PhD in Public Health (Environmental and Occupational Health)

Program Overview
Curriculum

About the Program

The Rutgers School of Public Health and Rutgers School of Graduate Studies' rigorous PhD in Public Health degree is designed to support public health professionals seeking a research-based graduate program, offering advanced study across five concentration areas.

Biostatistics
Epidemiology (specialized pharmacoepidemiology courses available)
Environmental and Occupational Health
Social and Behavioral Health Sciences
Health Systems and Policy

This webpage provides details on the PhD in Public Health (Environmental and Occupational Health). General PhD in Public Health information can be found here.

Competencies

Each concentration identifies competencies for each degree offered. These competencies reflect the full range of knowledge, skills, and other attributes that a student will acquire as a result of completing the requirements for a particular degree.

Upon graduation, a student completing the PhD in Public Health curriculum in Environmental and Occupational Health will be able to:

Conduct an environmental and occupational health literature review across the exposure-disease continuum, assess its strengths and weaknesses and identify knowledge gaps and future research directions;
Design a testable hypothesis to investigate the environmental health effects of a toxicant, toxin, or hazard event;
Develop and/or apply novel and cutting-edge research methods in the laboratory and/or in the field to obtain and analyze data to test research hypotheses;
Assess and explain the connections of environmental justice and health disparities, such as racial and ethnic inequities;
Communicate basic principles in environmental and occupational health sciences including toxicology, quantitative risk assessment, epidemiology, and exposure sciences to professional audiences;
Demonstrate competency in teaching and/or presenting environmental and occupational health topics at the graduate level; and
Demonstrate knowledge of the responsible conduct of research and conduct research following the rules and policies for ethical research.

Ready to take the next step?

Curriculum

Students seeking the PhD in Public Health-Environmental & Occupational Health degree must complete a minimum of 72 credits of academic work with a minimum GPA of least 3.2 overall and a 3.2 in the set of required courses specified by the concentration; earn no more than nine (9) credits bearing grades less than B; and complete the degree requirements within seven years. Courses are three credit hours unless otherwise noted and semester when each course is typically offered is noted parentheses. Students should review the Forward Schedule for long-term course planning and the Course Schedule for each semester to determine when, where, and how a course is offered.

PREREQUISITES

Prerequisites do not count toward the 72-credit PhD curriculum. MPH from an accredited school or program meets prerequisite requirements. PHCO 0502 and PHCO 0504 must be completed before Year 1, Fall semester (e.g., online summer before) if student does not have graduate-level coursework in these two areas.

PHCO 0502 - Principles and Methods of Epidemiology (or equivalent)
PHCO 0503 - Introduction to Environmental Health (if no prior public health experience)
PHCO 0504 - Introduction to Biostatistics [Prerequisite: Quantitative Skills Assessment] (or equivalent)

PHD IN PUBLIC HEALTH CORE COURSES (9 credits)

PHCO 0512 - Public Health Foundations (Spring) If a student holds an MPH from a CEPH-accredited school or program of public health, course is waived, but not the credits.
ENOH 0701 - Public Health Research Ethics (Spring-Even Years)
HBSP 0700 - Advances in Public Health Theories (Fall-Odd Years)

REQUIRED CONCENTRATION COURSES (30 credits)

Students should review the Course Descriptions in the School Catalog for specific information about prerequisites required for required courses and recommended electives.

ENOH 0594 - Environmental and Occupational Toxicology (Spring)
ENOH 0656 - Environmental Risk Assessment (Spring)
ENOH 0695 - Environmental Exposure Measurement and Assessment (Fall)
BIST 0535 - Biostatistical Computing (Fall/Spring)
BIST 0551 - Applied Regression Analysis for Public Health Studies¹ (Fall/Spring)
BIST 0615 - Applied Categorical Data Analysis (Fall)
EPID 0656 - Intermediate Epidemiologic Research Methods (Fall/Spring)
HBSP 0703 - Evaluation and Research Design for Public Health Interventions (Fall-Even Years)
HBSP 0724 - Population Health and Public Policy (Fall)
HBSP 0726 - Intermediate Survey Research Methods (Summer)

RECOMMENDED ELECTIVE COURSES (9 credits)

Selected with Advisor approval

REQUIRED RESEARCH (24 credits)

RESH 0701 - Doctoral Colloquium I (0 credit) Taken in Fall and Spring in Year 1
RESH 0702 - Doctoral Colloquium II (0 credit) Taken in Fall and Spring in Year 2
RESH 0760 - Doctoral Research (20 credits)
RESH 0761 - Doctoral Research: Dissertation Proposal Seminar (3 credits) Taken in Spring in Year 2
1611-5556 - Ethical Scientific Conduct (1 credit) [Offered through School of Graduate Studies] Taken in Spring in Year 1

OTHER REQUIREMENTS (0 credits)

Pass Qualifying Exam (written and oral) Typically completed at the end of Year 2
RESH 0730 – PhD Seminar (0 credit) Attend PhD seminar once per month for Fall and Spring semesters, every year
Earn a Teaching Certificate from Rutgers Teaching Assistant Program (TAP) [0 credits] or complete HBSP 0725 - Effectively Teaching and Training Adults (3 credits)
Complete Ethical Scientific Conduct Refresher (0 credit) Taken in Year 5
Complete Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) online training on Human Subject Research Protections (For Students Enrolled Fall 2024 and After)

All PhD students are expected to engage in research activities with their faculty advisor.

Notes:

¹With Advisor approval, may substitute with BIST 0610 - Advanced Regression Methods for Public Health Studies