The Collaborative Ph.D. Program in Work and Health provides students registered in any Department in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences with an interdisciplinary platform upon which to develop a broad understanding of issues related to work and health. The program affords the opportunity to cross departmental boundaries to access courses and resources, including dissertation committee members who can provide cross disciplinary perspectives on research questions related to work and health.
The program prepares doctoral students for careers in academic settings or in other related non university settings, including Government Ministries of Labour or Health, policy analysis and workplace health and safety associations.
Admission Requirements
Interested students should first make application to the AHS Department (Health Studies & Gerontology, Kinesiology, or Recreation & Leisure Studies) of their choice via the regular on line application form. Minimal requirement for admission to the collaborative PhD program in Work and Health is normally a Master’s degree in a field that is relevant to the area of work and health (normally kinesiology, recreation and leisure studies or health studies and gerontology, but other degrees in life, behavioural and social sciences could be suitable as well). Applications of students who indicate an interest in the Work and Health program and who have been deemed admissible by the relevant home department will be circulated to an executive committee composed of one member from each of the three home departments.
Degree Requirements
Students must fulfill the minimum requirements of their home department (including period of enrolment, continuous enrolment, comprehensive examination, dissertation submission and defense, etc.). See the Graduate Studies Calendar for further information:
Health Studies and Gerontology
Kinesiology
Recreation and Leisure Studies
The PhD program may be completed either on a full-time or part-time basis, but must be completed within the following time periods from completion of the MA degree unless an extension has been granted (See Graduate Studies Calendar, Academic Regulations, Time Limits):
- Full-time - 12 terms
- Part-time - 18 terms
Course Requirements
Students must obtain credit for each of the courses listed below. They will normally complete a minimum of four half (0.50 credit) courses, consisting of two core/fundamentals course, a graduate level statistics/research methods course, and an electives which will be related to work and health. In addition, students will participate in the doctoral research seminar in work and health.
- Foundational Knowledge on Work and Health
- Approaches to Research in Work and health
- A Graduate Level Course in Research Methods or Statistics
- One elective course (see list of electives below)
- Work and Health Seminar (graded on credit basis)
Elective Courses
- REC 601 Theoretical and Methodological Issues in Leisure Research
- REC 603 Leisure and Social Policy
- REC 605 Social and Psychological Analysis of Leisure
- REC 608 Gender, Leisure & the Use of Time
- REC 610 Administrative Practice in Recreational Service
- REC 672 The Analysis and Interpretation of Leisure Research Data REC 673 Qualitative Research Data Analysis and Interpretation
- REC 792 Advanced Research Methods (PhD only)
- REC 798 Advanced Topics in Leisure Studies (PhD only)
- KIN 601 Muscle Physiology in Work
- KIN 602 Respiratory and Cardiovascular Physiology in Work
- KIN 616 Neural Control of Human Movement
- KIN 620 Ergonomic Aspects of Occupational Musculoskeletal Injuries
- KIN 631A Introduction to Statistics
- KIN 631C Correlation and Regression
- KIN 631 E Analysis of Variance I
- KIN 631F Analysis of Variance II
- KIN 631G Biological Deterministic Modeling and Signal Processing
- KIN 651 Motor Learning
- KIN 656 Neurobehavioural Analyses of Perceptual and Motor Deficits
- KIN 727 Low Back Disorders: Optimizing Prevention, Rehabilitation and Performance
- HSG 601 Lifespan Approaches to Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
- HSG 604 Evaluation of Health and Human Services Programs
- HSG 605A Introduction to Statistics
- HSG 605C Correlation and Regression
- HSG 605E E Analysis of Variance I
- HSG 605F Analysis of Variance II
- HSG 606 Epidemiological Methods
- PHS 604 Public Health and the Environment (On-line course format)
Student Evaluation
A review of each student's progress takes place during the month of May each year. Students are evaluated on several criteria, including performance in courses, progress with regard to the comprehensive examination and thesis work and, where appropriate, reports submitted by the students regarding their research and teaching assistantship activity. A grade average of at least 75% must be maintained.
Comprehensive Examinations
Students will complete the comprehensive examinations as required by their home department. At least one of the comprehensive examination committee members will be appointed from a department other than the home department but within the collaborative program in Work and Health. The comprehensive examinations will normally occur on completion of the students course work and will begin during the fourth term of their program.
Dissertation
The PhD dissertation will be on a topic in an area relevant to work and health.