Sociomedical Sciences

Master's Essay

DrPH students who did not complete a thesis for their MPH degree must submit a Master’s Essay. The essay may develop from a term paper for a course, from a research project, or as a separate project.

Dissertation

After completing all course work and comprehensive exams, the student selects a sponsor and formally begins work on the dissertation proposal. Students are normally expected to submit a proposal within six months following completion of the other program requirements.

The Proposal and Dissertation Defense Committee shall be composed of five members: Sponsor, who is an approved DrPH sponsor, is the person who guides you through the dissertation; Chair, who is a tenured or senior faculty with a primary appointment in SMS; and three other members, one of which should be an outsider from other Columbia Departments and/or schools or universities.

All students must submit an application to the Health Sciences Institutional Review Board (IRB) and obtain their approval for any research involving human participants. Once the student has obtained approval of the proposal and IRB approval, the student may begin dissertation research.

When the student and dissertation sponsor feel that the dissertation has been completed in a satisfactory manner, the sponsor shall inform the Deputy Chair of the Doctoral Program and the Academic Program Coordinator and request that a time and date for the defense be scheduled. The student must circulate the full dissertation to the Dissertation Defense Committee at least one month prior to defense date.