Public Health—Health Behavior

Office: Moores UCSD Cancer Center, Room 3063
Mail Code: 0901
UCSD—http://www.medicine.ucsd.edu/fpm/jdp
SDSU—http://publichealth.sdsu.edu

The Joint Doctoral Program (JDP)

A Ph.D. in public health with a concentration in health behavior is offered by the joint faculties of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in the School of Medicine at UCSD and the Division of Health Promotion, Graduate School of Public Health at San Diego State University (SDSU). Students in the program complete course work and conduct research at both institutions. Faculty from each campus serve on advisory and dissertation committees, providing students with extensive exposure to experts whose research interests represent the interdisciplinary nature of modern public health. Dr. John P. Pierce (UCSD) and Dr. John Elder (SDSU) codirect the program.

Emphasis is on producing graduates with a mastery in the central concepts and analytic processes of health behavior. Graduates of the program are expected to establish advanced skills in applied behavioral analysis for population application; to establish expertise in advanced qualitative and quantitative research methods; to establish advanced skills in the application of interventions and research methods to health behavior in disenfranchised populations; and to establish skills necessary to understand and change health policy. Graduates of the program are competitive for a variety of research, teaching, and community service positions in areas such as academic institutions, local and state health departments, federal and international agencies, and both private and public-sponsored research institutions.

Requirements for the joint doctoral degree include:

1. successful completion of required course work
2. passing written preliminary examinations in behavioral science, epidemiology and biostatistics
3. passing written and oral qualifying examinations
4. demonstrating proficiency in teaching
5. completion and successful formal defense of a dissertation

Areas of specialization currently include physical activity, tobacco control, skin cancer prevention, nutrition and obesity, and HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis prevention and control. An additional emphasis will be placed on methodologies, such as measurement and related research issues; and ecological approaches to understanding health behavior. San Diego is ideally located in a large and ethnically diverse metropolitan center bordering Mexico and the Pacific Rim, enabling students to carry out community-based multicultural and multinational studies of health problems.

Time Limits

The goal of this policy is to encourage Ph.D. completion in a timely manner.

Pre-candidacy limit. Maximum registered time to advance to Ph.D. candidacy: 4 years
Support limit. Maximum registered time doctoral student is eligible for support: 6 years
Total time limit. Maximum registered time to complete all Ph.D. requirements: 7 years

Information regarding admission is found in the current edition of the Bulletin of the Graduate Division of San Diego State University. To receive an application for admission, contact SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego 92182-4162, (619) 594-2743.

For more information, please contact UCSD Graduate Coordinator, 3855 Health Sciences Drive, Room 3063, La Jolla, CA 92093-0901, (858) 822-2382.