Graduate Program Requirements in Epidemiology and Public Health
Epidemiology and Public Health Graduate Faculty
A.M. Beck, ScD, Dorothy N. McAllister Professor of Animal Ecology; Director, Center of the Human-Animal Bond
A.J. Johnson, DVM, MPH, PhD, Dipl. ACVPM, Dipl. ACVM, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health
G.E. Moore, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACVPM, Dipl. ACVIM, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology
H.Y. Weng, BVM, MPH, PhD, Assistant Professor of Clinical/Analytical Epidemiology
Requirements for the PhD Degree in Epidemiology
Course Work
Required Courses for the PhD degree in Comparative Epidemiology within the Section of Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Comparative Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Purdue University.
The courses listed in this section represent the minimum requirements for all candidates for the PhD degree. Additional courses may be required by the student’s graduate advisory committee. Additional courses may also be taken at summer short courses offered by other universities.
CPB Courses:
CPB 85400 Principles of Epidemiology, 1 credit
CPB 86900 Veterinary Public Health and Zoonoses, 2 credits
CPB 61800 Ethical Issues in Biomedical Research, 2 credits
CPB 61900 Design, Conduct, and Analysis of Clinical Trials, 2 credits
CPB 62300 Microcomputer Applications in Population and Biomedical Research, 3 credits
CPB 68000 Risk Assessment Models and Applications, 3 credits
CPB 62500 Clinical Biostatistics, 2 credits
CPB 69500 Seminar in Epidemiology, 1 credit, taken every fall/spring semester
CPB 69700 CPB Research Seminar, 0 or 1 credit, taken every fall/spring semester
Required Courses in Other Departments:
STAT 50300 Statistical Method for Biology, 3 credits
STAT 51200 Applied Regression Analysis, 3 credits
STAT 52400 Applied Multivariate Analysis, 3 credits
Recommended Courses in Other Departments:
STAT 51400 Design of Experiments, 3 credits
F&N 59000 Nutritional Epidemiology, 3 credits
HSCI 54700 Environmental Epidemiology, 2 credits
HSCI 59000 Public Health Law and Policy, 3 credits
All students will be required to present evidence of course work in the following areas. Deficiencies must be made up early in the student’s academic program.
Biology
Biochemistry
Pathogenesis of Disease
Cell Biology
Physiology
Medical Microbiology
Preliminary Examination
After completion of required course work and before submission of the research proposal, students will be expected to demonstrate broad competence in epidemiology as determined by a preliminary examination. Preliminary examinations will be offered once a year for students required to take it that year and will consist of three parts:
- A written closed-book monitored test on epidemiologic principles
- A written open-book non-monitored exam consisting of the following:
- A critique of research papers
- A data set to be analyzed
- Design of an epidemiologic study
- An oral examination to probe the depth of the student’s ability to orally communicate an understanding of epidemiologic principles.
The preliminary examination will contain material from the following four areas of epidemiology:
- Study design
- Data analysis
- Infectious disease
- Public and environmental health
The written questions for both exams will be composed and graded by the members of the epidemiology and public health section. The oral exam will be presented by the student’s graduate advisory committee. The preliminary examination described here represents “core material” in which all students with an epidemiology concentration must demonstrate competence. The student’s graduate advisory committee still has the responsibility for administering the preliminary examination and additional questions from committee members should be expected by the student.
