PhD in Population Health Sciences Degree Requirements

PhD students are required to be in residence for a minimum of two consecutive semesters.

PhD students are considered by the Graduate School enrolled full-time as long as they are registered for CTN 1-01 every fall and spring semester. The Graduate School does not stipulate course or total credit requirements for doctoral students. DPHS course requirements are listed in the course/degree progress sequence below.

While an individual student’s length of study will vary, the program is designed to be completed in 4 years. Years 1 and 2 of the PhD will be devoted to required coursework, including RCR training. Years 3 and 4 are focused on completion of the dissertation. Should year(s) 5 and beyond be required, they are available in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies, the Graduate Programs Director, and the Graduate School. PhD students are not guaranteed funding beyond a fifth year.

Ph.D. students must maintain full-time enrollment status for the entirety of their degree and are considered full-time when they are enrolled in at least 1.0 credit per term. During the summer, the Graduate School will automatically enroll all PhD students in a continuation (CTN) course in order to maintain their full-time status while classes are not in session.

Students are expected to have a strong statistical or quantitative background, as well as a foundational knowledge of population health sciences or a related field (e.g., public health). This typically takes the form of a master’s degree in a health-related field within the last 5 years.

The coursework required for the PhD in Population Health Sciences comprises both DPHS core courses and electives. Additional workshops in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) are required of PhD students in the School of Medicine. 

A typical course sequence of the full PhD curriculum is shown in the table below.

Orientation Week (4 RCR credits)

• BIOTRAIN 750: Introduction to RCR Concepts (1-day event during orientation prior to classes) (4 RCR credits)
• SAS Programming Primer (optional -- online, self-paced) 

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Students have three elective courses built-in to the typical schedule. However, students are permitted to take additional electives at any point in their training. Students should work actively with their advisors to identify the courses that will best support their training needs, including skills needed for the dissertation. At least TWO electives must be DPHS courses. All other electives are subject to the Graduate School requirement that only courses 500-level or higher can be counted towards the degree.

Course registration at Duke is done via DukeHub. Get step-by-step instructions on how to register for classes.

Substitutions for required DPHS courses are rarely approved and require compelling justification demonstrating that the proposed alternative course meets equivalent learning objectives. All requests must be approved by the Graduate Programs Director. Please contact the Assistant Director for Educational Programs for more information.

Purpose & Course Overview 

DPHS considers an independent study (IS) course to be an area of study or research that necessitates a high level of self-directed learning, and an opportunity to gain experience that will supplement the learning experiences in the classroom. POPHS Independent Studies should be primarily student-driven and based on a student’s needs and interests. The IS may take the place of another 3-credit, semester-long course, as deemed appropriate by the student’s advising team and the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS). The content and difficulty level must also be approved as appropriate by the DGS.  
  
The primary reason a student may elect to participate in an independent study course is to receive additional, advanced training not available through current coursework. Most commonly, but not exclusively, this will apply to PhD students. 

The current independent study course is POPHS 975, graded as Pass/Fail. 

Course Objectives 

Goals and objectives of the IS must be clearly documented and agreed upon in writing between the student and the instructor before the IS begins. These goals and objectives should stem from a plan for the course drafted by the student, with the support of the instructing faculty member. The student and the faculty member should develop a proposal that reflects these goals and objectives. 

The IS must require students to read, conduct research, and complete written examinations, reports, projects, research papers, or similar assignments that are designed to measure competency in the stated educational objectives. 

The Independent Study is NOT available as a substitute for any core course for either the MS or PhD without explicit permission of the DPHS Education leadership team. 

Course Requirements 

Prior to the onset of the course, the student should develop a first draft of a detailed plan for the independent study. The student and faculty member should then work together to finalize a plan within the first week of classes. 

The student and the faculty member must agree on the following in writing. The DPHS Education team suggests formatting these requirements as a typical course syllabus. 

