Epidemiology

Choose the Path That Is Right for You

TRACK I: Choose this track if you have a Master of Public Health (MPH) or an MS in Public Health.

TRACK II: Choose this track if you hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in an academic discipline other than the public health field.

Track I

Curriculum

Minimum Degree Requirements

• 88 quarter credits
  • Foundation courses (3 cr.)
  • Core courses (40 cr.)
  • Specialization courses (25 cr.)
  • Research proposal, dissertation, and oral presentation (minimum 20 cr.)
• Four PhD residencies to equal a minimum of 16 days

Walden students have up to 8 years to complete their doctoral program unless they petition for an extension.

In general, students are continuously registered in the dissertation/doctoral study course until they complete their capstone project and it is approved. This usually takes longer than the minimum required terms in the dissertation/doctoral study course shell.

This sequence represents the minimum time to completion. For a personalized estimate of the number of your transfer credits that Walden would accept, call an Enrollment Specialist at 855-646-5286.

Courses

Show Course Descriptions

Course Code	Title	Credits
PUBH 8003	Building a Multidisciplinary Approach to Health Show In this course, students will explore the multidisciplinary nature and integration of professional practice in the health field. Students will have the opportunity to utilize their scholarly voice with diverse audiences and with academic integrity to ensure academic and professional success as scholar-practitioners and social change agents. As leaders in their profession, students will discuss critical public health and health services in the health field. They use a response to a natural disaster, review of emerging issues in the health field, and what it means to be part of a multidisciplinary team to develop community partnerships with key stakeholders. This way they can address health issues impacting their communities, agencies, and/or organizations.	(3 cr.)
PUBH 8050	Global Health and Issues in Disease Prevention Show Students in this course are provided an in-depth review of how global health-based strategies are used in the prevention of disease and disability in diverse populations. They explore global health topics and disease prevention activities from the perspective of understanding the determinants of health. Using a cross-disciplinary approach, students examine how economics, social factors, cultural competency, health literacy, health policy, urbanization, globalization, the environment, and other factors influence disease. Students consider how research in disease prevention, health determinants, cultural ecology, and global health applies to public and community health efforts.	(5 cr.)
PUBH 8130	Communications, Marketing, and Public Relations for Public Health Leaders Show An overview of marketing and public relations principles as they relate to public health, highlighting theoretical concepts that are commonly used in health communications research, is provided to students in this course. Topics include using social marketing techniques, promoting health literacy, developing community partnerships, and creating culturally sensitive and appropriate promotional materials. Students focus on using social media to identify and advance public health interests and ethical principles. Through case studies, students examine how they can use marketing practices to translate health research into social action and behavioral change.	(5 cr.)
RSCH 8110	Research Theory, Design, and Methods Show In this research course, students are provided with core knowledge and skills for understanding, analyzing, and designing research at the graduate level. Students explore the philosophy of science, the role of theory, and research processes. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research designs and data collection methods are introduced. The alignment of research components is emphasized. Students also explore ethical and social change implications of designing and conducting research. Students demonstrate their knowledge and skills by developing an annotated bibliography. (Prerequisite(s): RESI 8401.)	(5 cr.)
RSCH 8210	Quantitative Reasoning and Analysis Show In this research course, students are provided with the opportunity to develop core knowledge and skills for designing and carrying out quantitative research at the doctoral level, including the application of statistical concepts and techniques. Students explore classical common statistical tests, the importance of the logic of inference, and social change implications of conducting quantitative research and producing knowledge. Students approach statistics from a problem-solving perspective with emphasis on selecting appropriate statistical tests for a research design. Students use statistical software to derive statistics from quantitative data and interpret and present results. (Prerequisite(s): RSCH 8110 or RSCH 7110 or RSCH 6110, and RESI 8401.)	(5 cr.)
PUBH 8270	Health Informatics and Surveillance Show By addressing current trends and future applications in public health research, students develop advanced competency in health informatics and surveillance in this course. The key issues of data standards and integration, vocabularies and data transmission protocols, health information technology, surveillance systems, and the application of geographical information systems to situation awareness are addressed. Other topics include information architecture, public health records, electronic medical records, electronic health records, health information exchange, and database design, as well as information storage, security, and privacy. (Prerequisite(s): RESI 8401.)	(5 cr.)
PUBH 8400	Public Health Leadership and Systems Thinking Show In this course, students explore leadership models and theories, the core principles of public health leadership, and the application of systems thinking to public health. They examine how to create strategies and solutions that efficiently utilize public health and healthcare resources. Students also discuss descriptive and prescriptive systems, focusing on the application of these processes to current public health issues and challenges at the organizational and community levels. (Prerequisite(s): RESI 8401.)	(5 cr.)
