Ph.D.

Overview

The Ph.D. in Health Education and Promotion emphasizes the interaction among the theoretical, empirical, and applied nature of health education. Although the program is designed for persons whose primary identity is that of a health educator, applicants are drawn from a variety of fields including health education, nursing, nutrition, the medical technologies, and social sciences.

The program is particularly appropriate for persons seeking employment in higher education and for persons seeking career advancement with in the broad scope of health education. Curricula are tailored to meet student needs while ensuring some common coursework across the program.

The Ph.D. program in Health Education reviews applicants for admission on a scheduled basis two times a year and accepts part-time as well as full-time students. Graduate Assistantship are available for qualified students. These positions receive a full tuition waiver for fall and spring semesters and monthly stipend.

Inquiry for Doctoral Program in Health Education please contact:

Laurie M. Wagner, M.Ed., Ph.D., CHES
Associate Professor
120 Nixson Hall
Health Education and Promotion Program
Health Sciences
Kent State University
Email: lyoo@kent.edu

Application and Admission Process

Although we do not have a separate departmental application form for application we do have our own process. All applicants will need to submit applications for admission to the university. View doctoral admission information by the university . As for our program, you will need your application, a letter of intent, three letters of recommendation, GRE scores, transcripts of all of your prior education, and, if none of your degrees are from universities in the United States, TOEFL scores.

Once your application is complete it will be forwarded to our program.  If you meet our requirements we will review your application and contact you for interviews with faculty which can be done in person, via SKYPE, or over the phone.

Please be advised, in addition to the course requirement for our doctoral program we do require students to have taken courses required for our master's students. Please check our MASTERS PREREQUISITE COURSES OR EQUIVALENTS for doctoral students to make sure you understand your course works once admitted. All course requirement can be seen below.

COURSES REQUIRED

(Course rotation and the Plan of Study form can be found at the end of this page.)

I. MASTERS PREREQUISITE COURSES OR EQUIVALENTS (27 Credit Hours)

• HED 64061 Foundations of HEDP (3 credits)
• HED 64050 Health Behavior (3 credits)
• HED 64063 Strategies in HEDP (3 credits)
• HED 64062 Administration of HEDP Programs (3 credits)
• HED 64030 Intro to Health Research and Data Analysis (3 credits)
• HED 64055 Needs Assessment/Program Planning (3 credits)
• HED 64080 Advocacy and Policy Issues in HEDP (3 credits)
• HED 64057 Evaluation of HEDP Programs (3 credits)
• HED 64059 Communication and Marketing in HEDP (3 credits)

II. DOCTORAL CORE REQUIREMENTS (24 Credit Hours)

• HED 81400 Research Dissemination and Professional Writing in HEDP (3 credits)
• HED 81150 Seminar in Professional Development (3 credits)
• HED 80292 Practicum in HEDP (3 credits) Both
• HED 81450 Advanced Program Evaluation in HEDP (3 credits)
• HED 81550 Appl. Theory in HED Research and Practice (3 credits) Spring
• HED 81100 Residency Seminar: Synthesis of Literature In HEDP (3 credits)
• HED 81300 Health Education Practice (3 credits)
• HED 81200 Residency Seminar: Research Proposal Development & Presentation (3 credits)

III. Students must take all Basic Research courses and one of the Advanced Research courses.

Basic Research

• EVAL 75510 Statistics I for Educational Services (3 credits)
• EVAL 85515 Quantitative Research Designs and Application For Educational Services (3 credits)
• EVAL 85516 Qualitative Research Designs and Application For Educational Services (3 credits)

Advanced Research

• EVAL 85517 Advanced Quantitative Research for Educational Services (3 credits), OR
• EVAL 85518 Advanced Qualitative Research for Educational Services (3 credits)IV.

IV. Students must take 6 Credits in SPECIALIZATION courses:

Six additional credits to be taken in an area of specialization such as School Health; Sexuality; Substance Abuse Prevention; or other specializations developed with Advisory Phase Committee.

V. RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT

Residency I & II must be taken during the last year of coursework during which time students must be registered for 18 credit hours taken across 2-3 consecutive semesters.

VI. DISSERTATION

• HED 81099 Dissertation I 30 credits
• HED 80299 Dissertation II Variable credits.

In summary, course requirements for the doctoral degree in Health Education and Promotion are listed as follows:

• Master level course requirement (prerequisite): 30 credits
• Doctoral Course Requirements in Research 12 credits
• Doctoral Course Requirements in Core Courses 24 credits
• Doctoral Specialization Courses 6 credits
• Dissertation 30 credits

Please check the Ph.D. Handbook for detailed guidelines. 

THE PLAN OF STUDY AND COURSE ROTATION
The image below shows most likely course rotation scenario for next few years:

Plan of Study and Course Rotation