Graduate Programs

Student in the UConn Health library

Graduate programs in Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine include:

M.P.H. Program

The Master of Public Health program is located in the Department of Public Health Sciences. The University has awarded the M.P.H. degree since 1984. Its purpose is “to prepare public health professionals to achieve high standards of leadership through exemplary scholarship in teaching, application, discovery and integration of public health knowledge in order to benefit the well-being of Connecticut residents and others through organized, comprehensive, effective and just action.” Our curriculum focuses on applied public health practice to prepare leaders for our state’s workforce. More than 700 students have graduated from the program, and 114 students are currently matriculating. The M.P.H. program is directed by David Gregorio, Ph.D. It maintains a 4.6 FTE staff, a primary (core) faculty of 10, and secondary faculty and other affiliated instructors numbering approximately 30. Its operating budget is offset by tuition revenue that is returned to the School of Medicine. The Master of Public Health program is nationally accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). Drs. Warren and Cavallari teach M.P.H. courses.

Ph.D. in Public Health

The Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health program was approved by the University and the state Department of Higher Education in April 2006. Options for focused work in public health are many, although the Ph.D. offered at UConn is particularly strong in three areas: social and behavioral health sciences, occupational and environmental health sciences and chronic disease epidemiology. The Ph.D. in public health is designed to prepare future public health leaders with the academic skills needed to enhance health in human populations, focusing on the preparation of researchers, teachers, public health administrators, clinicians and industry employees competent to carry out the broad public health mission within Connecticut. Currently, over 18 doctoral students are enrolled in the program and eight students have already received their doctoral degrees. Drs. Warren and Cavallari teach Ph.D. courses.

Occupational Health Psychology

The Occupational Health Psychology program is offered through the Psychology Department at UConn Storrs. Doctoral students who are interested in developing a concentration in Occupational Health Psychology (OHP) can participate in OHP graduate training that has been developed with the support of a training program grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The program follows a scientist-practitioner model of training with an emphasis on research. Students who choose to concentrate in OHP are studying full-time to receive a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology and are able to continue their studies over summers with fellowship support from our training grant. Graduate students from other academic degree programs throughout the university are also welcome to participate in the graduate seminars and interdisciplinary research projects that form the basis of the OHP concentration. Dr. Warren teaches in and helps organize this program.

Biodynamics Laboratory

The Biodynamics Laboratory, under the direction of Dr. Cherniack, offers graduate training to students from the Biomedical Engineering program at UConn Storrs, as well as introductory biomechanics courses to both UConn campuses. The mission of the Biodynamics Laboratory involves the development of multi-modal measures used in synchronous conjunction to accurately identify and quantify fundamental biodynamic issues of human performance.