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Frequently Asked Questions

A: There are several major differences as summarized below:

• The DrPH is a professional degree and the program focus is on the development of knowledge and skills in the areas of professional leadership, administration and the application of existing, state-of-the-art knowledge and approaches to public health problems.
• The DrPH at Berkeley is also a School wide degree, while the various PhD programs are all discipline-specific.
• The DrPH at Berkeley is a leadership program. Students who enter the DrPH are expected to enter with several years’ experience in the field; as graduates they are expected to occupy leadership positions that have major influence on the policies, programs and institutions of public health through the analysis, development and implementation of public health programs.
  
• In addition to completing a dissertation that involves original research toward the end of studying and addressing a significant public health problem, DrPH students complete a professional residency requirement and work with a professional as well as an academic mentor. There is no such professional component to the PhD program.
  
• The PhD is designed primarily for students wishing to pursue careers in academic teaching and research. Although students in the DrPH program may also pursue academic careers (see below) this is not the traditional intent of the program.
  

Q: Can students who do the DrPH pursue an academic track?

A: As noted above, the DrPH is a professional degree program designed primarily for students interested in occupying leadership positions in the field. However, the program includes coursework in research methods, academic mentorship, and completion of a dissertation involving the conducting of original research on a problem of public health importance. A number of graduates of the DrPH have gone on to accept university teaching positions or positions as full time researchers in academic or other scholarly settings. Although there is no specific “academic track” within the DrPH, students interested in teaching and research should choose as electives additional coursework in theory and research methods, and undertake a dissertation consistent with such a career choice.

Q: Who should I go to for questions about the DrPH program?

A: You can contact:

Claire Murphy, DrPH Program Coordinator

phone: 642-0028
e-mail: clairepm@berkeley.edu

 

You may also wish to contact current members of the DrPH Management Committee and those faculty who have a long track record of work with the program, among them Meredith Minkler, Joan Bloom, Pat Buffler, Teh-wei Hu, Ray Catalano, Rick Stephens, Zak Sabry, Julia Walsh, Linda Neuhauser, and Cheri Pies.

Q: How can I get advice on funding specific to DrPH or doctoral students and tips on how to plan ahead for funding and important financial aid deadlines?

A: Contact Claire Murphy, DrPH Program Coordinator clairepm@berkeley.edu

You can also go to the Graduate Division's website for detailed funding information: http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/financial/index.shtml

Q: Are there alternative paths to fulfilling the DrPH program requirements?

A: Students have some flexibility in when they will undertake their professional residency, and in the courses taken to meet the core knowledge requirements. Although the latter change with faculty availability etc., the DrPH Handbook, along with the advisor and more advanced DrPH students are good sources of information on possible alternative courses. Students with prior course work in some of the core areas also may test out of these areas or be exempted from additional course work by the advisor, in consultation with instructors in the particular area (e.g., ethics or health politics and policy analysis). In general, however, students are encouraged to attain additional depth in such areas through new courses, rather than simply being waived out. Finally, and although the DrPH is a professional degree, students who intend to pursue academic teaching and research positions should would with their advisors to ensure that their elective courses and dissertation work include additional breadth and depth in areas such as theory and research methods.

Q: How do we get approval for having a course meet a DrPH requirement if it's not currently on the list of alternate courses?

A: Students interested in an alternative course should obtain a copy of the syllabus and meet with their advisors to discuss the proposed substitution. In some cases, it may be necessary to also meet with the instructor of the traditionally recommended offering to insure that similar material is being covered in the proposed alternative course.

Q: How do we prepare for the residency during the first year (and who is available to help with residency planning)?

A: The residency is planned jointly by the student, faculty advisor and the DrPH Field Residency Supervisor, Ellie Schindelman. The residency is designed to provide the student with an opportunity to advance their knowledge and skills, observe and be mentored by public health leaders known for excellence in organizational and research leadership. The residency will also give students the opportunity to identify data for dissertation research, conduct analyses, and participate in specific projects of interest to them.

Q: What kinds of options are available for the doctoral residency?

A: The doctoral student residency may be taken during the summer following the first or second year of the program, and ideally will provide the student with contacts, experience and potential data sources for the subsequent dissertation. The 3 month, full time residency may take a number of forms but typically involves working in a health care agency or community based organization, a state or local health department, or working with a professor or other senior researcher. Both the student’s advisor and the staff of the School’s Center for Public Health Practice should be helpful as students decide upon an appropriate residency.

Some students choose to undertake a first year summer residency that is unrelated to their proposed dissertation but will broaden their knowledge and experiential base for their subsequent public health leadership career. More often, however, the choice of a residency is heavily informed by the student’s area of interest for the dissertation. If the residency is taken prior to the qualifying exam and the submission and approval of the human subjects protocol for one’s research, data for the dissertation cannot be collected as part of the residency. In such instances, however, the residency may be used to help lay the groundwork for the dissertation the student later anticipates pursuing. Students who undertake residencies with an agency or health department during the summer of their first year, for example, not infrequently return to that organization later to pursue dissertation data collection etc.

Q: What are the core skills and knowledge we should have prior to the qualifying exam?

A: In addition to having a comprehensive and well-honed prospectus for the dissertation, students approaching their qualifying examination should have a good command of each of the core competency areas required in the program. These are:

• Administration of public health organizations
  
• Health politics and policy analysis
  
• Research design and methods
  
• Public health interventions
  
• Ethics
  
• Leadership
  

The student may be questioned in any or all of these areas as part of the qualifying examination.

Additionally, and in order to prepare a strong prospectus as the basis of a solid dissertation, the student should be skilled in such areas as conducting a literature review, developing an NIH style research proposal, developing conceptual frameworks and logic models from which research hypotheses and questions then flow, etc.

