PhD in IHSD Curriculum & Model Course Schedules

Students must complete 49 credit hours of coursework beyond the baccalaureate, with a minimum of 31 didactic credit hours completed in the doctoral program at SPHTM for the PhD in IHSD. Coursework includes PhD Foundational Courses (18 credits), PhD Core Courses (12 credits), Concentration-Specific PhD required courses (10 credits), and Concentration-Specific PhD elective courses (9 credits), as shown in tables A-D below). Courses marked with an asterisk “*” indicate advanced doctoral coursework.

In cases where students have not completed a CEPH--accredited degree (bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree), obtainment of foundation public health knowledge will be accomplished through the SPHL 6020 course, or proven through the successful completion of a challenge exam.

PhD Foundational Courses

• SPHL 6020 Foundations in Public Health or equivalent (3)
• SPHL 6050 Biostatistics for Public Health or equivalent (3)
• BIOS 6040 Intermediate Biostatistics or equivalent (3)
• SPHL 6060 Epidemiology for Public Health or equivalent 3 Credits Epidemiology for Public Health or equivalent (3)
• SPHL 6080 Design Strategies for Public Health Programs or equivalent (3)
• IHSD 6300 Monitoring of Global Health Programs (3)

Total: 18 Credits

PhD Core Courses

• IHSD 8250 Advanced Research Methods in Global Health (3)*
• SBPS 8760
• EPID 7120 Social Determinants of Health II, or Epidemiologic Methods II (3)*
• SPHL 8080 Public Health Pedagogy (3)*
• SPHL 7500 Public Health Grant Writing (3)*

Total: 12 credits

If an entering student had exceptional research methods training and competency, they could petition the instructor to challenge out of SBPS 8760 or EPID 7120. If approved by the instructor, the student would be free to take any other 7000/8000 course meeting the SPHTM Research Methods course requirements.

Concentration-Specific PhD Required Courses

• IHSD 7200 Sustainable Development: Theory and Practice (3)*
• SBPS 8750 Social Determinants of Health I (3)*
• SBPS 7280 Qualitative Methods I: Basic Foundations (3)*
• SBPS 8800/SBPS 8830 Doctoral Seminar (1)

Total: 10 Credits

Concentration-Specific PhD Elective Courses

Suggested courses are listed below. Other courses may be taken with advisor and PhD program director approval.

• IHSD 7020 Communication Research for Family Planning 3 Credits
• IHSD 7070 Social Determinants of HIV/AIDS (3)
• SBPS 7160 HIV Surveillance in Hard-to-Reach Populations (2)
• IHSD 7210 Survey Data Analysis in FP/RH Research (3)
• IHSD 7440 Household Sampling Applications in Developing Countries (3)
• SBPS 7290 Qualitative Methods II - Theory and Methodology (3)
• SBPS 8200 Evaluation Theory (3)
• HPAM 8310 Organizational Theory and Assessment (3)
• HPAM 8350 Policy Analysis with Natural Experiments and Panel Data (3)
• HPAM 8500 Research Development and Communication (3)

Total: Min of 9 credits

Nine credits minimum; Additional credits as needed to reach 49 credit graduation requirement and/or fulfill PhD Foundation Course requirements. Elective courses may include formal courses and independent studies. No more than 12 credits of independent studies may be applied toward the PhD degree.