The doctor's degree requires at least two years of full-time study after completing the master's program or its equivalent with a minimum of 24 credits. Doctoral students must pass a comprehensive examination taken after the third semester, present an oral defense of the doctoral dissertation proposal, complete 12 credits of doctoral dissertation research, and present an oral defense of the completed doctoral dissertation. Topics include the classification of statistical associations and methods of distinguishing between causal and non-causal associations. Case-control, cohort, and experimental studies are considered in detail. There are also presentations by students of epidemiological papers, including those linking lung cancer to cigarette smoking.
Students summarize study outcomes through findings, tables, and data.
Required for students without a biomedical background. The student gains hands-on experience in weekly workshops by conducting analyses of existing data designed to answer a research question. The student may earn a third credit through a term project. Covers the role of the physician and other health professionals in the primary and secondary prevention of disease. Topics include relationships among physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, regulatory agencies, third-party payers, and the law.