Community & Behavioral Health
This program is designed to help you become a public health leader. You'll learn how to develop, implement, and evaluate evidence-based programs that contribute to community health and wellness. In addition to taking courses that cover research methods and advanced public health theory and practice, you’ll also learn about leadership, management, and grant writing. Areas of specialization include (but are not limited to): community-based participatory research, health equity, program design and evaluation, American Indian and Alaska Native health, mHealth strategies, and mental health. Faculty in our department study everything from adverse childhood experiences to nutrition to school-based interventions, which means you can find the faculty mentor who's right for you.
Upon entering the DrPH program, students will have three years to pass the written and oral comprehensive exams and should complete the dissertation and public defense of the dissertation within seven years of entering the program.
Each student, in consultation with their faculty advisor, will develop a proposed course of study. The course of study must specify courses to be taken, and proposed timeline for courses, practicum, preliminary and comprehensive exams, and dissertation.
Curriculum
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required DrPH Courses (16 credits) | ||
| PUBH 6842 | DrPH Seminar (1 credit hour semesters, first 4 semesters of tenure) | 4 |
| CBHS 7020 | DrPH Seminar in Leadership | 3 |
| EPID 7912 | Developing a Research Grant | 3 |
| HSMP 7603 | Advanced Public Health Strategic Planning and Management: Theory and Practice | 3 |
| EHOH 7405 | Advanced Communication Skills for Public Health Impact | 3 |
| Required Community & Behavioral Health Courses (12 credits) | ||
| CBHS 7010 | Quantitative Methods in Community Health | 3 |
| CBHS 7637 | Doctoral Advanced Quantitative Analysis for Community Health Sciences | 3 |
| CBHS 7638 | Advanced Qualitative Research Methods | 3 |
| CBHS 7670 | CBH Advanced Seminar | 3 |
| Selective Courses (12 credits - at least 6 credits are required to be at the doctoral level) | 12 | |
| Directed Reading (2 credits) | ||
| CBHS 7030 | DrPH Directed Reading | 1-2 |
| DrPH Practicum (4 credits) | ||
| PUBH 6850 | DrPH Practicum | 2-4 |
| Dissertation (9 credits) | ||
| CBHS 8991 | DrPH Dissertation - Community & Behavioral Health | 1-10 |
| Total Hours | 55 | |
Environmental & Occupational Health
The Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program in Environmental and Occupational Health is a specialized doctoral program designed for individuals who are passionate about addressing critical public health issues related to environmental sustainability, workplace safety, and the impact of the environment on human health. The program offers advanced education and practical training to equip graduates with the expertise needed to lead in this field. Students work closely with faculty mentors, take required courses, and customize an area of expertise such as environmental justice, chemical risk assessment, and the impacts of climate change on worker health.
Upon entering the DrPH program, students will have three years to pass the written and oral comprehensive exams and should complete the dissertation and public defense of the dissertation within seven years of entering the program.
Each student, in consultation with their faculty advisor, will develop a proposed course of study. The course of study must specify courses to be taken, and proposed timeline for courses, practicum, preliminary and comprehensive exams, and dissertation.
Curriculum
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required DrPH Courses (13 credits) | ||
| PUBH 6842 | DrPH Seminar (1 credit hour semesters, first 4 semesters of tenure) | 4 |
| CBHS 7020 | DrPH Seminar in Leadership | 3 |
| EPID 7912 | Developing a Research Grant | 3 |
| HSMP 7603 | Advanced Public Health Strategic Planning and Management: Theory and Practice | 3 |
| EHOH 7405 | Advanced Communication Skills for Public Health Impact | 3 |
| Required Environmental & Occupational Health Courses (12 credits) | ||
| EHOH 7631 | Advanced Methods in Environmental &Occupational Health | 3 |
| EHOH 7632 | Advanced Field Methods in EOH | 1 |
| EHOH 7403 | Research Methods: Climate, Disaster and Humanitarian Perspectives | 3 |
| BIOS 6611 | Biostatistical Methods I | 3 |
| BIOS 6612 | Biostatistical Methods II | 3 |
| Selective Courses (11 credits - at least 5 credits must be taken at the doctoral level) | 11 | |
| Directed Reading (2 credits) | ||
| EHOH 7030 | DrPH Directed Reading | 1-2 |
| DrPH Practicum (4 credits) | ||
| PUBH 6850 | DrPH Practicum | 2-4 |
| Dissertation (9 credits) | ||
| EHOH 8991 | DrPH Dissertation-Environmental & Occupational Health | 1-10 |
| Total Hours | 55 | |
Epidemiology
This program is designed to help you become a public health leader. In this program, you'll learn how to identify factors that affect the health of populations and how to create, implement, and evaluate disease control and prevention strategies. In addition to taking courses in advanced research methods you’ll also learn about leadership, management, and grant writing. Areas of specialization range from health data and information systems to chronic disease prevention. And our faculty are studying everything from food safety, to diabetes, to gene-environment interactions, which means you can find the mentor who’s right for you.
