Summary

• Degree offered: Doctorate in Philosophy (PhD)
• Registration status option: Full-time
• Language of instruction:
  • French
  • English
  • Bilingual (French-English)

Note: The core courses are offered in a bilingual format which requires students' passive understanding of both official languages. Students may express themselves orally in either official language. Several of the suggested elective courses are offered in both English and French.

• Program option (expected duration of the program):
  • with thesis (12 full-time terms; 48 consecutive months)
• Academic units: Faculty of Health Sciences, Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Social Sciences, Telfer School of Management, Faculty of Law (Common Law Section).

Program Description

The population health doctoral program is offered through a collaboration of five faculties: the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Telfer School of Management, and the Faculty of Law (Common Law Section). 

The program is administratively hosted by the Faculty of Health Sciences. This program is modeled on a framework that encompasses population health issues; determinants and causes of health illness inequities; and population health interventions, including programs, policies and resource distribution systems.

Unique in Canada, this program draws on a wide range of disciplines, both basic and applied. It brings together the insights of social, biological, clinical, organizational, and political sciences, among others. It also draws on and combines the strengths of quantitative and qualitative methods. The transdisciplinary approach of the program recognizes the inherent complexity of many population health problems and the need to tackle these issues through both health and other sectors.

The program is designed to meet the needs of a wide variety of candidates, such as health professionals and health administrators; demographers, epidemiologists and biostatisticians; social, behavioural and legal scholars; environmental scientists; and biologists with an interest in human population health.

Students are encouraged to apply the science of their individual background disciplines to issues of population health. They acquire a broad knowledge of population health through courses and the comprehensive examination, and pursue in-depth study in an area of specialization within the population health framework. Students undertake their research in a range of settings (from local to global).

Main Areas of Research

This doctoral program brings together expertise from faculties, research centres and institutes across the University.

Other Programs Offered Within the Same Discipline or in a Related Area

• Master of Science Interdisciplinary Health Sciences (MSc)

Fees and Funding

• Program fees:

The estimated amount for university fees associated with this program are available under the section Finance your studies.

International students enrolled in a French-language program of study may be eligible for a differential tuition fee exemption.

• To learn about possibilities for financing your graduate studies, consult the Awards and financial support section.

Notes

• Programs are governed by the general regulations in effect for graduate studies.
• In accordance with the University of Ottawa regulation, students have the right to complete their assignments, examinations, research papers, and theses in French or in English.

Program Contact Information

Academic Office, Faculty of Health Sciences
125 University Private, Room 242
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1N 6N5

Email: healthsc@uOttawa.ca

Facebook | Faculty of Health Sciences

For the most accurate and up to date information on application deadlines, language tests and other admission requirements, please visit the specific requirements webpage.

To be eligible, candidates must:

• Have a master's degree, with a minimum average of 75% (B+) or equivalent, in a field related to population health (for example, epidemiology, human kinetics, interdisciplinary health sciences, audiology, physiotherapy, nursing, medicine, social work, law, environmental studies, sociology, psychology, criminology, and biology).

Notes: International candidates must check the admission equivalencies for the diploma they received in their country of origin.

• An applicant whose master's degree did not include a thesis must demonstrate the ability to undertake an independent research project.
• Be knowledgeable in several of the following key areas:
• health sciences;
• social and behavioural sciences;
• advanced research methods;
• graduate-level statistics; and
• epidemiology.

Those who lack knowledge in three or more of these key areas must successfully complete prerequisite courses prior to admission. Applicants lacking knowledge in two or fewer of these knowledge areas may be offered admission on condition that they take a course or courses as co-requisites. These courses would be additional to the 18 units required of all students in the program.

• Identify at least one professor who is willing to supervise their research and thesis. We recommend that you contact potential thesis supervisors as soon as possible.

Language Requirements

Applicants must have an active knowledge of either English or French, and a passive knowledge of the other language. Passive knowledge is defined as both oral and reading comprehension ability. As part of the application process, students are required to complete a second language test. For international students, the graduate studies English language requirements also apply.

