Overview
PhD Program Description
The PhD program is designed to provide key knowledge and skill-based competencies in the field of public mental health. To gain the knowledge and skills, all PhD students will be expected to complete required coursework, including courses that meet the CEPH competency requirements and research ethics; successfully pass the departmental comprehensive exam; select and meet regularly with a Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) as part of advancing to doctoral candidacy; present a public seminar on their dissertation proposal; successfully pass the departmental and school-wide Preliminary Oral Exams; complete a doctoral thesis followed by a formal school-wide Final Oral Defense; participate as a Teaching Assistant (TA); and provide a formal public seminar on their own research. Each of these components is described in more detail below. The Introduction to Online Learning course is taken before the start of the first term.
Department Organization
The PhD Program Director, Dr. Sarah Murray (sarah.murray@jhu.edu), works with the Vice-Chair for Education, Dr. Judy Bass (jbass1@jhu.edu), to support doctoral students, together with their advisers, to formulate their academic plans; oversee their completion of ethics training; assist with connections to faculty who may serve as advisers or sources for data or special guidance; provide guidance to students in their roles as teaching assistants; and act as a general resource for all departmental doctoral students. The Vice-Chair also leads the Department Committee on Academic Standards and sits on the School Wide Academic Standards Committee. Students can contact Drs. Murray or Bass directly if they have questions or concerns.
Within the department structure, there are several standing and ad-hoc committees that oversee faculty and student research, practice and education. For specific questions on committee mandate and make-up, please contact Dr. Bass or the Academic Program Administrator, Patty Scott, patty.scott@jhu.edu.
Academic Training Programs
The Department of Mental Health supports multiple NIH-funded doctoral and postdoctoral institutional training programs:
Psychiatric Epidemiology Training (PET) Program
This interdisciplinary training program is housed in the Department of Mental Health and affiliated with the Department of Epidemiology and with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the School of Medicine. The Program is co-directed by Dr. Heather Volk (hvolk1@jhu.edu) and Dr. Peter Zandi (pzandi1@jhu.edu). The goal of the program is to train the next generation of epidemiologists with the interest and capacity to develop and lead population-level investigations of psychiatric disorders across the life-course. The PET program supports two tracks with a focus on 1) etiology of mental disorders and 2) intervention for mental disorders. As part of this program, trainees will undertake a rigorous program of coursework in epidemiology, biostatistics, public mental health. Trainees are further encouraged to enroll in elective courses related to these areas to foster specialization and development of skills to support research in one of the two focal areas. This program is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.
Drug Dependence Epidemiology Training (DDET) Program
The DDET mission is to create the next generation of scientists who are equipped to tackle the challenges of substance use, SUDs, and their many related harms. This training program is co-directed by Dr. Renee M. Johnson (rjohnson@jhu.edu) and Dr. Brion Maher (brion@jhu.edu). Associate directors include Dr. Sabriya Linton and Dr. Johannes Thrul (Mental Health), and Dr. Susan Sherman and Dr. Carl Latkin (Health Behavior and Society). This program is housed in the Department of Mental Health and supports trainees in the Departments of Epidemiology and Health, Behavior and Society. Focal areas include Harm Reduction & Overdose Prevention; Interventions for SUD & Infectious Disease; SUD & Psychiatric Comorbidities; Structural Determinants & Drug Control; and Emerging Trends & Technologies. Trainees are encouraged to enroll in elective courses related to these focal areas. A conceptual basis of our training is that substance use and its consequences arise from influences at the biological, psychological, and social levels, interacting variably at distinct developmental stages and at different states in the progression toward, or away from, disordered use. The DDET program is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Global Mental Health Training (GMH) Program
Global Mental Health Training (GMH) Program aims to provide public health research training in the field of Global Mental Health. It is housed in the Department of Mental Health, in collaboration with the Departments of International Health and Epidemiology. Dr. Judy Bass (jbass1@jhu.edu) is the training program director and Dr. Sarah Murray (Sarah.murray@jhu.edu) is the deputy director. As part of this training program, trainees will undertake a rigorous program of coursework in epidemiology, biostatistics, public mental health and global mental health, field-based research experiences, and integrative activities that will provide trainees with a solid foundation in the core proficiencies of global mental health. Trainees also pursue specialized training in one of three concentration areas recognized as high priority: (1) Prevention Research; (2) Intervention Research; or (3) Integration of Mental Health Services Research. This Program is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health.
