Quick facts
Program location: CU Anschutz
Credit hours: 55
Est. time to complete: 4-6 years
The Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program in Environmental and Occupational Health is a specialized doctoral program designed for individuals who are passionate about addressing critical public health issues related to environmental sustainability, workplace safety, and the impact of the environment on human health. This program offers advanced education and practical training to equip graduates with the expertise needed to lead in this field. Students work closely with faculty mentors, take required courses, and customize an area of expertise such as environmental justice, chemical risk assessment, and the impacts of climate change on worker health.
Students in this program gain a deep understanding of the environmental and occupational health sciences and the skills necessary to hold leadership positions in private, nonprofit, academic, and government organizations.
In this program, students gain:
Advanced Knowledge in Environmental and Occupational Health: The program provides in-depth training in the principles, theories, and current practices in environmental and occupational health, including the assessment of environmental hazards and workplace risks.
Research and Applied Skills: Graduates will develop advanced research and applied skills, enabling them to conduct comprehensive assessments of environmental and occupational health issues, design intervention strategies, and evaluate the effectiveness of public health policies and programs.
Leadership in Public Health Practice: The program emphasizes leadership development, preparing students to lead and manage public health initiatives, departments, and organizations.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Students will learn to collaborate across disciplines, working with experts in environmental science, public policy, industrial hygiene, and more to address complex environmental and occupational health challenges.
Policy Advocacy and Implementation: Graduates will be equipped to advocate for and implement evidence-based policies and practices that promote environmental sustainability and occupational health and safety.
Quick facts
Program location: CU Anschutz
Credit hours: 55
Est. time to complete: 4-6 years
Sample careers
Public health director
Worker health specialist
Toxicologist
Research scientist
& more
Skills you'll gain
Analysis of environmental hazards
Public health leadership
Translating research to practice
Upon entering the DrPH program, students will have three years to pass the written qualifying exam and should complete the dissertation and public defense of the dissertation within seven years of entering the program.
Each student, in consultation with their faculty advisor, will develop a proposed course of study. The course of study must specify both a major focus area of study, selective courses to be taken, and proposed timeline for courses, practicum, comprehensive exams, and dissertation.
Course requirement | Course ID | Credits |
---|---|---|
DrPH Seminar | PUBH 6842 | 4 (1 credit hour per semester for first four semesters) |
Course requirement | Course ID | Credits |
Advanced Methods in Environmental & Occupational Health | EHOH 7631 | 3 |
Advanced Field Methods in Environmental & Occupational Health | EHOH 7632 | 1 |
Research Methods: Climate, Disaster and Humanitarian Perspectives | EHOH 7403 | 3 |
Biostatistical Methods I | BIOS 6611 | 3 |
Biostatistical Methods II | BIOS 6612 | 3 |
13 |
Course requirement | Course ID | Credits |
DrPH Seminar in Leadership | CBHS 7020 | 3 |
Course requirement | Course ID | Credits |
Advanced Public Health Strategic Planning and Management | HSMP 7603 | 3 |
Course requirement | Course ID | Credits |
Developing a Research Grant | EPID 7912 | 3 |
Course requirement | Course ID | Credits |
---|---|---|
Advanced Communication Skills for Public Health Impact | EHOH 7405 | 3 |
Examples of areas of specialization include: Total Worker Health®, climate and health, environmental justice, exposure assessment, environmental epidemiology, risk assessment, and toxicology. Courses must be selected in consultation with the student’s advisor and may be taken at any ColoradoSPH campus.
Course requirement | Course ID | Credits |
Selectives - at least 5 credits must be taken at the doctoral level. | 11 |
Course requirement | Course ID | Credits |
Directed Reading | EHOH 7030 | 2 |
Course requirement | Course ID | Credits |
Practicum | PUBH 6850 | 4 |
Students register for dissertation credits as they are writing their dissertation.
Course requirement | Course ID | Credits |
Dissertation | EHOH 8991 | 9 |
Identifier | Competencies | Course Where Curriculum is Addressed/Assessed |
DrPH 1 | Explain qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods and policy analysis research and evaluation methods to address health issues at multiple (individual, group, organization, community and population) levels. | CBHS 7670 EHOH 7631 EPID 7632 |
DrPH 2 | Design a qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, policy analysis or evaluation project to address a public health issue. | EPID 7912 |
DrPH 3 | Explain the use of limitations of surveillance systems and national surveys in assessing, monitoring and evaluating policies and programs and to address a population's health. | PUBH 6842 #1 |
DrPH 4 | Propose strategies for health improvement and elimination of health inequities by organizing stakeholders, including researchers, practitioners, community leaders and other partners. | HSMP 7603 |
DrPH 5 | Communicate public health science to diverse stakeholders, including individuals at all levels of health literacy, for purposes of influencing behavior and policies. | EHOH 7405 |
DrPH 6 | Integrate knowledge, approaches, methods, values and potential contributions from multiple professions, sectors and systems in addressing public health problems. | PUBH 6842 #1 |
DrPH 7 | Create a strategic plan. | HSMP 7603 |
DrPH 8 | Facilitate shared decision making through negotiation and consensus-building methods. | CBHS 7020 |
DrPH 9 | Create organizational change strategies. | CBHS 7020 |
DrPH 10 | Propose strategies to promote inclusion and equity within public health programs, policies and systems. | PUBH 6842 #3 |
DrPH 11 | Assess one's own strengths and weaknesses in leadership capacities, including cultural proficiency. | CBHS 7020 |
DrPH 12 | Propose human, fiscal and other resources to achieve a strategic goal. | HSMP 7603 |
DrPH 13 | Cultivate new resources and revenue streams to achieve a strategic goal. | HSMP 7603 |
DrPH 14 | Design a system-level intervention to address a public health issue. | CBHS 7670 EHOH 7403 EPID 7632 |
DrPH 15 | Integrate knowledge of cultural values and practices in the design of public health policies and programs. | PUBH 6842 #2 |
DrPH 16 | Integrate scientific information, legal and regulatory approaches, ethical frameworks and varied stakeholder interests in policy development and analysis. | PUBH 6842 #2 |
DrPH 17 | Propose interprofessional and/or intersectoral team approaches to improving public health. | PUBH 6842 #4 |
DrPH 18 | Assess an audience's knowledge and learning needs. | PUBH 6842 #4 |
DrPH 19 | Deliver training or educational experiences that promote learning in academic, organizational or community settings. | PUBH 6842 #4 |
DrPH 20 | Use best practice modalities in pedagogical practices. | PUBH 6842 #4 |
Identifier | Competencies | Course Where Competency is Addressed/Assessed |
DrPH-EHOH 1 | Critically evaluate toxicological and epidemiological data, and explain its role in informing risk-based decision making. | EHOH 7631 |
DrPH-EHOH 2 | Create a plan for a study to evaluate the impacts of an environmental or occupational hazard on human health, that is methodologically rigorous and addresses research ethics. | EHOH 7403 |
DrPH-EHOH 3 | Create a data collection and management plan for an environmental or occupational health research or surveillance. | EHOH 7632 |
DrPH-EHOH 4 | Recommend strategies for reducing human exposure to occupational or environmental hazards and improving human health. | EHOH 7403 |
DrPH-EHOH 5 | Analyze the distribution of exposure in a population using appropriate statistical methods. | BIOS 6611 |
DrPH-EHOH 6 | Identify populations disproportionally impacted by an environmental or occupational hazard. | EHOH 7631 |
CU Anschutz
Fitzsimons Building
13001 East 17th Place
3rd Floor
Mail Stop B119
Aurora, CO 80045