Academics Curriculum

The four-year, multidisciplinary curriculum for our Rural Health Sciences PhD program requires 64 credit hours to complete, including 40 hours of traditional didactics/seminar, six hours of dissertation workshops and at least 18 hours of dissertation. The curriculum draws from the fields of medicine, psychology, sociology, epidemiology, statistics, communication, management, economics and political science.

Program Competencies

Upon completing the PhD in Rural Health Sciences, students will be prepared to make an impact across key areas of rural health:

  • Rural Culture and Systems: Incorporate knowledge of rural culture, demography, sociology, health care systems and health equity into rural health efforts
  • Community Collaboration: Engage rural communities in collaborative efforts to improve health and well being at the individual, family, organizational, policy and systems levels
  • Health Communication and Health Literacy: Communicate health information effectively with a wide range of stakeholders at varying levels of health literacy
  • Program Development: Utilize systems thinking to assess the needs and assets of a rural community, develop a corresponding plan of action, secure funding for the plan and implement the plan
  • Research: Design, conduct and analyze rigorous, multidisciplinary research designed to improve the health of rural communities
  • Organizational Planning and Program Management: Manage organizations and programs focused on improving the health status of rural communities
  • Knowledge Translation: Translate rural health research into actionable strategies for non-academic stakeholders

Curriculum