International Doctoral
Program In Epidemiology Takes On A Public Health Practice Focus
Free
Tuition Available For Students Accepted
Our
doctoral degree program has evolved over the years from its beginnings
as a collaborative program with the Indian Cancer Registries to one
which today has an even broader public health focus on major health
problems in low and middle income countries, says Pekka Nuorti,
professor of epidemiology at the University of Tampere in Finland and
the current director of the program. Nuorti was speaking to The
Epidemiology Monitor about some of the key features of his highly
competitive doctoral program which admits some 10-12 students every
other year from approximately 100 applicants coming from different
countries around the world.
The
program is notable because it compresses all of the needed doctoral
coursework in 10 months. Students are then free to return to their
home countries or to stay in Finland to carry out their research
projects. They must return to the campus to defend their dissertation.
Also, the program provides free tuition to all accepted students. They
are responsible for travel costs and for accommodations while in
Finland. However, the University has excellent housing for students,
said Nuorti, and there is easy access to it for the students.
Public Health Focus
The
public health practice focus for the program is related to Nuorti’s
own background in infectious disease epidemiology and in vaccination
programs. Several of the students in the program are graduates of
Field Epidemiology Programs in various countries. Several of the
courses offered reflect the public health focus such as ones on
surveillance, infectious disease epidemiology, vaccines and
vaccination programs, and program evaluation.
In
order to graduate, students are expected to publish 4 papers on their
work in an international peer-reviewed journal and to synthesize this
work in their separate dissertation.
Current Program
Currently the program has some 35 active students. The program is
designed to take new students only every other year, according to
Nuorti, because the program is very intense for both students and
faculty. After enrollment in the program , students have many
opportunities to apply for doctoral research funding from a variety of
sponsors in Finland, including a limited number of salaried research
positions. This access to competitive research funding appears to be
another notable feature of the Finnish program.
Deadlines
Applications for the program starting in September 2015 are due by
February 25. According to Nuorti, students must at least submit their
application by that date. If necessary, the other documents needed to
complete the application can be
submitted within the next week or two, but only if the initial
deadline for an online application has been met. Students who are
accepted in late April must decide by a deadline in May whether or not
to accept the offer of admission.
In
addition to the focus on infectious diseases, the Finnish program has
strengths in the area of cancer, particularly epidemiology and
screening, and in allergy, asthma, and diabetes.
For
more information, visit
www.uta.fi/ippe. Program email address is
ippe@uta.fi
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