Data Integration for Causal Inference in Behavioral Health Training Program
This program is housed in the Department of Mental Health, with collaborators from Health Policy and Management, Health Behavior and Society, and Population Family and Reproductive Health. Dr. Elizabeth Stuart (estuart@jhu.edu) is the training program director, with Dr. Rashelle Musci (rmusci1@jhu.edu) as co-Director. The training program is part of a broader initiative to increase analytics training in the social and behavioral sciences. The program provides rigorous training and high-quality mentorship in: 1) the science of behavioral health; 2) computational and analytic tools to manage, analyze, and integrate complex data sources; and 3) causal inference methods to take full advantage of these data. The program leverages close connections with data scientists, statisticians, and computer scientists from across the University. This Program is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health.
The Mental Health Services and Systems (MHSS) Program
The goal of this Program is to train scholars to become leaders in mental health services and systems research. This program is housed in the Department of Health Policy and Management and is jointly administered by the Department of Mental Health under the leadership of Dr. Elizabeth Stuart (estuart@jhu.edu), in close affiliation with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. This program focuses on addressing critical gaps in knowledge with a focus on: (1) how health care services, delivery settings, and financing systems affect the wellbeing of persons with mental illness; (2) how cutting-edge statistical and econometric methods can be used in intervention design, policies, and programs to improve care; and (3) how implementation science can be used to most effectively disseminate evidence-based advances into routine practice. The program strongly emphasizes the fundamental principles of research translation and dissemination. This program is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health.
Epidemiology and Biostatistics of Aging
This program offers training in the methodology and conduct of significant clinical- and population-based research in older adults through the Center on Aging and Health (COAH). The EBA training program is housed in the Department of Biostatistics and supports trainees in the Departments of Mental Health and Epidemiology. This training grant has the specific mission to prepare epidemiologists and biostatisticians who will be both leaders and essential members of the multidisciplinary research needed to define models of healthy, productive aging and the prevention and interventions that will accomplish this goal. The Department of Mental Health Associate Director is Dr. Michelle Carlson (mcarlso2@jhu.edu). This Program is supported by the National Institute on Aging. More information can be found at: https://coah.jhu.edu/graduate-programs-and-postdoctoral-training/epidemiology-and-biostatistics-of-aging/.
Aging and Dementia Training Program
This training program is an interdisciplinary program housed within the Department of Neurology and the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine and jointly implemented with the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences at the School of Arts and Sciences. The Department of Mental Health contact is Dr. Michelle Carlson (mcarlso2@jhu.edu). The goal of this training program is to train young investigators in age-related cognitive and neuropsychiatric disorders. This Program is supported by the National Institute on Aging.
Program Requirements
Course location and modality is found on the BSPH website.
Residence Requirements
All doctoral students must complete and register for four full-time terms of a regular academic year, in succession, starting with Term 1 registration in August-September of the academic year and continuing through Term 4 ending in May of that same academic year. Full-time registration entails a minimum of 16 credits of registration each term and a maximum of 22 credits per term.
Full-time residence means more than registration. It means active participation in department seminars and lectures, research work group meetings, and other socializing experiences within our academic community. As such, doctoral trainees are expected to be in attendance on campus for the full academic year except on official University holidays and vacation leave.
Course Requirements
Not all courses are required to be taken in the first year alone; students typically take 2 years to complete all course requirements.
