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    Mar 28, 2024  
2022-2023 Graduate Catalog 
    
2022-2023 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Health Sciences, PhD


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Dr. Denise Catalano, PhD, CRC – Director, Doctoral Program

This program provides a broad interdisciplinary foundation in research and evaluation methods, and health and social policy analysis to meet the demands of a dynamic health delivery environment for individuals with health-related concerns, chronic health conditions and disabilities, across the lifespan. The inter-professional education focus is on developing academic research scientists who are interested in contributing to the complex health needs through research, education and policy analysis. Graduates of the PhD program in health sciences will be prepared to function as educators, researchers and leaders in clinical and non-clinical academic and research environments. 

Admission requirements


Admission to PhD Program

Before being admitted to the PhD program in health sciences, the applicant must meet the requirements for admission to the Toulouse Graduate School specified in the Admission  section of the graduate catalog. Applying to the program is a two-part process. First, prospective applicants for the Health Sciences PhD program must obtain and file an application for admission to the UNT Toulouse Graduate School. Second, applicants must obtain and file a separate application, available from the Rehabilitation and Health Services department web site, for admission to the health sciences program. No specific undergraduate or graduate major is required. However, applicants for the PhD program in health sciences should have completed 30 hours of graduate course work beyond the undergraduate degree or attained a master’s degree or equivalent professional degree.

GRE Score

An official and competitive GRE score, no more than five years old by date of application, is required from all applicants.

English Proficiency (TOEFL) Score

All international applicants are expected to complete the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), an official English proficiency exam. The TOEFL should be no more than two years old from the date of application. Further, applicants are expected to have a minimum of 79 IBT. The UNT institutional TOEFL code is 6481.

There are only two waivers of this requirement for international applicants.

First, international applicants are waived from submitting the English proficiency score if international applicants have completed an undergraduate or graduate degree from a college or university in the United States.

Second, international applicants are waived if they reside in a country whose official governmental language is English AND whose education has been entirely in English. Prospective applicants should review an updated list of countries whose citizens meet the waiver criteria for English proficiency.

Statement of Vision, Goals, Rationale and Achievements

All applicants to the PhD program in health sciences are expected to prepare a written essay describing their reasons for applying to the program. Applicants should address previous academic and professional experience, research interests and experience, future vocational goals, and any information about your background, interests, and training you believe is relevant to your success in this program.

Writing sample

In addition to the written essay, all applicants are required to provide a writing sample of scholarly work—examples include a research paper, article or other examples of academic and scholarship ability.

Transcripts

Local applicants must submit official transcripts from all U.S.-based colleges and universities attended, including any graduate program in which the applicant was enrolled for admission. These transcripts must be certified, signed or stamped as official by the university’s Registrar’s Office.

International applicants and U.S. citizen and permanent resident applicants with an international degree must submit an official attested photocopy of academic documents such as a transcript, diploma, mark sheets, provisional degree certificate and/or your final degree certificate, in a school sealed envelope with the school seal stamped on the back side of the envelope.

The applicant’s GPA from his/her last 60 semester credit hours or last 90 quarter credit hours will be used as a part of the admission committee’s review for competitiveness for admission.

Resumé

All applicants are expected to provide a detailed resumé of all employment and volunteer history. This resumé may be submitted with the online department application, or you can submit a hard copy by mail or e-mail. Work experience is not required for admission to the PhD program; however, prior work and volunteer experience is considered highly beneficial.

Letters of Recommendation

Three professional letters of recommendation (two from former professors and one from current or past employers or community leaders) are required for admission to the PhD program in health sciences. Letters of recommendation may be submitted with the online department application, or applicants can submit a hard copy by mail, e-mail or fax.

Personal Interview

All applications will be reviewed by the program’s Admissions Committee to guarantee the selection of the most qualified applicants based upon a holistic review of the items listed above. Multiple factors are considered by the Admissions Committee when evaluating applicants. The factors that are considered most important include an applicant’s research experience and interests, the applicant’s motivation for research and the applicant’s likelihood of success in the program. After the initial screening, an interview with prospective candidates will be conducted with selected faculty members, either in person or via video conferencing.

General degree requirements


The health sciences PhD program is a 51-credit hour program.

Specific requirements include:

  • 18 semester hours in foundation core courses covering health disparities across populations and various research designs and statistical analyses relevant in the field of health sciences
  • 15 designated semester hours in the student’s chosen concentration
  • 9 semester hours of approved electives
  • A minimum of 9 semester hours of dissertation

Health sciences foundation core, 18 hours


Concentration area, 15 hours


Applied aging and rehabilitation science


This concentration area is designed for the health science practitioner who is interested in making contributions to the discipline through research, while maintaining their focus on active engagement with vulnerable populations, such as older individuals and those with chronic illness or disability. In the current health care environment, the emphasis is on increasing quality, decreasing the cost of service delivery and on achieving positive, measurable outcomes that improve the health of vulnerable populations and that make services accessible and affordable. The program relies on a science-practitioner model to develop researchers, educators and leaders who will make a positive impact on the health care environment.

Audiology and speech-language pathology


This concentration area is designed to prepare competent researchers with advanced knowledge and technical expertise necessary for improving the quality of life for people with speech, language and hearing disabilities. The listed ASLP concentration courses will be offered based on enrollment and faculty availability. If the courses are not available, students in the ASLP concentration may take existing doctoral level courses available in the ASLP department with advisor and committee approval. For students with an AuD degree or who are completing AuD and PhD degrees simultaneously, up to 15 credit hours of AuD course work may be used to satisfy the PhD concentration course requirements. Permission to pursue dual AuD/PhD degrees must be obtained from the Chair of Rehabilitation and Health Services.

Behavior analysis


This concentration trains the next generation of behavioral scientists and scientist-practitioners to work across disciplinary boundaries to expand scientific understanding and capability and to solve socially relevant problems. Within the behavior analysis concentration, students can focus on a variety of research and application areas such as populations with learning differences (autism, intellectual disabilities), social justice, teaching sciences, animal behavior, behavioral neuroscience, and behavioral health and contingency management. The program relies on a junior-colleague model to develop world-class researchers, educators, and leaders inside and outside the academy.

Physician Assistant professional studies


The Physician Assistant (PA) professional studies concentration is designed to develop physician assistant researchers to advance health care policy and practice. The program is designed with the practicing clinician in mind and allows flexibility while continuing PA practice. This concentration is offered through an inter-institutional agreement with the UNT Health Science Center (UNTHSC). UNTHSC faculty will facilitate the concentration courses. The concentration is designed to advance physician assistant practice within the healthcare delivery system and related research. 

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