Goals and Associated Student Learning Outcomes
For the Master of Science Program, the following goals and outcomes are evaluated, and relate to the department’s primary objectives to:
Train students to be successful researchers able to implement flexible, innovation-oriented methods in addressing population health questions.
- Demonstrate proficiency in population health research methods and analysis.
- Develop innovative problem-solving skills to address important population health research questions.
- Demonstrate an ability to develop and manage population health programs or projects.
and,
Train students to be successful professionals able to contribute to and collaborate in interdisciplinary teams at government, industry, academic, and health system organizations.
- Effectively participate in interdisciplinary clinical and translational research teams.
- Demonstrate an ability to communicate research clearly and professionally in both written and oral forms to diverse audiences.
- Successfully compete for employment that is challenging and respected within areas related to Population Health Sciences.
Expectations of Graduate Students
Per the Duke University Graduate School, graduate students are expected to:
- Research
- To work responsibly toward completion of the degree in a timely fashion
- To learn the research methods and historical knowledge bases of the discipline
- To communicate regularly with faculty mentors and the masters/doctoral committees, especially in matters relating to research and progress within the degree program
- To discover and pursue a unique topic of research to participate in the construction of new knowledge in the chosen field and application of that knowledge to new problems/issues
- To exercise the highest integrity in all aspects of their work, especially in the tasks of collecting, analyzing, and presenting research data
- Professional Development/Program Progress
- To develop, to the extent possible, a broad network of professional relations
- To contribute, wherever possible, to the discourse of the scholarly discipline through conference presentations, publications, collaborative projects, and other means
- To seek out a range of faculty and peer mentors that can help them prepare for a variety of professional and career roles and responsibilities
- To take responsibility for keeping informed of regulations and policies governing their graduate studies and to complete all required paperwork and other degree obligations in a timely fashion
- Community
- To create, in their own classrooms and laboratories, an ethos of collegiality and collaboration
- To realize their responsibilities as individual and professional representatives of both the university as a whole and the department or program in which they are studying
- To assist graduate student peers in their own professional and scholarly development