Program Requirements
Student Supervision
By the end of their first semester in the PhD Program, and in consultation with their Senior Supervisor, students must have formed and met with their Supervisory Committee, whose composition must be approved by the FHS Graduate Studies Committee in accordance with SFU policy. The Supervisory Committee will comprise the Senior Supervisor and a minimum of two additional Faculty members, whose expertise will complement the student’s research and program goals. The role of the Supervisory Committee is to oversee student curricular planning and progress in the PhD program, and to assess student performance on the Comprehensive Examination, the Thesis Proposal and Defence, the Thesis Research, and the Thesis Defence. At least once each year, the Supervisory Committee shall report on the student’s progress and plans for the upcoming year, including course work. The annual report will be submitted for approval by the Graduate Studies Committee with a copy to the student. Students are required to demonstrate adequate progress toward the degree as judged by their committee, and meet the minimum standards described in Graduate General Regulation 1.5.4.
Degree Requirements
The courses listed below are the courses required of all PhD candidates:
- HSCI 902-3 Interdisciplinary Seminar in Health Sciences
- HSCI 903-1 Interdisciplinary Research Colloquium 1
- HSCI 904-1 Interdisciplinary Research Colloquium 2
- HSCI 905-1 Interdisciplinary Research Colloquium 3
PhD candidates will register in HSCI 902 in the first semester of their program. In addition, students are required to take three Interdisciplinary Research Colloquia for credit. Students who enter the PhD program from FHS master’s programs (MPH, MSc), and who have taken 902, 903, 904, and 905, need not repeat the courses, provided that they achieved a grade of A- or higher in 902, and a grade of satisfactory in 903, 904, and 905.
It is expected that most students will be required to take additional course work or directed studies, which will be determined by the student together with the PhD Supervisory Committee. A student’s annual progress report includes the course work plans, and must be approved by the FHS Graduate Studies Committee on an annual basis.
In addition to the courses above, students must register in HSCI 983-6, Comprehensive Examination and Thesis Proposal Preparation as soon as they commence preparation for the comprehensive exam. Once thesis research commences they must enroll in HSCI 990-6, Thesis Research. When they begin writing their thesis, students must register in HSCI 998-6, Thesis Completion.
Comprehensive Examination
PhD students must pass a comprehensive examination that consists of an oral defence of a major written paper. The topic of the paper will be determined by the supervisory committee. Details as to the conduct of the exam are provided to students in the PhD handbook and are found on the FHS website.
The comprehensive examination is normally expected to be completed by the end of the fourth term. There are four possible outcome of the comprehensive exam: pass, pass with minor comment and revision, pass with major revision and a requirement to re-write and re-defend, and fail. A student may only retake the comprehensive exam once. If a student fails the comprehensive exam, progress in the program will be considered unsatisfactory, and will trigger review by the FHS Graduate Studies Committee (as outlined in SFU’s Graduate General Regulation 1.8.2), and a student will be required to withdraw from the program.
Doctoral Thesis Proposal
The candidate will prepare a written research proposal that integrates theory, current research, and methods in fields related to the selected research problem. The proposal will be organized and evaluated in accordance to policies and procedures established by the FHS Graduate Studies Committee. Briefly, these policies specify that the proposal:
a) reviews the relevant research literature;
b) reflects original work;
c) describes methodology appropriate to the principal research question(s).
PhD candidates will normally submit the thesis proposal in their 2nd year. The proposal and oral defence will be graded on the same basis, with the same possible outcomes, as the comprehensive exam.
In some cases, and depending on the judgment of the supervisory committee, the comprehensive examination and the thesis proposal presentation and defence may be combined into a single presentation and defence.
Doctoral Thesis
A written thesis is based on the candidate's original contribution to research in the field of his/her expertise, and is the final requirement for the PhD Program. The topic must be approved by the student’s supervisory committee. The thesis may take two forms: the “traditional” document which outlines the research undertaken, methods, results, and discussion; and the “three paper” option, in which the candidate submits three published or publishable papers “bookended” by introductory and concluding chapters. Candidates must obtain human subjects ethics approvals, relevant animal handling approvals, and/or bio-safety hazards approvals prior to conducting their research, and must list approval numbers in the thesis.
Thesis Defence
All PhD candidates must pass a formal thesis defence that is conducted in accordance with University Graduate General Regulations (1.9.4). The candidate will be awarded the PhD degree upon the submission and successful defence of a doctoral thesis describing the results of independent research.
Committee Composition
Normally the student’s Supervisory Committee will conduct the doctoral comprehensive examination and thesis proposal defence. In addition, for the doctoral thesis defence, and in consultation with the Senior Supervisor, the candidate will choose an Internal Examiner, who is a member of faculty at the University or a person otherwise suitably qualified, who is not a member of the candidate’s Supervisory Committee, and an External Examiner, who shall be specifically qualified in the field of the thesis and not be a member of faculty at the University (in accordance with SFU Graduate General Requirement 1.9.3.)
Residence Requirement
A PhD candidate must be registered and in residence at SFU for the minimum number of semesters described in the SFU Graduate General Regulation 1.7.
The PhD program requires a minimum of three years of full-time study, and the Faculty will generally provide funding only for three years. Depending the student’s prior training in the Health Sciences, and whether s/he completed core courses while in the MPH/MSc program at SFU, the length of study will generally vary from 3-5 years.