Upon entering the DrPH program, students will have three years to pass the written and oral comprehensive exams and should complete the dissertation and public defense of the dissertation within seven years of entering the program.
Each student, in consultation with their faculty advisor, will develop a proposed course of study. The course of study must specify courses to be taken, and proposed timeline for courses, practicum, preliminary and comprehensive exams, and dissertation.
Curriculum
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required DrPH Courses (13 credits) | ||
| PUBH 6842 | DrPH Seminar (1 credit hour semesters, first 4 semesters of tenure) | 4 |
| CBHS 7020 | DrPH Seminar in Leadership | 3 |
| EPID 7912 | Developing a Research Grant | 3 |
| HSMP 7603 | Advanced Public Health Strategic Planning and Management: Theory and Practice | 3 |
| EHOH 7405 | Advanced Communication Skills for Public Health Impact | 3 |
| Required Epidemiology Courses (12 credits) | ||
| EPID 7631 | Advanced Epidemiology 1 | 3 |
| EPID 7632 | Advanced Epidemiology 2 | 3 |
| EPID 7605 | Research Methods with Secondary Data Sources | 3 |
| BIOS 6611 | Biostatistical Methods I | 3 |
| BIOS 6612 | Biostatistical Methods II | 3 |
| Selective Courses (9 credits - at least 3 credits must be taken at the doctoral level) | 9 | |
| Directed Reading (2 credits) | ||
| EPID 7030 | DrPH Directed Reading | 1-2 |
| DrPH Practicum (4 credits) | ||
| PUBH 6850 | DrPH Practicum | 2-4 |
| Dissertation (9 credits) | ||
| EPID 8991 | DrPH Dissertation work in Epidemiology | 1-10 |
| Total Hours | 55 | |
Program Credit Areas
The DrPH program requires 55 total credit hours in the following areas:
Focus Area
12-15 credit hours must be taken in the CBH, EOH, or EPI focus areas. Please refer to CBH, EOH, or EPI Focus Area information following this description for specific requirements.
Selective Area Courses
Selective area courses are graduate level courses in the area of specialization determined by the student in consultation with their advisor. The student must satisfy 9-12 credit hours of coursework, depending on their focus area. For EPI students, at least 3 of these 9 selective credits must be from doctoral level courses. . For CBH and EOH students, at least 6 of the 12 selective credits must be from doctoral level courses. This coursework is intended to lead to expertise in the area in which the student will be examined in the comprehensive exams and in which the dissertation will be completed. These courses may be taken at the Colorado School of Public Health or at another relevant school or department with approval from the faculty advisor and/or the DrPH Director for the student’s focus area. The student’s dissertation committee will review the student’s background and may advise coursework in the chosen areas of study. If selective area courses are taken prior to forming a dissertation committee, the committee later may require additional coursework to fulfill the selective requirement.
Leadership
A doctoral-level course on leadership development must be taken at the Colorado School of Public Health or, with permission, at another affiliated school. The ColoradoSPH Doctoral Leadership Seminar (CBHS 7020) is offered every other summer semester and is intended to provide a foundation for emerging public health leaders that will include taking leadership from theory and principle to action and practice in contexts of the individual, team, organization and community. Central leadership topics addressed include: vision, values, collaborative action, coaching, emotional and social intelligence, decision making styles, conflict management and difficult conversations, teamwork, and leadership practices.
