For students interested in the role behavioral and social factors play in illness and health, the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences (BCHS) at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) has established a PhD program and made major revisions to its longstanding DrPH program.
The new PhD degree program will train students to develop interventions grounded in the social and behavioral sciences and test them in randomized controlled trials, while the revised DrPH degree program will focus on the translation, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based interventions for use in community settings through the department’s Institute for Evaluation Science in Community Health.
This approach to doctoral education encourages PhD students to learn from practitioners in the DrPH program and vice versa. “We believe this ongoing exchange between the worlds of theory and practice will result in a new generation of scholars and practitioners who will be trained to work together to address the world’s most pressing public health problems,” said Jeanette M. Trauth, PhD, director of the doctoral programs and associate professor, Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at GSPH.
Students accepted into the 81-credit PhD program will receive instruction in qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches to behavioral and social science research. The curriculum for the DrPH program will be guided by newly developed competencies for professional education. Half of the coursework in the programs will overlap. A commitment to the elimination of health disparities and working with underserved populations will underlie coursework in both programs.
Students will be accepted into the PhD program beginning in Fall 2010. Generally, applicants must hold a post-baccalaureate degree in a discipline related to public health. Interested applicants should contact Natalie Arnold at narnold@pitt.edu.
2/17/2010