HEALTH BEHAVIOR, PHD
Health Behavior
Doctor of Philosophy in Health Behavior
The PhD in Health Behavior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham offers an enriching and engaging doctoral curriculum in health behavior combined with world-class research opportunities across Alabama, the United States, and globally. Students are trained to become health behavior scientists in academia, government, industry, or other organizations. Students are equipped to use theories and methods from the social and behavioral sciences to increase our understanding of the determinants of human health behaviors and translate that knowledge into programs, interventions, and policies that encourage healthy behaviors and improve the public’s health. Our doctoral students learn state-of-the-art techniques and methods for research and program evaluation that can be applied to a variety of employment opportunities located locally, nationally, and globally in many different sectors.
Curriculum
The PhD program requires completion of a minimum of 72 hours of graduate credit, satisfactory performance on the qualifying exam, and completion of a doctoral dissertation. All PhD students must meet the graduation requirements of their department and the UAB Graduate School.
All students in an MSPH, MS, DrPH, or PhD program are required to complete PUH 600: Overview of Public Health. The course must be completed in a single semester (Fall or Spring); students must complete the course by the end of their second semester in the program. Students with prior public health education (BS in Public Health or MPH) or extensive public health experience (5+ years in public health practice) may be waived from this requirement by permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, but this is rare.
| Requirements | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Departmental Requirements: (27 hours) | ||
| HB 703 | Writing for the Behavioral Sciences | 3 |
| HB 712 | Examining Health Inequities in Social and Behavioral Sciences | 3 |
| HB 724 | Advanced Social and Behavioral Science Theory | 3 |
| HB 736 | Advanced Research Intervention Design | 3 |
| HB 737 | Advanced Intervention Implementation and Evaluation | 3 |
| HB 741 | Advanced Research Methods in the Behavioral Sciences | 3 |
| HB 771 | Seminar in Health Education/Health Promotion Session I | 1 |
| HB 772 | Seminar in Health Education/Health Promotion Session II | 1 |
| HB 773 | Seminar in Health Education/Health Promotion Session III | 1 |
| GRD 717 | Principles of Scientific Integrity | 3 |
| PUH 703 | Public Health Grant Writing | 3 |
| Advanced Research & Stats Methods Courses: (12 hours) | ||
| EPI 610 | Principles of Epidemiologic Research | 3 |
| BST 611 | Intermediate Statistical Analysis I | 3 |
| BST 612 | Intermediate Statistical Analysis II | 3 |
| A Qualitative or Mixed Methods Research Course | 3 | |
| Health Behavior Electives: (minimum 9 hours) | 9 | |
| Health Behavior Directed Research: (minimum 12) | ||
| HB 798 | Doctoral-Level Directed Res | 1-9 |
| Health Behavior Dissertation Research: (minimum 12 hours) | ||
| HB 799 | Doctoral Dissertation Research | 1-9 |
| Minimum Credit Hours Earned | 72 | |
