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 academics who are excellent researchers and educational facilitators who will serve their communities.

Vision:

We will be the ideal choice for healthcare professionals seeking research doctorate preparation. 

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) will be required for applicants who currently have a bachelor's degree. Scores of 290 on parts 1 and 2, and 3.5 writing score are recommended.

All applicants applying with a current graduate degree will not be required to take the GRE but will be required to provide 2 examples of academic writing. 
•    If required by the field, a current license to practice.
•    3 letters of reference.
•    Personal essay of why you are pursuing this degree and what area of research you intend to pursue.
•   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.

Candidates that enroll with a bachelor’s degree will complete all core courses and an additional 28 s.h. as approved by the Program Director. These courses can be an individualized plan using existing master’s courses in the College of Health and Human Services, the Gerontology program, other master’s courses, or Concentration Course Electives in the Ph.D. program.

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.