Applicants whose first language is neither French nor English must provide proof of proficiency in the language of instruction.

Language tests recognized by the University of Ottawa:

• TOEFL: 550 (paper-based) – 79-80 (internet-based); or
• IELTS: 6.5 Overall – 5.0 Individual (paper-based or internet-based); or
• An equivalent language test.

Note: Candidates are responsible for any fees associated with the language tests.

Notes

• The admission requirements listed above are minimum requirements and do not guarantee admission to the program.
• Admissions are governed by the general regulations in effect for graduate studies.

Fast-Track from Master’s to PhD

Students enrolled in a Health Sciences-related, thesis-based, research master’s program at the University of Ottawa (e.g. Nursing, Human Kinetics, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences) may be eligible to fast-track directly into the doctoral program without writing a master’s thesis, provided the following conditions are met:

• Achievement of an 80% (A-) average in their last two years of undergraduate studies (or relevant professional experience) and a grade of at least 85% (A) in at least 2 graduate courses.
• Ability of the student to meet the prerequisites of the program.
• Excellent progress in the first year of a graduate (masters) program, demonstrated by excellence in a research context – such as peer-reviewed publications.
• Written recommendations from the current master’s supervisor and prospective doctoral supervisor, if different, and from the Thesis Advisory Committee attesting to the potential of the student to complete doctoral studies, without completing a masters degree.
• Approval by the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences Graduate Studies Committee responsible for admissions to the PhD in Population Health.

Note: The transfer must take place within twelve months of initial enrollment in the master’s.

Doctorate

Students must meet the following requirements:

Course List

Code	Title	Units
Compulsory Courses:
POP 8910	Scientific Paradigms in Population Health	3 Units
POP 8920	Investigative Methods in Population Health	3 Units
POP 8930	Population Health Interventions	3 Units
9 elective course units at the graduate level from the list of electives approved by the Graduate Program Committee 1		9 Units
Comprehensive Examination:
POP 9998	Comprehensive Examination
Thesis Proposal:
POP 9997	Thesis Proposal
Thesis:
THD 9999	Doctoral Thesis 2

Note(s)

¹

The elective courses must be related to student's research area. The elective courses are assigned following deliberations by the Graduate Program Committee. Any prerequisites must be completed prior to taking the assigned electives.

²

Students are responsible for ensuring they have met all of the thesis requirements.

Minimum Requirements

The passing grade in all courses is C+.

Students who incur two failures in courses, the comprehensive exam or the thesis proposal, or whose research progress is deemed unsatisfactory are withdrawn from the program.

Research Fields & Facilities

Located in the heart of Canada’s capital, a few steps away from Parliament Hill, the University of Ottawa is among Canada’s top 10 research universities.

uOttawa focuses research strengths and efforts in four Strategic Areas of Research:

• Creating a sustainable environment
• Advancing just societies
• Shaping the digital world
• Enabling lifelong health and wellness

With cutting-edge research, our graduate students, researchers and educators strongly influence national and international priorities.

Research at the Faculty of Health Sciences

Research at the Faculty involves many important aspects of health, including women's health, health in the elderly, health needs of francophones in a minority context, Aboriginal health, physical activity and health, multiple interventions in population health, palliative care, rehabilitation and functional autonomy, health and technology, and evidence based practice.

The Faculty of Health Sciences is involved in the following Research Centres and Institutes:

• LIFE Research Institute
• Music and Health Research Institute
• Centre for Research on Health and Nursing
• Interdisciplinary Centre for Black Health

The Faculty of Health Sciences has strong collaborations with the region’s hospital-affiliated research institutes:

• The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
• The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute
• The Bruyère Research Institute
• The Royal's Institute of Mental Health Research
• L’Institut du Savoir Montfort
• University of Ottawa Heart Institute

For more information, refer to the list of faculty members and their research fields on Uniweb. 

IMPORTANT: Candidates and students looking for professors to supervise their thesis or research project can also consult the website of the faculty or department of their program of choice. Uniweb does not list all professors authorized to supervise research projects at the University of Ottawa.