Doctor of Philosophy

Upon completion of the required coursework listed above, students may take additional courses as needed to satisfy the university's minimum degree requirement of 135 credits.

Epidemiology PhD students must pass the Preliminary Written Exams and the Oral Qualifying Exam before being admitted to candidacy. Please see Admission to Candidacy opens in a new tab for information and form.

Preliminary Written Exams

Doctoral students in Epidemiology and Clinical Research must complete and pass the Preliminary Written Exam given around the end of winter term of their second year of full-time enrollment in the program. This exam marks the transition from full-time coursework to the research phase for PhD students and assesses readiness for this transition. The goal is to ensure that students are set up for success as they begin working on their dissertation proposals and research in earnest. This evaluation is designed to examine students’ ability to apply fundamental epidemiologic and biostatistical principles and methods based on knowledge from the core courses listed below.  

EPI 225: Introduction to Epidemiologic and Clinical Research Methods

EPI 226: Intermediate Epidemiologic and Clinical Research Methods

EPI 227: Advanced Epidemiologic Methods

EPI 264: Foundations of Statistical and Scientific Inference (STATS 264)

EPI 259: Introduction to Probability and Statistics for Epidemiology

EPI 261: Intermediate Biostatistics: Analysis of Discrete Data (BIOMEDIN 233, STATS 261)

EPI 262: Intermediate Biostatistics: Regression, Prediction, Survival Analysis

Each year, the exam will be written by a subcommittee composed of the Epidemiology Program core faculty. Clarifying questions should be directed at the PhD director. Details of the exam, including the timing and process for any given year (e.g., exam dates, faculty contact), will be in a separate document produced each year. Every member of the faculty subcommittee will independently evaluate each exam and be blind to student identity during grading. The subcommittee will then convene and discuss student responses (still blinded) and come to a consensus on the overall outcome for each student.

Students are encouraged to study together and review core course materials, which are the foundation of the exams. The exam will take place over two consecutive days. [JS1] 

Day one: A closed-book written exam will test core epidemiologic concepts in short-form including multiple choice, brief calculations, and short answer response questions. This part of the exam assesses critical foundational knowledge that epidemiologists are expected to have mastered. This exam will last a total of three hours.

Day two: Students will be given a paper to read and a series of epidemiology questions based on that paper. This will require in-depth thinking and may include content such as short essay questions, calculations, study design, and/or a mock peer review of a journal article. Students will have from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to complete the exam.

Oral Qualifying Exam

Epidemiology PhD students must pass the Oral Qualifying Exam before advancing to candidacy. Students must demonstrate adequate knowledge of epidemiology and related fields and the potential to conduct and present original research.

Timing of the Oral Exam:

Students should take their Oral Qualifying Exam by the end of autumn quarter of Year 3 of their PhD career. To be eligible to take the exam, students must have:

1. Passed the preliminary examination (typically given in the winter quarter of Year 2)

2. Identified a Primary Research Advisor who is affiliated with EPH and is willing to supervise the student’s PhD program and dissertation

3. Completed the entire epidemiology PhD core curriculum

4. Maintained a Stanford graduate GPA of at least 3.0 

Purpose of the Exam:

The Oral Qualifying exam has several goals:

1. To encourage students to review and synthesize their graduate learning

2. To ensure that the student has adequate breadth and depth of knowledge in epidemiology and related fields

3. To determine whether the student has sufficient breadth and depth of knowledge of the dissertation topic, including, where relevant, a clear understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease under investigation

4. To determine whether the student has adequate analytic and communication skills to be a successful PhD student and independent scholar

5. To identify potential areas of weakness that the student may need to strengthen before graduation

Logistics of the Oral Exam:

The exam consists of two parts: A public presentation and a closed-door session.

1.      Public Presentation: The student will give a 20-minute talk (open to faculty and students), followed by a 10-minute question-and-answer session. The talk should focus on a particular research project the student intends to include as part of their doctoral thesis. Typically, the thesis consists of three research papers. The talk should focus on one of these. The research does not have to be completed but may be planned or in progress.

2.      Closed-Door Session: The closed-session oral exam will last up to 1.5 hours, during which time the student will answer additional questions posed by the committee members. The session is closed-book with no notes allowed. Students can prepare a handful of extra slides (maximum of 10) for complex figures or diagrams to aid in conversation during the examination. Questions should probe the students’ breadth and depth of knowledge in the examination area and their ability to apply it to specific problems. The research advisor should refrain from responding to questions for candidate from other committee members so as not to act as an advocate or interpreter. 

Evaluation:

Committee members will evaluate students on the following elements:

1.      Depth of knowledge in their examination area (e.g., neuroepidemiology, biostatistics)

2.      Breadth of knowledge in their examination area

3.      Ability to apply their knowledge to specific problems

4.      Analytic abilities (the ability to reason logically and “think on their feet” when given challenging questions)

5.      Communication skills (as evidenced by their written proposal, public talk, and spoken answers to questions)