The intent of the doctoral program in Health Studies and Gerontology is to provide students with an interdisciplinary focus, specialized training and advanced research skills.The PhD will enable students to add depth and specialization to their work through the research apprenticeship model.
Students applying to the PhD are required to complete a Master's degree with content related to health or gerontology. Following are admission requirements:
- an MSc degree, (or its equivalent) in areas comparable to the background qualifications for the MSc described above with a minimum B average in master's level coursework completion of Master's thesis
- proof of competency in English (if applicable) including TOEFL score of 550 (213 is the computerised version) and TWE of 4.0 for students taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (See Graduate Studies Calendar, Academic Regulations, English Language Proficiency Certification for other acceptable tests of English.)
- each applicant must submit a letter indicating reasons for pursuing graduate studies, a written statement outlining his or her research interests,
- three letters of reference from academic sources and a curriculum vitae/resume.
In addition, students must submit a copy of previous academic work, such as copies of preprints, reprints, or master's thesis, or other evidence of written scholarly work.
Deadline for applicants for the Doctoral program is February 1st.
To obtain the PhD degree, students must complete coursework, comprehensives, and a dissertation. Ten one-term graduate courses beyond the Bachelor's degree, with at least four beyond the Master's degree, is the normal minimum requirement. At least one course of the required four course minimum must be beyond the 600 level. HSG 601 and HSG 605 are required. Students must take an additional department approved methods course after completing HSG 605. Students must complete at least three courses within a given stream as described above for the MSc.
A minimum of two full-time terms registration is required of part-time PhD students who have taken graduate degrees at other universities. (See Graduate Studies Calendar, Academic Regulations, Regular Part-time Graduate Students)
The PhD comprehensive examination will be based on two papers, each having relevance to a topic in health studies and gerontology and approved by the graduate studies committee. Each paper will be defended in an oral examination. To graduate from any stream, the requirement is for at least one comprehensive paper to have direct relevance to the orientation of that stream.
A PhD thesis on an approved topic is required, which is to be defended in an oral examination. The research is to be conducted under the supervision of the student's supervisor and the advisory committee. The PhD thesis advisory committee consists of at least three members, with the supervisor and at least one other committee member being faculty from within the department of Health Studies and Gerontology. The proposal will be defended before the thesis committee; however, upon completion of the thesis, the final document will be defended before a five person Examination Board. To graduate from any stream, the requirement is for the thesis topic to be consistent with the orientation of that stream. (See Graduate Studies Calendar, Academic Regulations, Minimum Requirements for the PhD Degree)