Doctorate in Education:  Health Behavior and Health Education (PhD)

Description of the PhD
Admission Requirements - including Application and Checklist
Financial Support
Graduate Student Web Pages

Doctor of Philosophy, Education Major, Health Behavior/Health Education Concentration

The intent of the PhD program is to produce graduates who will have an in-depth comprehension of current public health issues, and the research skills and methodological capabilities to secure full-time academic appointments in institutions of higher learning, or employment with major professional organizations, research agencies, public health-related non-profit organizations, and high-level positions with local, state, and federal public health agencies.

Concentration

The PhD in the DPH is under the umbrella of the Doctor in Education, and offers the concentration in Health Behavior and Health Education.

Cognate

A cognate in the Doctoral program is a minimum of six semester hours of graduate course work in a given area outside the student’s major study area. The cognate is designed by the student with advice from the student’s Advisor/Dissertation Chair.

Dissertation and research requirements

The dissertation represents the culmination of an original major research project completed by the student. The full dissertation will follow a Manuscript Format.
The manuscript format requires three journal-length manuscripts of publishable quality in  refereed journals. One of the three manuscripts may be a literature review; however, it must also be of publishable quality. These manuscripts should be accompanied by additional sections and/or appendices that provide detail normally included in the traditional monograph (i.e., 5-chapter) format but usually excluded from articles (e.g., a more detailed literature review, questionnaires, and details of data collection).

Research opportunities for graduate students in the department are linked to departmental faculty research interests.  Students should consult the faculty pages on the DPH website http://publichealth.utk.edu/Faculty/Faculty_index.html to explore potential mutual research interests and opportunities.

Please see section 11.E. for the University policy on research projects and studies involving Human Subjects.

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Foreign Language Requirements

The DPH has no foreign language requirement. Applicants to the PhD program whose first language is other than English must achieve a satisfactory score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Course Requirements

Completion of the PhD requires a total of 84 semester hours, as follows:

Requirements	Hours Credit
1 Research and Foundation	20
2 Health Behavior/Health Education Major	29
3 Electives	05
4 Supporting Specialization (Cognate)	06
Dissertation (Health 600)	24
Total	84

1 Public Health 509 (2 hours) 510, 520, 530, 537, 540, 555 or equivalent courses if taken outside of the University of Tennessee, approved by the Department Head.
2 Public Health 536, 550, 552, 636, 637, 656, 609 (4 semesters), STATS 531 and 532 OR STATS 537 and 538.
3 Must have prior approval of Dissertation Chair
4 Courses must be approved by cognate professor outside the department.

NOTE:  To meet program requirements, students must select courses in consultation with a program advisor.  Program totals are minimums and some students may be required to complete additional coursework to overcome background deficiencies or to increase skill in an area of identified specialization.

2011-2013 Tentative Course Schedule

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Teaching

All doctoral students must participate in the Graduate Teaching Assistant Seminar offered each fall by The Graduate School. All doctoral students will participate in teaching at the undergraduate level (Public Health 300: An Introduction to Public Health). Doctoral students will work closely with a faculty teaching mentor to develop and provide at least one full semester-long section of PH 300. Depending on the number of doctoral students in each cohort, the teaching assignment may be shared with one or more other doctoral students.

Doctoral students who have already received a Master’s degree.

Doctoral students may be given credit for equivalent courses already taken in a Master’s program. Doctoral students with a Master’s degree must complete a minimum of 24 hours of additional coursework plus the 24 hours of required Doctoral Dissertation hours, for a total of 48 hours.

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Progress Reports and Comprehensive Examinations

First Year Progress Review
At the end of the PhD student’s first year, the student and faculty advisor form an academic committee to assist both the student and advisor in formally reviewing the student’s progress in the doctoral program. The academic committee will be comprised of the faculty advisor, the chair of the Department’s Doctoral Academic Program Committee, and one additional departmental faculty.

Written Progress Reports
At the end of the fifth semester, and every semester thereafter until graduation, the student must submit a written progress report to the faculty advisor (or dissertation chair if one has been selected) and to the chair of the Department’s Doctoral Academic Program Committee. For students who have not yet defended the dissertation proposal (see below) the report should identify the following: 1) the dissertation topic or progress toward identifying a topic; 2) the research questions or progress toward formulating research questions; 3) the likely chair of the dissertation committee and other likely committee members; 4) specific plans over the next 6 months towards defending the dissertation proposal; and 5) barriers to progress. For students who have successfully defended the dissertation proposal the progress report shall include: 1) report of progress since defending the dissertation proposal, including what stage(s) the student is in (e.g., data collection, analysis, writing up results); 2) achievable plans for the next six months; 3) expected date (month/year) of the dissertation defense; and, 4) barriers, problems, special circumstances. The faculty advisor (or dissertation chair) will provide the student with a written evaluation of the progress report, to which the student must respond in writing.

Comprehensive Examinations
The comprehensive examination is normally taken at the end of the second year or the equivalent of the second year for part-time students. The comprehensive examination will be a written, “take-home” examination. The student’s Doctoral Dissertation Committee will determine the content and nature of the examination, the timing of the comprehensive examination, and certify its successful completion. The Dissertation Committee may draw from a pool of doctoral examination questions to which all departmental faculty may contribute.  A student who does not successfully complete the comprehensive examination may re-take the examination once in the following semester.

Dissertation Proposal and Oral Qualifying Examination
After approval of the formulation of the Doctoral Dissertation Committee and after successful completion of the comprehensive examination, the student will develop the dissertation proposal. The dissertation proposal will consist of the following sections:

1. Introduction to the problem and background
2. Review of the literature
3. Outline and description of the (proposed) methodology specific to each of the three required manuscripts

The student must successfully complete an oral examination (defense) of the dissertation proposal before the full Dissertation Committee prior to conducting subsequent dissertation work. During the oral qualifying exam, the student will present the dissertation proposal and, at the same time, address questions on any subject in which the student is expected to be competent. At the end of the oral qualifying examination, the committee may be satisfied with the proposal and responses to other questions, or may grant a “conditional pass” contingent on the student making minor revisions. If major revisions or a new proposal is recommended, the student must pass a second oral qualifying examination.

Dissertation Defense
The student, in consultation with the Dissertation Committee Chair, will schedule a final oral examination which will include an oral presentation of the completed dissertation.  Prior to defending, the student will be required to have achieved the following regarding the three manuscript format:

• At least one manuscript accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal
• At least a second manuscript submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal
• A third manuscript in a publishable form.

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Apply Now!

 

Contact the Department of Public Health

1914 Andy Holt Ave.
390 HPER
Knoxville, TN 37996

Phone: (865) 974-5041
Fax: (865) 974-6439
dph@utk.edu

Admissions Coordinator:
Wendy Smith
(865) 974-5041
wsmith12@utk.edu

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