Management
A doctoral-level course on the principles of management must be taken at the Colorado School of Public Health or, with permission, at another affiliated school. HSMP 7603 Advanced Public Health Strategic Planning & Management is designed to provide advanced skills in management, budgeting, organizational communications and strategic planning relevant to public health leadership. HSMP 7603 is offered in Spring of even years.
Communications
A doctoral-level course on advanced principles and practice in public health communication must be taken at the Colorado School of Public Health, or, with permission, at another affiliated school. The course, Advanced Communication Skills for Public Health Impact (EHOH 7405) is designed to equip public health leaders with advanced skills in written and oral communication. EHOH 7405 is offered in Spring of odd years.
Proposal Writing
The overall goal of this 3-credit hour requirement is to develop skills in preparing high quality, successful, research or practice-based research grant applications. Students will become familiar with different granting mechanisms (e.g., NIH, CDC, foundations) and develop grant writing skills, including the ability to formulate research plans and budgets. This is a closely mentored and intensive activity that is intended to lead directly to the submission of a grant application. Students are advised to take EPID 7912 no sooner than Year 2.
DrPH Seminar
Four, 1-credit semesters of the DrPH Seminar (PUBH 6842) are required. Students will attend the seminar for the first 4 semesters of their tenure in the program. This sequence is intended to introduce DrPH students to the historical, conceptual, and value foundations of public health and facilitate their development of skills in social change consistent with the frameworks of the field. Readings and assignments will challenge the students to synthesize new concepts and examine complex practical issues encountered in the field. In the professional skills segment, students will engage in activities that facilitate practice of professional skills. Throughout, students will lead seminar discussions, receive feedback on written work, and be urged to prepare reflective documents to help them consider the progression in their thinking.
Practicum
All DrPH students must engage in a minimum of 240 hours of fieldwork (PUBH 6850 DrPH Practicum). This will usually be completed with an agency outside of the Colorado School of Public Health (e.g., local health department, state health department, community-based organization, etc.). The fieldwork experience should address, at a minimum, five DrPH competencies. The students are required to demonstrate DrPH foundational competency 5, one additional foundational competency from the Leadership, Management and Governance domain, and three additional competencies that can be foundational or focus area specific.
Students are advised to begin their practicum after they have completed the management and leadership course requirements and 24 credit hours of their program. Please refer to the Practicum and Capstone Essentials Canvas site for information, forms and resources.
Directed Reading
This course is intended to help prepare DrPH students for their comprehensive exams and dissertation. After taking this course, the student will be an expert in their specific area(s) of concentration, including understanding of the historical development of the specific area(s), current research findings in the specific area(s), and current practice in the areas. Readings will address current epidemiological understanding of the area, methodological aspects of the area, theoretical underpinnings of behavior and/or policy related to the area, and current practice.
For example, in the area of physical activity, upon completion of this activity, a student would be expected to have a thorough understanding of epidemiological evidence supporting or disputing a relationship between physical activity and disease etiology, natural history, and prognosis, physiological/psychological mechanisms for the relationship between physical activity and health/disease status, social, environmental and system level determinants, theoretical approaches used in understanding determinants of physical activity behavior, methods for assessing levels of physical activity, and current practices in developing programs and policies for increasing levels of physical activity.
Prior to enrolling in the course, and with guidance from the committee, the student will:
- Select at least two areas of focus that are in line with the student’s dissertation area of study.
- Compile an extensive reading list in these select areas. The reading list should include seminal readings, reviews, meta-analyses and key original pieces of work. These readings may be drawn from the peer-reviewed literature, government and non-governmental reports, practice guidelines and other sources as appropriate.
- Have the reading list reviewed and approved by the dissertation committee. Committee members may choose to add/delete various readings from the list.
Once the initial reading list is finalized, the student may enroll in the DrPH Directed Reading course and the student will be expected to complete an annotated bibliography of the full reading list within the designated time span (i.e., one or two semesters as described above). The final reading list should include approximately 75-100 readings. The written comprehensive exams will take place upon completion of the directed reading. More detailed guidelines and product template for the directed reading can be found here: https://coloradosph.cuanschutz.edu/resources/for-current-students/academic-forms
Dissertation
Students will complete 9 dissertation credits, during which time they prepare and defend their dissertation proposal, carry-out the work required of their dissertation, and complete and defend their dissertation.