DrPH in Community & Behavioral Health

The dissertation will be of an applied nature and must demonstrate the student's ability to conduct independent research on a contemporary public health issue. The student is expected to examine and analyze a problem in public health practice that has readily identifiable beneficiaries and constituents. The dissertation committee will work with the student to identify appropriate areas of investigation. The project will involve a written product that comprehensively addresses, generates, and/or interprets and evaluates knowledge applicable to public health practice.   

The written dissertation document may be one of several forms depending on the nature of the scholarly work, but should be of publishable quality and must demonstrate rigorous analytic strategies. It will typically take one of two forms: (1) a unified traditional dissertation, or (2) three publishable papers plus, at a minimum, introduction and conclusion chapters. The dissertation will be defended publicly and must be approved by the dissertation committee before the degree of DrPH is conferred.

Each student will form a 5 member dissertation committee to guide their dissertation research including the directed reading, written comprehensive examination, dissertation research proposal, oral comprehensive examination, conduct of research, and completion and defense of the dissertation. The committee chair must be have a primary faculty appointment from the focus area department. The student's main mentor must have a primary or secondary appointment in the Colorado School of Public Health. The mentor may not be the Chair of the dissertation committee. In addition, the committee as a whole must meet the following minimum criteria: 

1. Two members must be program core faculty in the FOCUS AREA department.

2. One member must be from outside the FOCUS AREA department.

3. One member must be from the practice community. 

A Committee Membership form should be completed that designates committee membership and is signed by Chair and Mentor of the committee as well as Program Director. The final form should be submitted to the Program Director for approval prior to beginning the Directed Reading.

DrPH Directed Reading course is intended to help prepare DrPH students for their comprehensive exams and dissertation research. This activity is intended to result in th student being an expert in their specific area(s) of research, including understanding of the historical development of the specific area(s), current research findings in the specific area(s), and current practice in the areas. Readings will address current epidemiological understanding of the area, methodological aspects of the area, theoretical underpinnings of behavior and/or policy related to the area, and current practice. For example, in the area of physical activity, upon completion of this activity, a student would be expected to have a thorough understanding of epidemiological evidence supporting or disputing a relationship between physical activity and disease etiology, natural history, and prognosis, physiological/psychological mechanisms for the relationship between physical activity an health/disease status, social, environmental and system level determinants, theoretical approaches used in understanding determinants of physical activity behavior, methods for assessing levels of physical activity, and current practices in developing programs for increasing levels of physical activity.   

Prior to enrolling in the course and with guidance from the committee, the student will: 

• Select at least 2 areas of focus that are in line with the student's dissertation area of study. Compile an extensive reading list in these select areas.
• The reading list should include seminal readings, reviews, meta-analyses, and key original pieces of work.
• Have the reading list reviewed and approved by the dissertation committee. Committee members may choose to add/delete various readings from the list.

Once the initial reading list is finalized, the student may enroll in the DrPH Directed Reading course and will be expected to complete an annotated bibliography of the full reading list within the designated time span (i.e. one or two semesters as described above). The final reading list should include approximately 75-100 readings. The written exam will take place upon completion of directed reading.

Upon completion of the directed reading course, the student will schedule their written comprehensive exam. The student will have 2 weeks to provide written answers. The exam will include 3-5 essay questions written by the dissertation committee that incorporate DrPH competencies (both general and Focus Area specific) and the areas covered in the student's Directed Reading. Responses are expected to be in-depth with citations and may be of publishable quality (such as a literature synthesis). Total written response should be approximately 20-30 single-spaced pages. The committee will grade (i.e. pass/fail) the written exam and submit the final grade to the Program Director. Each student who passes the written exams will be able to begin preparation for the dissertation proposal oral defense.

Following completion of the written qualifying exam and the written dissertation proposal, students will present their proposal in an oral examination. The oral examination may include questions that cover the student's focus area, directed reading and dissertation proposal. The examination will include a detailed review and discussion of the proposed dissertation research. Below is a list of the possible outcomes for each of the comprehensive exams: 

Pass- You receive the affirmative votes of the majority of the members of your committee in order to pass.     

Pass with conditions- The committee may feel that although you have passed the examination you should complete additional work on your exams. These conditions will be specified and must be satisfied within 4 months of the defense.     

Fail- If you fail the examination, you may be subject to immediate dismissal from the program. At the program's discretion, you may be allowed to retake the examination once. The retake will be in a format designated by the committee and must be completed within 6 months.

A final examination of the dissertation will be conducted orally by the examination committee. Arrangements for the final examination must be sent to the DrPH education coordinator at least two weeks in advance. Below is a list of the possible outcomes for the defense:     

Pass- Affirmative votes by a the majority of the committee members signifying that the candidate has met the dissertation requirement. The committee may still request changes to the dissertation document but these should be minimal.     

Pass with conditions- A majority of committee members agree that the candidate will pass the dissertation requirement with additional work on the thesis that can be completed within a set timeline. These conditions will be specified and must be satisfied within 60 days of the defense.     

Fail- If a student fails the examination, s/he may not continue in the program.