Q: Where can I find copies of strong DrPH prospectuses?

A: A collection of such prospectuses is housed in the DrPH Program Library which is located in the Program Coordinator's office.

Q: What are the differences between the dissertation committee and the orals committee?

A: Graduate Division requires that four members serve on the Qualifying Exam (orals) Committee and three on the dissertation committee. Committee composition is as follows:

Qualifying Exam Committee Membership:

• Both the Chair and one other member of the four person qualifying committee must be UC Berkeley tenure-track faculty members with appointments in the School of Public Health.
  
• The Graduate Division requires that the committee have an “outside” member, defined as a UC Berkeley tenure-track faculty member whose appointment is “outside” the School of Public Health.
  
• There is flexibility in who can serve as the fourth member of the qualifying exam committee. If the person selected as the fourth member is not a UC Berkeley tenure-track faculty person, she or he must have a doctorate and lend expertise in an area that cannot be found among the School of Public Health tenure-track faculty and is particularly pertinent to the topic of your dissertation. If such a person is chosen as the fourth member, a copy of her/his curriculum vitae and a short memo cited the person’s expertise must accompany the Qualifying Exam Application form obtained from Rick Love.
  

Dissertation Committee Membership:

• The Graduate Division requires that three members serve on the Dissertation Committee.
  
• Both the Chair of the Dissertation Committee and one other member of the Dissertation Committee must be a UC Berkeley tenure-track faculty member whose appointment is in the School of Public Health.
  
• The third member of the Dissertation Committee is considered the “outside” member. Again, this person must be a UC Berkeley tenure-track faculty member whose appointment is “outside” of Public Health.
  
• A fourth member is acceptable on this committee on the same terms as the fourth member of the Q Exam (see above). Keep in mind that if you wish to have a four-member committee, you will have to incorporate suggestions and changes to your dissertation from four members rather than the three required by Graduate Division.
  

Q: What does the academic year look like for the post-qualifying students?

A: There is considerable flexibility in what the post-qualifying academic year looks like for doctoral candidates, with many working part time, taking additional classes, and/or serving as teaching assistants in addition to completing research and writing of the dissertation. Although many promising options often are available to doctoral candidates, however, the primary emphasis and use of one’s time should be on completing the dissertation. Working more than 50% time is strongly discouraged as it is likely to significantly slow progress toward degree completion.

Q: What are the dissertation requirements?

A: In most instances the dissertation is completed prior to the end of the spring semester of the third year. As part of the DrPH dissertation, the student is expected to undertake original research involving the examination and analysis of a significant problem in public health practice, and suggesting solutions to that problem. The dissertation format typically takes one of two forms: (1) a unified thesis, or (2) three publishable papers based on research bracketed by an introduction and conclusion. The three dissertation committee members must approve and sign the dissertation, which then is submitted to Graduate Division.

Q: Where can I look at DrPH dissertations of recent graduates?
A: Please check the School of Public Health library or the DrPH Program Library.

Q: What is an ideal timeframe to accomplish the requirements?
A: The program is designed for completion within three years.

Q: Do we walk for graduation after we finish our thesis or before?

A: In order to walk in the commencement ceremony, you must either have filed your dissertation or request an exception from the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. The exception request must be in the form of memo signed by all members of your Dissertation Committee in which they attest to the fact you will file your dissertation prior to the next commencement ceremony the following year.

Miscellaneous Questions:

Q: Where is there Computer and printing access at the SPH for DrPH students?

A: The Doctoral Student Lounge in 585 University Hall is available for this purpose, as are the computers and printers in the student computing lab in Haviland Hall.

Q: How do we access course evaluations for non-SPH classes and get advising about not SPH classes?

A: Different schools and departments on campus have different policies on whether (and how) course evaluations may be obtained, and the student is advised to speak with administrative staff in the department of interest. Word of mouth is also an excellent means of finding strong courses outside the SPH. At the end of the spring semester, we ask students to submit evaluations of courses taken during the academic year. Any evaluations of non-SPH courses submitted by DrPH students are included in the DrPH Handbook. Students planning to take a non-SPH class to meet a DrPH requirement should also discuss the course (ideally after obtaining a copy of the syllabus) with their advisors to ensure that it meets the intended requirement.

Q: How does one choose whether to use qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods for their doctoral thesis methodology?

A: The choice of dissertation topics and research questions will largely determine the appropriateness of different potential research strategies and approaches. The student’s advisor, committee members, and DrPH seminar leaders, as well as fellow students, should be helpful in thinking through the various research options and which are best suited to the research questions of interest.

Q: What kinds of software programs are recommended when working on your thesis?

A: All students should master a software program for building a bibliography of references, with End Note probably the most popular (see SPH library about group lessons in using this software). SPSS remains a good statistical package for those in the social sciences, and some of the computer programs for analyzing qualitative data (such as Atlas ti and NUD*IST) may also be of use to students doing qualitative dissertations. Your advisor should be helpful in helping decide what programs may be best suited to your needs, as should faculty teaching the various statistics and research methods courses. An excellent resource is David Lein, Coordinator of Academic Computing:

301 Haviland Hall
642-6011
dlein@uclink

Q: How do we find ways to house our dissertation with a non-academic institution?

A: Some organizations (such as Kaiser Permanente, the Alcohol Research Group, and state and local health departments) have had considerable experience in creating a home for DrPH students who are undertaking dissertation research in conjunction with these institutions. Both the student’s advisor and staff at the Center for Public Health Practice will be helpful in discussing alternative affiliations, and as always, the experiences of other DrPH students who have undertaken residencies or done their dissertations with these organizations can provide invaluable insights as well.