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PhD in Epidemiology Requirements & Courses

In addition to the required MS coursework, the PhD student must complete at least 51 credit hours distributed between core required coursework, elective coursework or faculty-guided learning experiences (e.g. independent study), and dissertation research.

51 credits beyond the Master’s degree are required

  • 13 credits core courses required
  • 15 credits electives
  • 24 dissertation credits

Additional Requirements

Non-credit Requirements

  • Year-long non-credit workshops run by the Graduate School "Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) series".  
  • Doctoral students are required to participate in a monthly Ph.D. Journal Club over the course of four (4) semesters.
  • Students are also expected to attend the department’s Epidemiology and Biostatistics Seminar Series each semester.
  • After earning an MS or MPH in Epi, students have up to 8 years to complete all requirements and successfully defend their doctoral dissertation.

Students must complete 51 credits for the degree with no more than 6 credits at the 400-level.   

1. All of the following courses required (7 credits):
EPI 805 Readings in the Historical Roots of Epidemiological Thought 3
EPI 828 Seminar in Responsible Conduct of Research 1
EPI 910 Themes in Contemporary Epidemiology 3
2. Two of the following courses required (6 credits):
EPI 855 Biostatistical Modeling in Genomic Data Analysis 3
EPI 920 Advanced Methods in Epidemiology and Applied Statistics 3
EPI 950 Advanced Biostatistical Methods in Epidemiology 3
EPI 952 Duration and Severity Analysis 3
EPI 953 Analytical Strategies for Observational Studies 3
3. Complete a minimum of 15 required credits of elective course work from the following list of approved courses. Additional courses may be chosen with advisor approval.
EPI 815 Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease 3
EPI 816 Perinatal Epidemiology 3
EPI 823 Cancer Epidemiology 3
EPI 835 Neuroepidemiology 3
EPI 990 Independent Study in Epidemiology and Biostatistics 1 to 3
EPI 910 Themes in Contemporary Epidemiology 3
EPI 920 Advanced Methods in Epidemiology and Applied Statistics 3
EPI 950 Advanced Biostatistical Methods in Epidemiology 3
EPI 952 Duration and Severity Analysis 3
EPI 953 Analytical Strategies for Observational Studies 3
EPI 977 Social Epidemiology 3
EPI 979 Advanced Topics of Infectious Disease Epidemiology 3

 

A graduate student is considered ‘full time’ with 9 credits.

For students enrolled as full time students in the MS or PhD, the recommended course registrations for Fall Semester are the following:

Recommended for Fall Semester:

  • Epi 810 Introductory Epidemiology
  • EPI 817 Epidemiology of Communicable Diseases
  • EPI 808 Biostatistics I
  • EPI 851 SAS Programming I: Essentials

 

Yearlong non-credit workshops run by the Graduate School "Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) series".  For more information and registration see: http://grad.msu.edu/rcr/

 

Recommended for Spring Semester:

  • EPI 829 Design of Epidemiological Studies and Clinical Trials
  • EPI 809 Biostatistics II
  • EPI 852 SAS Programming II: Data Management and Analysis
  • EPI requirement or elective

 

Search for ALL courses offered by the department by major, degree, and semester offered.

Epidemiology