RSCH 8260	Advanced Quantitative Reasoning and Analysis Show Students in this research course build upon knowledge and skills acquired in the prerequisite quantitative reasoning course and are presented with opportunities to apply them. They are provided with more specialized knowledge and skills for conducting quantitative research at the doctoral level, including understanding multivariate data analysis and applying more advanced statistical concepts, such as factorial ANOVA, mediation, moderation, logistic regression, ANCOVA, and MANOVA. Students explore existing datasets and apply suitable statistical tests to answer research questions with social change implications. In this course, they approach statistics from a problem-solving perspective with emphasis on selecting the appropriate statistical tests for more complex research questions and social problems. Students use statistical software to perform analyses and interpret and present results. They will apply and synthesize their knowledge and skills by carrying out a quantitative research project. (Prerequisite(s): RSCH 8110 and RESI 8402.)	(5 cr.)
PUBH 8315	Economics and Financing of Public Health Systems Show In this course, students investigate the provision of resources for the delivery of public health services and the application of economic theories to health policy issues. Students explore how organizational characteristics interact with economic forces to produce systems performance outcomes, as well as how fiscal policy can influence the performance of public health systems. Students analyze grant-writing strategies and the advantages and disadvantages of various financing options. Other topics include methods of economic evaluation and their usefulness in determining appropriate financing mechanisms for public health systems. (Prerequisite(s): RESI 8401.)	(5 cr.)
PUBH 8500	Advanced Biostatistics Show Students in this course cover the advanced biostatistics methods needed to prepare for conducting future research, as well as for critically reviewing the statistical methods incorporated in public health literature. Students learn to use statistical methodologies such as covariance and repeated measures, longitudinal data analysis, life tables and survival analysis, multiple regression, logistic regression, Poisson regression, and the Cox proportional hazards regression model. In this course, students use SPSS statistical software for advanced data management, manipulation, analysis, and the use of graphical techniques.	(5 cr.)
PUBH 8551	Preparing for Dissertation Show The focus of this course is on the preparation for the dissertation phase of training. In this course, students identify a dissertation topic and potential dissertation committee members; begin to conduct a literature review; develop a problem statement and research questions; and evaluate research designs, methods, and types of analyses to use for their dissertation. Students also complete their initial premise in this course and an annotated outline of their prospectus. (Prerequisite(s): RESI 8402.)	(5 cr.)
PUBH 8520	Advanced Epidemiology Methods Show The principles of epidemiologic design, analysis, and interpretation at an advanced level are integrated in this course. Students discuss data sources, assessment of dependent and independent variables, measurement error, confounding, and bias. They explore methodological issues in epidemiology, including factors critical to public health research, such as missing data, intermediate variables, confounding, complex study designs, meta-analysis, and questionnaire design. The concepts and applications in survival analysis, analysis of incidence rates, life tables, and parametric and nonparametric approaches are covered in this course. (Prerequisite(s): PUBH 8500.)	(5 cr.)
PUBH 8540	Epidemiology Topics Seminar Show In this seminar, students are exposed to current research and special topics of interest in epidemiology. They choose from a wide range of discussion topics, including infectious disease, non-endemic communicable disease, chronic disease, global health, maternal and child health, social and behavioral concerns, environmental issues, genetic factors, and other emerging topics of interest. Students perform a critical review of the research literature, providing them further insight into topics of epidemiology.	(5 cr.)
PUBH 8560	Advanced Analysis of Secondary Data Show Through this course, students develop an advanced understanding of statistical and epidemiological methodology and the use of biomedical and secondary data sources. Students explore how to design research to make appropriate use of available secondary data sources. The strengths and limitations of using secondary data are also addressed in this course. (Prerequisite(s): PUBH 8500, PUBH 8520.)	(5 cr.)
PUBH 9001	Dissertation Show Through this course, doctoral students have the opportunity to integrate their program of study into an in-depth exploration of an interest area that includes the completion of a research study. Students complete the dissertation independently, with the guidance of a dissertation supervisory committee chair and committee members, in a learning platform classroom in which weekly participation is required. Students complete a prospectus, proposal, Institutional Review Board application, and dissertation.Students take this course for a minimum of four quarters and are continuously enrolled until completion of their dissertation with final chief academic officer (CAO) approval.To complete a dissertation, students must obtain the academic approval of several independent evaluators including their committee, the University Research Reviewer, and the Institutional Review Board; pass the Form and Style Review; gain approval at the oral defense stage; and gain final approval by the chief academic officer. Students must also publish their dissertation on ProQuest before their degree is conferred. Learn more about the dissertation process in the Dissertation Guidebook.  (Prerequisite(s): RESI 8403.)	(5 cr. per term for a minimum of 4 quarters until completion)
	DOCTORAL WRITING ASSESSMENT
DRWA 8880	Doctoral Writing Assessment Show This course is part of Walden's commitment to help prepare students to meet the university's expectations for writing in courses at the doctoral level. In this course, students write a short academic essay that will be scored by a team of writing assessors. Based on the essay score, students will complete or be exempted from additional required writing support needed to meet writing proficiency standards. This required assessment course is free. Students will be enrolled automatically in it at the beginning of their doctoral program.	(0 cr.)
VIEW ALL COURSES Less Courses

