Doctor of Philosophy in Health Sciences

Program Director

Ken Learman, PhD, PT

Director, PhD in Health Sciences

Professor, Physical Therapy

klearman@ysu.edu

Mission:

To prepare the next generation of academics who are excellent researchers, instructors, and are prepared to serve Northeast Ohio and beyond

Vision:

We aspire to become the premier choice for doctoral preparation of healthcare professionals seeking to transition from the clinic to the classroom or research lab by 2025.

Admissions requirements:

Adequacy of students 
The Ph.D. in Health Sciences is designed to accept students who possess a bachelor’s, master’s or a clinical doctorate degree. The bachelor’s and master’s degrees considered should be health related, but will consider students with a basic science degree (ex. biology) if there is an established interest in healthcare. Additionally, there has been a track established for the current entry-level DPT students at YSU to enter a dual DPT/Ph.D. track at the end of their first year in the DPT program. All applicants to the program will be evaluated against the following admission criteria:

•    Student with an interest in the Health Sciences and an interest in pursuing employment in academia, research, or clinical practice.
•    Minimum overall 3.0 GPA from a bachelor's or master's degree.
•    Exceptions will be considered on an individual basis for a GPA of 2.7-2.99. This will mandate a provisional admission.
•    Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores of 290 on parts 1 and 2, and 3.5 writing score are recommended.
•    If required by the field, a current license to practice.
•    3 letters of reference.
•    Personal essay of why you are pursuing this degree.
•   A TOEFL score of at least 550 on a paper-based test, the equivalent score on a similar test, or an undergraduate degree from a university in the US.

Admissions will be completed by considering the student’s individual research agenda as well as compatibility and availability of faculty to serve on dissertation committees.

Curriculum

Plan of Study

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By graduation from the Doctor of Philosophy in Health Sciences program, students will:

1. Formulate a research question based on an identified gap in the literature in their field of study.
2. Synthesize how elements of research design can be used to control studies.
3. Identify appropriate statistical testing or assessment techniques to analyze data based on the purpose of a research question.
4. Effectively relate the scientific evidence to specific patient/client cases in their fields. 
5. Outline and explain how psychosocial and mental & behavioral factors impact healthcare outcomes of various disease processes relate to their area of research. 
6. Create a research question and design a research study to answer a postulated question regarding the teaching andragogy in Health Sciences education. 
7. Synthesize current literature on economic, political, and social influences of current health care policy and their interdependency for future policy change.
8. Demonstrate effective verbal and written communication skills.