Graduate Programs
The graduate programs in the Department of Community Health at Brown University are structured along two broadly defined tracks focusing on Biostatistics and Epidemiology. The Department offers comprehensive course work leading to an ScM or MA in Biostatistics, and ScM in Epidemiology, and a PhD in Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Health Services Research. PhD students in Biostatistics are required to develop expertise in a cognate area (e.g. economics, molecular biology).
The primary objective of the doctoral programs is to provide students with the training necessary to becoming independent scientific researchers in their chosen field. This is accomplished through a combination of coursework, practical experience, teaching, and ultimately completion of a dissertation that represents an original and innovative contribution. The masters programs are designed to provide advanced training in the theory and practice of the chosen field, and in the case of the ScM program, to provide an opportunity for research synthesis in the form of a master's thesis.
The departmental faculty comprise both nationally- and internationally-recognized experts in Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Health Services Research. All graduate faculty members are active researchers, widely published in their respective fields, and collectively are the recipients of over $10 million in active external research funding. Brown's program is relatively young but has quickly gained a position of national prominence.