Public Health Certificate Program (PHCP)

Objective:  To provide supplemental training to highly motivated, well qualified doctoral candidates who are interested in public health.  This program will prepare students for careers in academic, industrial, and government institutions by providing training in population based approaches and applications for those with expertise in molecular, cellular, and biochemical sciences. Students will take four courses in public health in addition to their regular doctoral coursework and will participate in either a short-term (6 week) public health research project or independent study with a member of the MPH faculty for elective credit.  It is anticipated that research questions related to the student’s PhD research project will be investigated during this independent study.

The program would be available to students in any BGS graduate group, but it is expected that students in Immunology and in Cell and Molecular Biology’s tracks in Cell Growth and Cancer, Gene Therapy and Vaccines, and Microbiology, Virology, and Parasitology would be particularly interested.  

Application:  Applicants will apply to the PHCP at the time they apply to BGS.  Their personal statement should reflect their interest in public health in addition to the doctoral discipline.   A special admissions committee will consider applicants to PHCP and will participate in the interview process. Only students accepted to a BGS doctoral program will be considered for admission to the PHCP.  Alternatively, students in the first year of training may be considered for the program if they demonstrate strong motivation and ability ; interested students should submit a paragraph describing their interest in this training program to the BGS office by January 1. 

Whereas admission to the doctoral programs is made on a rolling basis starting in late January, admissions decisions for the PHCP program will not be made until March.

Training:  In addition to their doctoral coursework, PHCP students will take the following two required courses:

• Introduction to Public Health (PubH500) Fall (4:30-7:30 Mon)
• Intro. to Principles and Methods of Epidemiology (PubH502) Spr (1-4 Mon)

They will also take two elective courses among the following:

• Social and Behavioral Sciences in Public Health (PubH504) Fall (3:30-6 Thu)
• Introduction to Biostatistics (PubH501) Fall (1:45-3:15 Tue & Thur) 
• Public Health Policy and Health Administration (PubH505) Fall (5-7:30 Wed)
• Environmental and Occupational Health (PubH 503) Spr (4:30-7 Tue)
• Public Health Law, Ethics, and Policy (PubH507) Fall (6-7:30 Tue)
• Alternative elective with the advice of faculty in the program (http://www.publichealth.med.upenn.edu/course_listing.shtml)

Students will register for PubH599-independent study.  They will work with an MPH faculty member to structure a short term public health research project or independent study that focuses on a question related to their PhD thesis.  The research project/ independent study advisor will serve on the student’s thesis committee.

It is expected that the student will complete most of the coursework during the first and second years of graduate school.  In some cases, this may result in a student taking four courses plus a lab rotation in one or more semesters.  Students in the program may take one PubH course per semester in years three and four if necessary. Students in the PHCP should expect to graduate on time.

A sample timetable is as follows: