Program Director and the student’s advisor.

4. Successfully complete of the Comprehensive Examination.

This is performance-based and includes the submission of a competitive research grant proposal, submission of a research paper for publication, the development of a 3-credit course using innovative pedagogy, and a critical analysis of a HHS program or policy.

5. Successfully complete and orally defend of a dissertation

Successfully complete and orally defend of a dissertation on a research topic approved by the dissertation committee.

Financial Assistance

For students wishing to pursue this curriculum full-time on-campus, the College of Health and Human Services offers financial support through doctoral associateships.