PhD Degree Requirements
Unit Requirements
All PhD students are required to complete a minimum 42 units of core required coursework including 12 units of electives and a minimum 2 units of the epidemiology seminar. Of the twelve elective units, 9 must be from one area from the Area of Interest Approved Electives. Full-time students must enroll for 12 units per quarter including academic, research, and seminar units. Courses that fulfill any of the program course requirements may not be taken S/U unless the courses is normally graded S/U. After course requirements are completed, students may take additional classes as needed, although 12 units per quarter are often fulfilled by enrollment in EPI 299 directed research units. All required courses are taught at the 200 graduate level, unless the student is fulfilling a statistics or sampling requirement which is offered through the statistics department through the 100 numbered series. Elective courses may be taken at either the 100 or 200 level.
Preliminary Exam
The Preliminary Exam is a written exam designed to assess the student's mastery and working knowledge of topics presented in the required courses as well as the student's ability to evaluate methods, analyze data, and logically interpret data. The Preliminary Exam consists of three independent components: basic epidemiology, advanced epidemiology, and statistics. Students must receive a "Pass" on all three components before they are eligible to take the Qualifying Exam.
Qualifying Exam (QE)
All PhD students must pass the Preliminary Exam and complete all course requirements before taking their QE. The primary purpose of the QE is to validate that the student is academically qualified to conceptualize a research topic, undertake scholarly research and successfully produce the dissertation required for a doctoral degree. The QE will consist of written and oral examinations, as well as a public seminar. More information about the QE can be found in the GGE Degree Requirements. Students who pass the QE will be eligible to advance to candidacy.
Dissertation, Exit Seminar, Final Oral Exam
Doctoral students in the Graduate Group in Epidemiology follow the Dissertation Plan B option at UC Davis, which specifies a minimum three-member dissertation committee, an optional final oral examination, and an optional required exit seminar. The GGE requires students to complete an exit seminar. At the discretion of the Dissertation Committee, the exit seminar may be followed by a final oral examination (i.e., dissertation defense). More information about dissertation, exit seminar, and final oral exam requirements can be found in the GGE Degree Requirements.