Ph.D. in Public Health Admissions Faculty Course Offerings Current Students Helpful Links

Ph.D. in Public Health with a Concentration in Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences

Overview

Internationally recognized faculty and research make the Ph.D. program in Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences an outstanding new program. Faculty specialize in the following areas:

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

The Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences (OEHS) concentration within the doctoral program in public health offers students comprehensive and specialized instruction in the theory and methods that emphasize the broad range of occupational and environmental exposures to physical and chemical agents, biological exposures, ergonomic exposures, accident/safety risks and psychosocial factors. Faculty in OEHS address interactions among these exposures, their roots in local companies and communities, social, political and economic conditions, and their influences on health, illness and injury.

Health needs in Connecticut require public health interventions that 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 health, increased incidence of disease, and disproportionate risk to individuals living in economically disadvantaged communities. Collectively, these external and individual factors place a growing burden on our public health infrastructure and present unique challenges to public health practitioners. The rapid evolution of workplace environmental risk factors require 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 individual risk factors, as well as disease prevention and management, will help to break the cycle of declining health and increasing costs, and redress major health disparities.

Some of the associated health risks are based in individual health behaviors and characteristics. Sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy diets, tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption, high-risk sexual behaviors, and substance abuse are among the nation's leading causes of morbidity and mortality, which imposes a significant burden on our health care system. Occupational and environmental public health research and interventions must address these issues. 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 evident 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 is planned jointly by the student and the student’s advisory committee based on the student's goals, academic and professional background, and Ph.D. program requirements. Students need to have completed graduate courses in all 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.

The degree requires a minimum of 45 credits, anchored by a required seminar series (4 credits). The 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 select additional elective courses to complete the plan of study for Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences (8 to 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 fulfill the final 15 credits.