The PhD requires 72 credit hours of classroom coursework, directed research and dissertation credits.
The UB Graduate School requires a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 and a minimum grade of B in all coursework to count towards your degree.
Throughout your coursework, you will study key principles of public health, community health and health behavior, and statistical and research methodology. You will also design an individualized course plan for gaining advanced knowledge in a focal area of study related to community health and health behavior.
Beyond formal coursework, the program is based on a mentor-mentee, apprenticeship model. This means that you will be involved with a faculty member’s research throughout your time in the program.
Upon completion of your coursework, you’ll complete a comprehensive exam. The exam has two parts: a written exam focused on your knowledge of key principles, theories and research in community health and health behavior, and a writing component focused on your knowledge and research design skill in your focal area of study.
Community Health and Health Behavior (CHHB) Core Courses (15 Credit Hours)
Public Health Core Courses (9 or 10 Credit Hours)
Statistics and Research Methods Core Courses (13-15 credit hours)
Beyond the required courses, you will design an individualized program of studies in consultation with an advisor and supervisory committee and will complete at least three additional graduate-level courses.
In our mentor-mentee program, a great deal of training takes place in the course of working on a research team with your mentor. Through this process, you will gain expertise in conducting research, statistical analysis, writing and research ethics.
While working on mentored research projects, you will register for either:
To satisfy the research experience requirements, you must complete a minimum of 10 credits from directed research and/or community-based experience credits.
After passing the comprehensive exam and while working on your dissertation, you will register for dissertation supervision credits (CHB 698: Dissertation Guidance, 1-6 credits/semester) and typically earn 12 dissertation credits during the process.
Community Health and Health Behavior Policy on Good Academic Standing and Probation
In addition to following the Graduate School policies on Academic Standing (including the Graduate School’s definition for "Good Academic Standing") and Academic Probation, the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior will adhere to the following provisions:
All Graduate Students
Students who fail to earn a full “B” or better in a required course (note that a B- does not suffice) will be placed on academic probation and fail to be in good academic standing. They will be required to retake the course. Students who earn a full B or better upon retaking the course will have met this particular requirement for regaining good academic standing. Students who do not earn a full B or better upon repeating the course will be dismissed from the program.
Students who do not earn a full B or better in an elective course will be informed that they cannot count that course toward their degree program; repeated instances of this may result in dismissal from the program.
In addition, academic integrity is a fundamental university value and ethical behavior is a cornerstone of the public health profession. Therefore, during their time in the program, any student with a “severe” or “most severe” academic integrity infraction or two or more “less severe” academic integrity infractions may be dismissed from their program at the end of the academic semester in which the infraction occurred. Most severe, severe and less severe academic integrity infractions will be classified per the Academic Integrity’s Sanction Chart on the Graduate School Policy Library.
PhD Students Only
There are a variety of grounds upon which a PhD student may be put on academic probation, including but not limited to failing to make timely progress in their research and unprofessional conduct. Any member of the CHHB graduate faculty may request a meeting of these same faculty to propose putting a student on academic probation. CHHB graduate faculty will discuss the case and vote on whether to put the student on academic probation. If a full-time student fails to complete their comprehensive exam by the end of the first semester of the third year, this will automatically prompt a meeting of the CHHB graduate faculty who will review the student’s progress and vote on whether to put the student on academic probation. If the majority of the faculty votes for probationary status, the student will be placed on academic probation for the coming semester. If the majority of the faculty votes to retain good academic standing, the student will remain in good academic standing for the coming semester. The department procedures for determining and communicating the terms for regaining good academic standing are the same as those outlined in the Graduate School academic probation policy.
Questions about program requirements or curriculum?
Contact Jessica Kulak at jakulak@buffalo.edu.