Students must obtain an A or B in all required courses. If a grade of C or below is received, the student will be required to repeat the course. An exception is given if a student receives a C (but not a D) in either of the first two terms of the required biostatistics series, but then receives a B or better in both of the final two terms of the series; then a student will not be required to retake the earlier biostatistics course. However, the student cannot have a cumulative GPA lower than 3.0 to remain in good academic standing. Any other exceptions to this grade requirement must be reviewed and approved by the departmental CAS and academic adviser.
Below are the required courses for the PhD; further Information can be found on the PhD in Mental Health webpage.
BIOSTATISTICS
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PH.140.621 | Statistical Methods in Public Health I (first term) 1 | 4 |
| PH.140.622 | Statistical Methods in Public Health II (second term) 1 | 4 |
| PH.140.623 | Statistical Methods in Public Health III (third term) 1 | 4 |
| PH.140.624 | Statistical Methods in Public Health IV (fourth term) 1 | 4 |
| Total Credits | 16 | |
- 1
Must be completed to be eligible to sit for the departmental written comprehensive exams.
EPIDEMIOLOGY
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PH.340.751 | Epidemiologic Methods 1 (first term) 1 | 5 |
| PH.340.752 | Epidemiologic Methods 2 (second term) 1 | 5 |
| PH.340.753 | Epidemiologic Methods 3 (third term) 1 | 5 |
- 1
Must be completed to be eligible to sit for the departmental written comprehensive exams.
DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH COURSES
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Courses usually taken first year: | ||
| PH.330.604 | Seminars in Research in Public Mental Health (all terms required for first year students) | 1 |
| PH.330.617 | Psychopathology for Public Health (first term) 1 | 3 |
| PH.330.662 | Public Mental Health (first term) 1 | 2 |
| PH.330.603 | Psychiatric Epidemiology (second term) 1 | 3 |
| PH.330.661 | Etiologic Frameworks for Public Mental Health (third term) 1 | 3 |
| PH.330.607 | Prevention of Mental Disorders: Public Health Interventions (third term) 1 | 3 |
| PH.330.612 | Introduction to Behavioral and Psychiatric Genetics (fourth term) 1 | 3 |
| PH.330.623 | Brain and Behavior in Mental Disorders (fourth term) 1 | 3 |
| Courses to be taken either first or second year: | ||
| PH.330.664 | Introduction to Mental Health Services (first term) 1 | 3 |
| PH.330.602 | The Epidemiology of Substance Use and Related Problems (second term) 1 | 3 |
| Courses usually taken second year: | ||
| PH.330.657 | Statistics for Psychosocial Research: Measurement (first term) 1 | 4 |
| PH.330.660 | Grant Writing for the Social and Behavioral Sciences (fourth term) | 3 |
| PH.330.611 | Writing Publishable Manuscripts for the Social and Behavioral Sciences (second year and beyond only - second term) | 2 |
| PH.330.605 | Doctoral Seminar in Public Mental Health (2nd year PhD students only) | 1 |
- 1
Must be completed to be eligible to sit for the departmental written comprehensive exams.
- 2
For Department of Mental Health doctoral students, a research analysis is required entailing one additional course credit. PH.330.840 Special Studies and Research Mental Health listing Dr. Volk as the mentor.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS OUTSIDE THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH
The School requires that at least 18 credit units must be satisfactorily completed in formal courses outside the student's primary department. Among these 18 credit units, no fewer than three courses (totaling at least 9 credits) must be satisfactorily completed in two or more departments of the Bloomberg School of Public Health. The remaining outside credit units may be earned in any department or division of the University. This requirement is usually satisfied with the biostatistics and epidemiology courses required by the department.
Candidates who have completed a master’s program at the Bloomberg School of Public Health may apply 12 credits from that program toward this School requirement. Contact the Academic Office for further information.
SCHOOL-WIDE COURSES
Introduction to Online Learning taken before the first year.
ETHICS TRAINING
PH.550.860 Academic & Research Ethics at BSPH (0 credit - pass/fail) required of all students in the first term of registration.
Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) connotes a broad range of career development topics that goes beyond the more narrowly focused “research ethics” and includes issues such as conflict of interest, authorship responsibilities, research misconduct, animal use and care, and human subjects research. RCR training requirements for JHPSH students are based on two circumstances: their degree program and their source of funding, which may overlap.
- All PhD students are required to take one of two courses in Responsible Conduct of Research, detailed below one time, in any year, during their doctoral studies.
- All students, regardless of degree program, who receive funding from one of the federal grant mechanisms outlined in the NIH notice below, must take one of the two courses listed below to satisfy the 8 in-person hours of training in specific topic areas specified by NIH (e.g., conflict of interest, authorship, research misconduct, human and animal subject ethics, etc.).
The two courses that satisfy either requirement are:
- PH.550.600 Living Science Ethics - Responsible Conduct of Research [1 credit]. Once per week, 1st term.
- PH.306.665 Research Ethics and integrity [3 credits]. Twice per week, 3rd term.
Registration in either course is recorded on the student’s transcript and serves as documentation of completion of the requirement.
- If a non-PhD or postdoctoral student is unsure whether or not their source of funding requires in-person RCR training, they or the PI should contact the project officer for the award.
- Students who may have taken the REWards course (Research Ethics Workshops About Responsibilities and Duties of Scientists) in the SOM can request that this serve as a replacement, as long as they can provide documentation of at least 8 in-person contact hours.
- Postdoctoral students are permitted to enroll in either course but BSPH does not require them to take RCR training. However, terms of their funding might require RCR training and it is their obligation to fulfill the requirement.
- The required Academic Ethics module is independent of the RCR training requirement. It is a standalone module that must be completed by all students at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. This module covers topics associated with maintaining academic integrity, including plagiarism, proper citations, and cheating.
PhD in Mental Health
Department of Mental Health candidates for the degree Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) must fulfill all University and School requirements. These include, but are not limited to, a minimum of four consecutive academic terms at the School in full-time residency (some programs require six terms), continuous registration throughout their tenure as a PhD student, satisfactory completion of a Departmental Written Comprehensive Examination, satisfactory performance on a University Preliminary Oral Examination, readiness to undertake research, and preparation and successful defense of a thesis based upon independent research.
PhD students are required to be registered full-time for a minimum of 16 credits per term and courses must be taken for letter grade or pass/fail. Courses taken for audit do not count toward the 16-credit registration minimum.
Students having already earned credit at BSPH from a master's program or as a Special Student Limited within the past three years for any of the required courses may be able to use them toward satisfaction of doctoral course requirements.
For a full list of program policies, please visit the PhD in Mental Health page where students can find more information and links to the handbook.
Completion of Requirements
The University places a seven-year maximum limit upon the period of doctoral study. The Department of Mental Health students are expected to complete all requirements in an average of 4-5 years.
Learning Outcomes
PhD Program Description
The PhD program is designed to provide key knowledge and skills-based competencies in the field of public mental health. Upon successful completion of the PhD in Mental Health, students will have mastered the following competencies:
- Evaluate the clinical presentations, incidence, prevalence, course and risk/protective factors for major mental and behavioral health disorders.
- Differentiate important known biological, psychological and social risk and protective factors for major mental and behavioral disorders and assess how to advance understanding of the causes of these disorders in populations.
- Evaluate and explain factors associated with resiliency and recovery from major mental and behavioral disorders.
- Evaluate, select, and implement effective methods and measurement strategies for assessment of major mental and behavioral disorders across a range of epidemiologic settings.
- Critically evaluate strategies for the prevention and treatment of major mental and behavioral disorders as well as utilization and delivery of mental health services over the life course, across a range of settings, and in a range of national contexts.
- Assess preventive and treatment interventions likely to prove effective in optimizing mental health of the population, reducing the incidence of mental and behavioral disorders, raising rates of recovery from disorders, and reducing risk of later disorder recurrence.
According to the requirements of the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), all BSPH degree students must be grounded in foundational public health knowledge. Please view the list of specific CEPH requirements by degree type.