• Course purpose and description: What does the student(s) plan to do and how do they plan to do it? What are the objectives? What outcomes are they hoping to achieve? What courses/relevant experiences/background knowledge serve as the foundation for the independent study? 
• Goals and objectives/learning outcomes 
• Course content to be consumed (readings, articles, textbooks, etc.). The faculty member is free to recommend other materials or modify the proposed list as they see fit. 
• Means and frequency of communication, including a schedule of meetings or check-ins. What is the frequency of meeting? Who will monitor progress throughout the semester? 
• Means of assessment/evaluation, including a schedule of deadlines, due dates, or exam dates, if applicable. How will learning be demonstrated? How/when/where will it be reported? How will work be evaluated? How is success defined? 
• Grading format and policy, including a scale and grading percentages (e.g., what proportion of the final grade individual assignments/assessments comprise). 
• Weekly breakdown of tasks, topics, and deliverables. The student should have assigned work to complete weekly. What will the final product be (e.g., paper)? 

This outline/syllabus must be shared with the Assistant Director and the Director of Graduate Programs. 

Enrollment 

Students completing an approved Independent Study will enroll in POPHS 975. These courses are repeatable for credit (e.g., students may enroll in POPHS 975 more than once over the course of their tenure, in order to complete multiple, distinct independent studies).   

Students desiring an IS should begin these steps as early as possible, preferably in the semester prior to the planned course.

Under the Interinstitutional Registration Agreement in which Duke participates, students may take courses at other institutions for degree credit. These courses require approval from multiple parties, including the DPHS DGS. It is the student’s responsibility to seek and receive all necessary approvals, as well as complete the required registration procedures. Students may take no more than two courses for degree credit in any fall or spring semester (one course during the summer), and the remainder of the course load balance must be at Duke. Students may not audit courses under the interinstitutional registration agreement.

The DPHS PhD program is administered in part through the Duke School of Medicine’s Office of Biomedical Graduate Education. OBGE requires that students participate in specially designed Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training. Students enroll in RCR courses for a total of 18 contact hours. To receive credit for RCR training, students must complete written assessments and course credit is formally tracked by the university registrar to ensure that all RCR requirements are met prior to graduation. The PhD RCR requirements are described in detail here by the OBGE.

All students enrolled in the Duke University Graduate School must participate in a four-hour RCR workshop (BIOTRAIN 750) during Orientation Week. Entering students will be contacted over the summer with instructions to register for the appropriate RCR orientation. All students are also required to complete additional, ongoing two-hour forums before graduation. 

For more information on RCR Requirements please visit The Graduate School webpage. Additionally, students should track their RCR credits – instructions are available here.

Comprehensive exams will be taken at the end of the spring semester of Year 2. In order to be eligible to take comprehensive exams, students must have completed all coursework. Students are not allowed to schedule their dissertation proposal defenses (preliminary exams) until June, and following receipt of exam results. Exams will be open-book or open-note exams, but interpersonal communication is prohibited. 

Exams will be holistic in nature and designed to test students’ ability to apply knowledge gained through coursework under circumstances different from those in which it was taught. As an example, students will be given a NIH Request for Funding Announcement and asked to develop a proposal in response. 

To every extent possible, exams will be graded anonymously. Exams will be graded by multiple faculty members. Exams can have one of three outcomes: pass, revision needed, or fail. Students who pass will proceed to their dissertation proposal.

Students for whom a revision is needed will have 8 weeks to submit a revised proposal. This revision should be accompanied by a single page that describes the changes made in response to comments made by the reviewers. The revision can have one of two outcomes: pass or fail. Students who pass will proceed to their dissertation proposal. 

Students who fail, at either the initial grading or the revision grading stages, will be required to retake the exam in the middle of the fall semester of Year 3 and may be required to complete additional work or training. Continued funding is contingent on satisfactory progress toward the degree. If a student does not pass their comprehensive exam on their second attempt, they will be automatically discontinued from the program.