Doctor of Philosophy in Epidemiology

The Epidemiology PhD program provides advanced professional training in epidemiology to develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for leadership in epidemiologic research and methodology. The goal of the doctoral program is to educate candidates to become independent, productive, and creative research scientists in epidemiology.

The Epidemiology PhD program is committed to providing doctoral students with opportunities for teaching and fostering their teaching skills. Most of the students enrolled in the program serve as Teaching Assistants. After gaining experience as a TA, interested doctoral students are offered the chance to lecture in a course. Students also have access to teaching workshops sponsored by the Boston University Center for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching.

Upon completing the requirements for the PhD in Epidemiology, graduates can:

formulate research hypotheses that can be evaluated through empirical epidemiologic investigation;

critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of epidemiologic study designs applied to particular etiologic associations;

analyze and interpret epidemiologic studies using appropriate methods

explain the theoretical underpinnings of epidemiology, including new and traditional study designs;

demonstrate understanding of sources of bias and approaches to evaluating and controlling bias;

demonstrate proficiency in data collection, data analysis, and written summaries of statistical analyses;

demonstrate expertise in at least one substantive area of epidemiology and apply that expertise to the preparation of the dissertation proposal;

perform all the steps of conducting a hypothesis-driven epidemiologic study, from developing hypotheses to designing, analyzing, and interpreting results to writing up findings in the form of a publication-quality manuscript, as demonstrated by the PhD dissertation requires three manuscripts judged to be suitable for publication.