Epidemiology PhD
Protecting and Improving Health
Penn State College of Medicine is part of a select group of higher education institutions offering a PhD program in Epidemiology.
Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events (including diseases) in specific human populations, and the application of this study to the prevention and control of health problems.
Well-trained epidemiologists develop and evaluate hypotheses about the effects of various risk factors on human health, and develop the knowledge basis for disease prevention and control programs.
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Curriculum
The objectives of the PhD in Epidemiology program are to train students to master current quantitative methods, obtain broad knowledge of major human disease epidemiology, and become expert in a specific disease or health status topic.
The 28-credit (minimum) PhD in Epidemiology program is offered primarily as a full-time degree program, and can be completed in four years of full-time study.
The required courses are offered by faculty of Penn State College of Medicine's Department of Public Health Sciences and taught at the College of Medicine in Hershey.
Prerequisites
Applicants to the Epidemiology PhD program must have completed a master's or Master of Public Health degree, focused on epidemiology and/or biostatistics, from an accredited U.S. college or university, or its equivalent in another country.
In addition, all applicants must have completed a bachelor's degree program at an accredited U.S. college or university, or the equivalent in another country, with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
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