Ph.D. in Public Health
with a concentration in Occupational and Enviromental Health Sciences

Overview

The University of Connecticut has internationally recognized faculty and research programs in Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences in place to provide doctoral training. Faculty resources are strong in the areas of:

• ergonomics,
• occupational reproductive risks,
• occupational health psychology,
• indoor air quality,
• agricultural exposures,
• toxicology, and
• participatory intervention strategies.

The evolution of health needs in Connecticut requires public health interventions with a focus on the Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences. Exposure to a variety of agents and conditions in the home, workplace and outdoor environment contribute to compromised ill-health, an increased incidence of disease, and a disproportionate risk to individuals living in economically disadvantaged communities. Collectively, these external and personal factors place a growing burden on our public health infrastructure and present unique challenges to public health practitioners. The rapid evolution of workplace characteristics and new environmental risk factors requires an equally rapid and continuous evolution of public health expertise. A public health approach focusing on early recognition and control of these occupational, environmental and personal risk factors as well as disease prevention and management will help break the cycle of declining health and increasing costs, and will address major disparities in health among populations.

Some of the associated health risks are based in personal characteristics and health behaviors. Sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy diets, tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption, risky sexual practices and substance abuse are now among the nation's leading causes of morbidity and mortality, imposing a significant burden on our healthcare system. Occupational and environmental public health research and interventions must address these personal factors. Qualified public health workers with in-depth training in occupational and environmental exposure analysis, risk assessment and intervention strategies are in short supply in Connecticut. These shortages adversely affect the capacity of our public health workforce to respond to existing as well as emerging problems. The need for workforce development is reflected both in personnel shortages and in the small proportion of the overall workforce with doctoral training in public health. To address this gap, there is an immediate need to train additional public health professionals who will fill senior level positions, including those skilled in specialized areas of occupational and environmental health sciences.

Curriculum

Each student’s academic program will be planned jointly by the student and the student’s advisory committee based on academic and professional background and school requirements.  Students are required to have completed graduate courses in the five core areas of public health (Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Occupational/Environmental Health, Behavioral Sciences, and Health Services Administration).  Accepted students who are deficient in one or two areas must take the necessary course(s) either before admission or upon matriculation in the doctoral program. 

Students will be required to complete a minimum of 45 credits, anchored by a required seminar series (4 credits). There will be a core program that includes:

• 9 credits in discipline-specific theory, composed of three courses: a combined occupational/environmental exposure course, a toxicology/health effects course, and a course in environmental and occupational policy and regulation.  These courses are designed to provide intensive and integrated understanding of measuring occupational and environmental risk factors, assessing body burden and disease risk, and using/formulating control strategies at the job-, home-, environment- and systems-levels.
  
  
• 9 credits in research methods to provide students with the competency in advanced research methods, including hypothesis formulation, research design, quantitative and qualitative methods, data analysis and computer applications.

Students will select additional elective courses to complete the plan of study for Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences (8 -12 credits).  After completion of didactic course work, each student must pass a general examination, write and defend an externally reviewed dissertation proposal, complete the approved research project, then write and defend a doctoral dissertation. These activities will fulfill the final 15 credits of program requirements.