Degree Plan

The minimum number of credits required to complete this degree is 60 semester credit hours (SCH) with the following course of study:

Core Courses (27 SCH)
Students in the program are required to take seven Core Courses and one Core Elective:

1. Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Sciences 
2. Quantitative Methods in Health Sciences I
3. Theories in Health Sciences I
4. Theories in Health Sciences II
5. Interdisciplinary Research in Health Sciences
6. Dissertation I
7. Dissertation II (taken a minimum of two semesters or until final defense)

1. Quantitative Methods in Health Sciences II 
2. Advanced Research Methods
3. Scientific and Grant Writing

Elective Courses (33 SCH)* 

1. Independent Study**
2. Directed Study**
3. Research Applications**
4. Special Topics in the Health Sciences**  

*18 of the 33 elective SCH must be interdisciplinary, with the remaining 15 SCH being within the student's area of study

 **These courses may be repeated once as long as the topic varies.

All other courses offered at the graduate or doctoral level at UTEP, or graduate courses at the UT Houston School of Public Health El Paso campus, may be used to meet elective course requirements, as approved by the student's faculty mentor, the IHS PhD Program, and the respective department offering the course. Graduate courses in the College of Health Sciences may be used to fulfill this requirement. Graduate courses from other UTEP departments may also fulfill this requirement. 

Special Requirements for the Program

Research
Students must complete dissertation research under the supervision of their dissertation committee chair and committee members. The research will be on applied and clinical health topics and may be descriptive (e.g., survey or qualitative research), mechanistic, or prevention or intervention trials. The required doctoral dissertation must describe an empirical study that is an original work of scholarship that makes a unique contribution to the literature. The student must publicly defend his/her dissertation research; the dissertation committee will administer the oral defense.

Admission to Candidacy
Successfully defending the dissertation proposal is required for admission to candidacy.

Program of Study for IHS Ph.D. Program

The chart below incorporates the programs of study for both full-time and part-time students. Full time is defined as taking three courses each long semester (fall and spring) and one course in summer; part time is defined as taking two courses each long semester (fall and spring) and one course in summer.