To complete a doctoral dissertation, students must obtain the academic approval of several independent evaluators including their committee, the University Research Reviewer, and the Institutional Review Board; pass the Form and Style Review; gain approval at the oral defense stage; and gain final approval by the Chief Academic Officer. Students must also publish their dissertation on ProQuest before their degree is conferred. Learn more about the dissertation process in the Dissertation Guidebook.

8-Year Maximum Timeframe
Students have up to 8 years to complete their doctoral degree requirements. See the policy in the Walden University Student Handbook. Students may petition to extend the 8-year maximum timeframe, but an extension is not guaranteed.

Note: Time to completion and cost are not estimates of individual experience and will vary based on individual factors applicable to the student. Factors may be programmatic or academic, such as tuition and fee increases; transfer credits accepted by Walden; program or specialization changes; unsuccessful course completion; credit load per term; part-time vs. full-time enrollment; writing, research, and editing skills; use of external data for the doctoral study/dissertation; and individual progress in the program. Other factors may include personal issues such as the student’s employment obligations, caregiving responsibilities, or health issues; leaves of absence; or other personal circumstances.

Tuition and Fees

Curriculum	Requirements	Cost	Total *
Tuition-Coursework	68 quarter credits	$590 per quarter hour for coursework credits	$40,120^
Tuition-Dissertation	20–125† quarter credits	$590 per quarter hour for dissertation credits	$11,800–$73,750*
Technology Fee		$160 per quarter	$1,760–$5,120*
Residency Fee	Four Residencies	$1,375 each (virtual) $1,475 each (in-person: travel, lodging and other expenses are additional)	$5,500–$5,900
Estimated Range:			2.75-Year	8-Year
			$59,180	$124,890*+
			(assuming completion in a 2.75-year timeframe)	(assuming completion in an 8-year timeframe)

These are ranges of what a student can expect in terms of time and tuition cost to complete a degree. It does not include other fees, nor is it adjusted for tuition increases over time. Walden faculty has concluded that generally students who do not complete their program in eight years are unlikely to complete and only allow students to exceed that time frame when a student petitions for an extension and provides good reason for the delay and assurances that obstacles to completion can be overcome. Time is calculated using the time allowed for each semester or unit that the student completes. Students are encouraged to work continuously during the program so as not to extend the time needed to complete the degree as work can become stale and students lose focus. Students who earn two grades of “Unsatisfactory,” who repeatedly drop a course before a semester or unit has been completed, or are unable to complete in the eight year time frame, should expect that they may be dismissed from the program. Walden believes that it is in the best interest of a student who is unable to complete the degree in the stated ranges to strongly consider withdrawal or obtaining a lesser degree.

Time to completion and cost are not estimates of individual experience and will vary based on individual factors applicable to the student. Factors may be programmatic or academic such as tuition and fee increases and/or the student’s transfer credits accepted by Walden; program or specialization changes; unsuccessful course completion; credit load per term; writing, research and editing skills; use of external data for their doctoral study/dissertation; and/or individual progress in the program. Other factors may include personal issues such as the student’s employment obligations; care giving responsibilities or health issues; part-time vs. full-time enrollment; leaves of absence; and/or other personal circumstances.

Tuition and fees are subject to change. Books and materials are not included. Students may incur additional costs for remedial writing assistance, if necessary.

^This assumes students successfully complete their coursework on the first attempt.

^† Based on a 2.75-year minimum completion requirement and an 8-year maximum timeframe as outlined in Walden academic policy.

*Tuition and fees will be higher if students petition to extend the 8-year maximum timeframe or choose to take more expensive elective courses.

⁺Tuition and time to complete may be reduced if transfer credits are accepted, or if you receive grants, scholarships or other tuition discounts. For a personalized estimate of the number of your transfer credits that Walden would accept, call an Enrollment Specialist at 844-642-0198.

Track II

Admission Requirements

General Admission Requirements: Completed online application and transcripts. Please note that the materials you are required to submit may vary depending on the academic program to which you apply. More information for international applicants.