UNBC - Health Sciences PhD

Students must complete 6 credit hours of a mandatory interdisciplinary seminar series: HHSC 800-3 Graduate Seminar I and HHSC 801-3 Graduate Seminar II. The seminars cover core topics of Grant Writing and Project Management, Ethics and Human Subjects Research, and Methodologies Employed in Health Sciences Research as well as presentations on areas of concentration by faculty and senior students in the program.

Students must also complete a 12 credit hour thesis (HHSC 890-12 PhD Dissertation) to the satisfaction of their committee. In addition, they must also take a minimum of 6 credit hours in elective courses relevant to their area of concentration as determined by their supervisor. Students may be required, at the discretion of their supervisory committee, to take additional courses within their area of concentration.

Students must pass three separate checks on their academic progress towards a PhD: a qualifying exam, a defense of the thesis proposal, and a defense of the thesis. The qualifying exam is tailored to ensure a cross-disciplinary aptitude, and tests the student's grasp of the core interdisciplinary materials presented in the seminar series as well as core concepts of their area of concentration derived from elective course work. The thesis proposal defense is tailored to ensure students have a grasp of their area of concentration, and therefore examines the level of knowledge within the area of concentration. Upon successfully passing both the qualifying examination and the thesis proposal defense, students are granted candidate status, and embark upon the thesis work under the supervision of their faculty advisor. Following completion of the research, candidates must defend their thesis before an examination committee.

Summary

HHSC 800-3 Graduate Seminar I	3 Credit Hours
HHSC 801-3 Graduate Seminar II	3 Credit Hours
Elective Courses	6 Credit Hours
HHSC 890-12 PhD Dissertation	12 Credit Hours
Total Required	24 Credit Hours

Admission Requirements

Students are normally expected to hold a Master’s degree from an accredited post-secondary institution. Normally, applicants must hold a cumulative GPA of 3.33 (B+) from the Baccalaureate and Master’s degree, to be calculated over the last 30 credits of graded academic work.

In addition to a completed UNBC Graduate Application Form, applicants must provide official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions attended, a statement of intent indicating the student’s research interests, possible future career aspirations, and perceived fit within the Faculty mandate and research directions; three letters of reference; and a sample of written academic work. GRE scores are optional. Only students with high GPAs and innovative research interests are likely to be successful in their applications.

Application deadlines are found in this calendar under “Semester Dates” or on line at www.unbc.ca/calendar/graduate, and also under “Semester Dates.” The Health Sciences PhD Program accepts students for the September semester.

For additional information about graduate admissions or to download application materials, go to the Graduate Programs website at www.unbc.ca/graduateprograms.

Recommended Progression

First Year: Mandatory Interdisciplinary Seminar, Elective Graduate Courses, Qualifying Exam

During the first two semesters, students take a mandatory interdisciplinary seminar series: HHSC 800-3 and HHSC 801-3 Graduate Seminars. Based upon determinations made either prior to entry into to the program, or in the first semester, elective courses determined by the supervisor will be also taken.

Second Year: Area of Concentration, Defense of Thesis Proposal

If students are required to take additional courses to address deficiencies within their area of concentration, they may select courses from relevant course offerings within the UNBC programs, or from other accredited graduate programs in other post-secondary institutions. In addition, students normally conduct some exploratory research in their area of concentration. Students in their second and third years are expected to present on their area of concentration to the interdisciplinary seminar series as an exercise in communicating their research field to a more general audience.

At the end of their course work, PhD students normally take a qualifying exam consisting of written and oral components. The general part of the exam should demonstrate the student's ability to synthesize and extrapolate from the core interdisciplinary materials presented in the seminar program. The specialty part of the exam assesses the student's background knowledge and familiarity with the theory and methodology associated with his/her thesis topic. Students normally take the qualifying exam upon completion of the 12 credit hours of required core courses.

Once course work is complete, students work towards finalizing a thesis proposal, which should demonstrate academic rigour and be of publishable quality. Students are expected to present the thesis proposal before their committee, and to demonstrate their knowledge within their area of concentration. Normally, this defense is scheduled either at the end of the third semester or at the beginning of the fourth semester of study.

Third to Fifth Year: Thesis

Upon successful completion of course work, and the successful completion of the qualifying exam and the defense of the thesis proposal, the student is officially designated as a PhD candidate, and proceeds to full-time work on the thesis under the direct supervision of the advisor and any other designated committee members. Once the thesis proposal has been approved by the committee, any major changes made to the thesis proposal require further approval of the committee.

Under normal circumstances, students are expected to complete their research and the writing of the thesis within three years of becoming a doctoral candidate.